Review: Love Unexpected

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All Emma Chambers ever wanted was a home, but when her steamboat sinks just outside Presque Isle, she's left destitute and with no place to stay.
An unlikely solution arises when the lighthouse keeper arrives in town. He's just lost his wife and is having a difficult time caring for his child. So a traveling preacher gets the idea that the keeper and Emma might be the answer to each other's dilemma. After a hasty marriage, she finds herself heading to the lighthouse with this handsome but quiet stranger. Nothing in her aimless life, though, has prepared her for parenting a rambunctious toddler, as well as managing a household.
Emma soon suspects Patrick may be hiding something from her, and then she hears a disturbing rumor about the circumstances surrounding his late wife's death. It seems as if her wish for a home and family of her own could end up leading her once more into turbulent waters.

Genre: historical romance

Publishing date: December 2014

Mature content: no

Review: Love Unexpected is book one in the Beacons of Hope series by Jody Hedlund. I love the way the author writes and weaves the plot, because she can make a story simultaneously inspiring and uplifting but also realistic taking into account the time and place. My only complaint is that the end of the book seems a bit muddled - the story unravels a bit too perfectly and there's too much repetition that because Patrick is a godly man he cannot have committed the crimes he's accused of. Yes, he is a godly man, he is actually my favorite character in the whole book, but I wish his defense could be a bit more elaborated than that. So, Love Unexpected only gets four stars from me, but it is still recommended, especially if you are looking for a clean, Christian historical romance. 

The cover is also beautiful, as are the covers of the other books in the series, which I plan to read soon.


Have a wonderful weekend,