Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

Fiction

Just what I expected: Review of Love Unexpected by Jody Hedlund

Any time I read a book by one of my favorite authors, I’m expecting a good story. Yet, a part of me wonders, will this be the book I don’t like? Because, over time, it’s possible that I’ll not like a book by one of favorite authors. (Possible, but it hasn’t happened yet!)

LoveUnexpectedFortunately, Jody Hedlund’s new release, Love Unexpected, is another gem of a story, and the only “unexpected” part is how the story will unfold. (Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book from the author in exchange for my review.)

Love Unexpected kicks off a new series centered on Michigan’s lighthouses. Being from the Midwest, I have a soft spot for the Great Lakes but have almost no knowledge about the area’s lighthouses. Michigan is a treasure trove for lighthouse lovers, it would seem.

This book is set at the Presque Isle lighthouse on Lake Huron and is based on a real lighthouse keeper from the 1800s. (This is one of my favorite things about Jody’s books. She uses characters from history and fictionalizes their stories while keeping many of the facts of their life intact.) Even if this wasn’t based on Michigan history, though, it would be a good story.

Emma Chambers and her brother, Ryan, are searching for a new life when their boat is attacked by pirates and they find themselves shipwrecked in the lake. They’re rescued by Patrick Garraty, lighthouse keeper, who has just lost his wife and is struggling to care for his two-year-old son while maintaining the lighthouse.

Prompted by the circuit-riding preacher, Emma agrees to a quickie wedding to this stranger. Marrying him gives her what she’s always dreamed of: a home of her own, a husband and a child. But she soon learns she isn’t as up to the task as she thought. And her new husband hints at an unsavory past that feeds Emma’s doubts about her hasty decision.

As her love for the child grows, so do her doubts about her new husband. Is this marriage what she dreamed of or did she just enter a nightmare?

Love Unexpected is part love story, part history lesson, part mystery, and Jody crafts a page-turning tale. I literally tell myself, “One more chapter,” half a dozen times before I have to step away from the story to take care of real life.

If you’re a fan of lighthouses, Michigan history or just really good inspirational fiction, I’d encourage you to check out this book by Jody Hedlund. (You can also read her Beacons of Hope novella, Out of the Storm, for free on Kindle.)

If lighthouses or Michigan aren’t your thing, you can check out her other books. Here’s a list of ones I’ve reviewed.

I’m looking forward to more lighthouse stories from Hedlund. And now I want to take a trip to visit them!

The new way to tell fairy tales: Review of The Princess Spy by Melanie Dickerson

Two things always surprise me about Melanie Dickerson’s books:

1. They’re considered young adult fiction (and I, a not-very-young adult, LOVE them).

2. They’re creative retellings of familiar fairy tales, often done so well that I don’t immediately recognize the original fairy tale!

princess spySuch was the case with her new release, The Princess Spy. (Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book from Zondervan through the Booklook Blogger program.)

When I first started reading Dickerson’s books, I was intrigued by the idea that she could take the basics of fairy tales like Beauty and the Beast, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Sleeping Beauty, set them in the Middle Ages with princesses and knights and castles, and make a whole new story out of them. That’s what started me reading them. Now, it doesn’t even matter to me if they’re retellings, and when I read The Princess Spy, I wasn’t even thinking about The Frog Prince, a fairy tale I sometimes forget about.

Basically what I’m trying to say here is that even if these were stories without a fairy tale association, they would still be good, still worth reading.

In The Princess Spy, Margaretha is being wooed by Lord Claybrook, a man she hopes will be the true love she’s been waiting for. Until she meets an injured stranger, who is brought to the castle’s healer for tending his wounds. The man claims to be an English lord with dangerous information about Claybrook. He enlists Margaretha to spy for him, and soon, she is thrust into a daring plan to save her family and kingdom.

There is adventure, banter, danger, romance, chivalry and unexpected turns of events. Before I knew about The Frog Prince elements of the story, I caught influences of scenes in the movies The Princess Bride and Ever After. In short, it was everything a good fairy tale romance should be. (And the heroine is no weakling. I love a good strong heroine.)

You should know, if you read this, that there are characters from previous novels connected to this one. I now want to go back and re-read the ones that came before and make a family tree of some kind so I can follow along to how everyone is related. But, if you haven’t read her previous books (and WHY haven’t you?), you won’t be lost in this one.

I have to put Melanie Dickerson on my list of favorite authors, and I almost can’t wait (yes, I can) until my daughter is old enough to read these stories. For me, one sign of a good author is that I’m already looking forward to the next book as soon as I’ve finished the current one. That is how I feel after reading The Princess Spy. (Also, her book covers are some of my favorites ever.)

You can take a look at all of Dickerson’s books here. And if you’ve read one of her books, or if you do, let me know what you think!