A Reluctant Courtship: Christian Fiction Book Review

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Summary of "A Reluctant Courtship"

    Honore Bainbridge has been courted by two men, one of whom turned out to be a traitor, the other a murderer. Banished to her family's country estate, where she will hopefully stay out of trouble, she finally meets the man she is sure is exactly right for her: Lord Ashmoor. Tall, dark, and handsome--what more could a girl ask for?

     But he, too, is under suspicion because of his American upbringing and accusations that he has helped French prisoners escape from Dartmoor Prison. If he's to keep out of a British prison himself and secure his place in British society, Lord Ashmoor needs a wife beyond reproach--something the vexingly beautiful Honore certainly is not. Though they find themselves drawn to each other, family obligations may conspire to keep them apart forever.

     For the sake of her heart, Honore determines to prove Ashmoor's innocence--even if doing so risks her own life.

     From the first sentence in A Reluctant Courtship, award-winning author Laurie Alice Eakes thrusts you into high drama amid the rocky cliffs of Devonshire, England, and keeps you suspended there until the final page.

Joy In Our Journey's review ~ by Jan:

    Once in a while, I come across a book that proves the statement that I "can’t tell a book by its cover." 

    A Reluctant Courtship by Laurie Alice Eakes is proof of that statement.  It’s not that the cover isn’t very nice; it is!  However, it gives the impression that here is just another English romance novel.  Well, it is an English romance novel, but it is so much more!  The main characters are: heroine (Honore), who is in disgrace and will try anything to remove that disgrace; and a hero (Meric), who has to prove his dead father innocent of a murder charge.

    The time period is 1813, during the War of 1812.  In this particular village, there are French men who are on the side of the Americans, British who are fighting the Americans, and smugglers.  In addition, two Americans, Meric and his brother, Philo, are a part of the scene.  Meric has come to England to prove his father innocent of a charge of murder, and instead has to rescue Honore from falling off a cliff to her death.  He is attracted to this beautiful lady, but her tarnished reputation can only lead to friendship. He must first complete his mission and support his mother and other siblings.  The conflicting emotions has both Honore and Meric at cross purposes. Then there is Miss Morrow, Honore’s  companion, who seems to have missed out on a romance. Can she find that special man in this out of the way village?

    I appreciated that this novel wasn’t just about dances, banquets, and tea parties, as so many 18th century English novels are, but had fast action and a believable lifestyle for the characters.  I would recommend A Reluctant Courtship, the third book in the Daughters of Bainbridge House series by Laurie Alice Eakes for an interesting, fast paced, and somewhat somewhat complicated story line. It's a story that keeps your interest to the last page.

About the author:  Laurie Alice Eakes

Laurie Alice Eakes is the author of Lady in the Mist, Heart's Safe Passage, Choices of the Heart, A Necessary Deception, and A Flight of Fancy, which won the October 2012 Clash of the Titles Award, voted on by readers. She won a National Readers Choice Award for Best Regency in 2007 for Family Guardian. Laurie Alice writes full-time from her home in Texas, where she lives with her husband and sundry dogs and cats. Visit www.lauriealiceeakes.com for more about this author.

     In the interest of full disclosure, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I receive an affiliate commission...without it costing you a penny more.   I only recommend products I use personally. Your purchases through these links help support Joy In Our Journey. I humbly thank you for your support!

    I received a copy of this book for review, but was not compensated financially in any way. The opinions expressed are those of Joy In Our Journey.com and are based solely on experiences while reading this book.

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