A Place in His Heart by Rebecca DeMarino (My Review)
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| A Place in His Heart by Rebecca DeMarino Copyright 2014 Revell Books ISBN: 9780800722180 |
She could cross an ocean, but could she ever win his heart?
Anglican Mary Langton longs to marry for love. Left at the altar and disgraced in her small hamlet, she is being pressured to marry the eligible son of the London milliner. Puritan Barnabas Horton still grieves the loss of his beloved wife, but he knows his two young sons need a mother.
With tender hearts, Mary and Barnabas take a leap of faith and wed. But when Barnabas's secret plans to move his family to the New World to escape persecution come to light, Mary's world is upended. How could she possibly leave her papa and her dear sister?
And will she ever reach the secret places of her husband's broken heart?
My Thoughts:
I'll be the first to stand up and applaud Revell for publishing so many wonderful historical romances this year that have such varied locales and time periods around which they revolve. A Place in His Heart is one of these books. Set in the 1630s-40s England and Massachusetts, it's not a period you often read about in historical Christian romance. Even though the book ended up not suiting my tastes, I'm sure some readers will enjoy it. On to the explanation of my rating...
The main reasons why I had to give this book one star is simply because of the fact I didn't connect with ANYONE in this story. Mary Langston seemed very silly and headstrong when it came to Barnabas Horton. She went from not knowing him to falling in love in the space of a few sentences it seemed. Needless to say, I didn't empathize with her in the least when things didn't go according to plan. Barnabas wasn't exactly a "fun" guy either. Granted he was grieving the loss of his first wife, but he treated Mary not as a help meet that he wanted, but more like a servant. I do realize that relationships and roles of women in a marriage were different in the 17th century and the author probably wanted some authenticity, but I felt absolutely no connection between Mary and Barney at all. I'm sure he asked Mary if she was pregnant a dozen times. Ack! It didn't even feel like they were friends let alone husband and wife. The emotional aspects of this story just did not resonate with me. I did, however, enjoy the different settings. From England, on board the ship to America, and the different townships and villages in New England it was a nice change to "see" a different view. I love me some prairie romances and English-set regencies, but 2014 has been the year of the offbeat and exotic. It's nice to know that romance can indeed happen anywhere!
The writing isn't bad with this book, so I encourage you to check it out if you like straight up history or prefer setting over characters. I guess from the back cover I just was expecting a lot more romance and a hero who was a lot more chivalrous, hence the disappointment. Since the next book in the series is set in the Southold area during the same time period, I might give it a try -- hopefully the hero and heroine have a little more chemistry!
~ My Rating: 1 out of 5 stars ~
*I receive complimentary books for review from publishers, publicists, and/or authors. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.
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Giveaway!
Happy Reading!
You took the words out of my mouth with this one! I was swamped with review books so I didn't finish it but my feelings about what I did read were the same as yours! Great job with this review!
ReplyDeleteThanks for checking out my review, Abbi! I'm sorry that this book wasn't for you. I read the whole thing although it was a struggle. If it wasn't so short, I may not have finished it either. :-(
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