Anita Ojeda 
The dog days of August call for fresh inspirational romances. Check out these three novels from some of my favorite authors.
I receive free electronic advanced reader copies of these books through an arrangement between the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion on NetGalley’s website. I only review books on my blog that I really love.
Dog Days of August Got Your Down?
Honestly, I have no idea where that term came from of what it means. Maybe it’s not a thing and I made it up because I hate the month of August so much. My apologies to those birthed in August, I realize you might love the month because it means celebrations.
For me, the dog days of August mean excessive heat (I don’t do well in heat), the end of vacation (which means leaving family members and returning thousands of miles home). Does anyone out there hate a month?
But I digress. I loved all of these new historical inspirational romance books from some of my favorite authors. When the temperatures rise, I strive to stay inside with a good book and an iced latte as much as possible. I do get outside in before the birds wake up to exercise, but I crave a book book after work.
Vying for the Viscount
by Kristi Ann Hunter, Bethany House Publishers, August 2020, 352 pages.
All his life, Hudson, Viscount Stildon, has longed to belong. Growing up in India, his father prepared him for his eventual life in England. But his father never allowed him to visit. Letters from his grandfather have provided Hudson’s only connection to the family he has never met and a place he has never visited.
When his grandfather passes away, Hudson makes the arduous voyage to England to take up his duties as viscount and owner of a famed racing stable. His first encounters with Englishmen leave him baffled and confused. The household servants who didn’t realize he would inherit. A madwoman in his stables who mistakes him for a horse thief.
When someone suggests that his only path to belonging involves producing a promising racehorse and marrying a certain lady, Hudson decides to do whatever it takes to finally feel at home.
Miss Bianca Snowley has lived a lonely existence as a gentleman’s daughter. She avoids her step-mother and step-sister, whose passions for gossip and fashion rival Bianca’s passion for horses. Fortunately, the trainer at the neighboring stables allows her to exercise the everyday stock.
Her world upends when her step-mother starts a campaign to marry her off to the first man willing to wed her. And Bianca can’t stand her mother’s choice. After mistaking the new Viscount Stildon for a horse thief, Bianca forms a friendship with him. When Hudson hatches a plan to integrate into local society and win the hand of the woman everyone thinks he should marry, Bianca agrees to help him.
In exchange, she insists that Hudson find eligible prospects for her in order to thwart her step-mother’s machinations. As their friendship progresses, both Bianca and Hudson start to reevaluate what they thought they really wanted in life.
Why You’ll Love this Book
I love Kristi Ann Hunter’s books—detailed historical romps through Regency England with strong female protagonists and male protagonists who admire their strength. Characters from some of Hunter’s other books make cameo appearances in Vying for the Viscount, but readers won’t need to read those books (but why not?) to appreciate this one.
Hunter writes books with themes both Christian and non-Christian readers can relate to. I’d share this book with any friend who loves the Regency genre.
If you love #Regency romance and inspirational books, you'll adore #VyingfortheViscount by @KristiAnnHunter. #amreading Click To TweetLine by Line
By Jennifer Delamere, Bethany House Publishers, June 2020, 337 pages.
Miss Alice McNeil loves her job as a telegrapher and can’t wait to start working for a private firm. At almost 28, she has forged her own path through life and feels no need to marry a man. Alice supports herself through her skills and intelligence and sees no need to wed, unlike her siblings and friends.
Despite growing up in poverty in Scotland, Douglas Shaw has worked his way up to a respected position as the second-in-command at a trading firm. His job takes him all over the world. Returning from a business trip, he meets the new telegrapher—a woman—and finds himself intrigued. But he can’t let his feelings get in the way of brokering an advantageous marriage that will advance his status in London’s society.
As they spend time together in the office, Alice and Douglas discover more about themselves and their ambitions than they ever thought possible. What they discover may bring their dreams crashing down—but maybe God lets dreams die for a greater purpose.
Why You’ll Love this Book
Jennifer Delamere’s attention to detail of a working girl’s life in the 1880s in London brings the story to life. Delamere delves into the perceptions and decisions we hold onto that may no longer serve us as Alice visits her mentor and Douglas talks to the famous Andrew Carnegie.
If you enjoy a period love story with quirky characters (Alice teaches Douglas to dance using Morse code) and a good message that never feels preachy, this book is for you!
Looking for quirky characters and an entertaining historical inspirational romance? Check out #LinebyLine by @JenDelamere today! Click To TweetThe Bride of Convenience
By Jody Hedlund, Bethany House Publishers, June 2020, 352 pages.
When Zoe Hart loses her job at a mill in England, she jumps at the chance to join one of the bride ships carrying marriageable women to the lonely bachelors of British Columbia. She figures she can marry the first man who asks—as long as he promises to take her to the interior of the wild country to find her missing twin.
Anything beats staying at home and enduring her father’s abuse, the crushing loss of her infant niece, and the immoral alternatives to having no income. She desperately wants to find her brother to ease his mind and return the cross he threw at her feet when they parted ways two years earlier.
Pastor Abe Merivale ministers to miners and miffs the bishop with his hands-on, relationship-building ways with his parishioners. Abe serves as an unpaid missionary for the Church of England. His experience in England convicts him that ministers must do more and be more in this new, untamed land. His heart for service causes him to take in the infant daughter of one of his parishioners whose wife has died. Fortunately, Zoe Hart, one of the bride ship women offers to help him out.
His superior sees it differently—holding out the threat of refusing to recommend Abe for a higher position when his mission term ends. Everything comes to a head when the bishop issues an ultimatum about the infant.
A Marriage of Inconvenience
When a fellow missionary shows up at the cathedral and agrees to perform the wedding ceremony, Zoe feels slightly taken aback—after all, she wanted Abe to perform the ceremony, not play the part of the groom. But since the other guy showed up late and she likes Abe better, she says nothing.
What God has joined together, all sorts of men wish to pull asunder. But Abe and Zoe commit to a marriage of convenience for the sake of the infant and the promise of help locating her brother.
Neither one remotely understands what they’ve gotten themselves into. But the more they get to know each other, the more apparent it becomes to everyone else that God really has joined them together.
Who Will Love This Book
You’ll love this book if you love historical inspirational romance with a little mystery and suspense thrown in. Although part of a series, one needn’t read the first two books to completely enjoy this one. Characters from other books make minor appearances, so if you have read A Reluctant Bride or The Runaway Bride, you’ll enjoy learning more about other characters from the series.
Hedlund weaves faith into her characters’ lives without ever feeling preachy. I’d lend my copies of any of the Bride Ship books to non-believers and know they wouldn’t feel turned off because of the inspirational content.
Don't miss the third Bride Ship book from @JodyHedlund! You'll love Abe and Zoe. #amreading #bookreview Click To Tweet
