Summary: A Bride of Convenience (The Bride Ships #3) by Jody Hedlund
Upon discovering an
abandoned baby, Pastor Abe Merivale joins efforts with Zoe Hart, one of the
newly arrived bride-ship women, to care for the infant. With mounting pressure
to find the baby a home, Abe offers his hand as Zoe's groom. But after a hasty wedding,
they soon realize their marriage of convenience is not so convenient after all
( copied from Goodreads).
Book Review: A Bride of Convenience (The Bride Ships #3) by Jody Hedlund
When unemployed cotton mill worker Zoe Hart arrives from Manchester, she suddenly finds herself in the care of an infant girl. Without means of support, she enters into a marriage of convenience to local minister Abraham, Pastor Abe, Merivale, who offers them protection. They are determined to live by the convenience arrangement but are surprised how dissatisfied they both are with that part of their relationship.
A
Bride of Convenience is book number 3 in Jody
Hedlund’s 4 book series The
Bride Ships, published by Bethany
House Publishers. The setting is Vancouver Island and Yale 1863, and we get
to follow unemployed cotton mill worker Zoe Hart when she just off the boat meets local minister Abraham, Pastor Abe, Merivale. She
suddenly finds herself in the care of an infant and in a marriage of
convenience to Abe, who promises to keep Zoe and the baby safe from looming
danger.
Main character Zoe Hart is a warm hearted and assertive young woman who is escaping, family drug addiction and bullying to start a new life in the colonies. She struggles with self doubt but has a full set of admirable qualities I wish she would see as clearly as Abe does.
Secondary character Abraham Merivale is on a 5 year, unpaid, mission
in British Columbia to build churches. He aspires to become bishop, but is more
and more in conflict with the decisions to stay on his career track. I feel for
him as his life seems so confined within the rules of English society.
A Bride of
Convenience includes several dramatic
elements so expertly written my neck hairs rose, including well crafted and dangerous
villain character Dexter Dawson out to get Zoe. The thorough research shines
through in the vivid descriptions of people’s lifestyles, interactions and clothing
as well as the characters themselves.
The romance between Zoe and Abe took some time to develop as
they both tried to live by the convenience deal. But close moments seemed to
appear between them more and more helped by walks in the northern lights and
the visit to a local hot spring. This was my favorite parts of the story I felt
were particularly well written. A spiritual element was running through
the book as the characters continuously prayed for support while trying to deal
with tough times.
A Bride of Convenience included all my favorites: Exiting plot including romance and drama set in spectacular, exotic environments. I couldn’t ask for more. A Bride of Convenience is the second work I have read by Jody Hedlund. While I would have preferred to read The Bride Ship Series in order, reading A Bride of Convenience as a standalone worked perfectly. Just enough hints from the previous installment were given to help me pick up the essentials.
Fans of Jody Hedlund will absolutely love this work, as will readers of historical romance fiction. Similar author to explore might be Laura Frantz and Karen Witemeyer.
Thank you to Bethany House Publishers and NetGalley for this eARC, which gave me the opportunity to share my honest review. All opinions are completely my own.
My review: 5 stars / 5
Main reasons: Exiting plot, excellent writing, great romance.
Grab your copy here
Book Details
Print Length: 352 pages
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers (June 30, 2020)
Publication Date: June 30, 2020
Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B0821PQM6T
About The Author
Jody Hedlund is the author of over twenty historicals for both adults and teens and is the winner of numerous awards including the Christy, Carol, and Christian Book Award.
Jody lives in central Michigan with her husband, five busy children, and five spoiled cats. Although Jody prefers to experience daring and dangerous adventures through her characters rather than in real life, she's learned that a calm existence is simply not meant to be (at least in this phase of her life!).
When she's not penning another of her page-turning stories, she loves to spend her time reading, especially when it also involves consuming coffee and chocolate. (Copied from Amazon).
Read more about the author on her website https://jodyhedlund.com/
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