Saturday, July 12, 2014

Captured By Love By Jody Hedlund Book Review

Captured By Love

Review Written By Madi
Book Title: Captured By Love
Author: Jody Hedlund
Source/Sponsor: Bethany House Publishers
Genre: Christian Fiction, Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 364
ISBN: 978-0-7642-1049-5
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Year of Publication: 2014
Rating: Five Out Of Five Stars
 
 
Book Description
It is 1814 and the British have taken hold of Mackinac Island and its fort, forcing American residents to swear an oath of loyalty to the British crown in order to retain their land. Pierre Durant is a voyageur--a fur trader who left his family home to find freedom and adventure. He's been gone five years and when he returns, his family's farm is at the mercy of the British invaders.
Torn between the life he's grown used to and guilt over leaving his brother and mother, he's drawn back into the loyalist fight against the British--and into a relationship with Angelique Mackenzie, a beautiful local girl who's been befriended by the daughter of the British commander. As tensions mount and the threat of violence increases, both Angelique and Pierre must decide where their loyalties rest, how far they will go to find freedom, and how much they will risk to find love.
 
Book Review
Oh my. Jody Hedlund is simply wonderful. She has a natural talent for writing gripping stories that grab a readers attention and stir their souls. I always walk away from her books with a new resolve to better myself. I loved Angelique's strong character. She is completely determined to honor her commitment to Jean, even though she knows full well that her heart belongs to Pierre. She faces temptation and trials head-on with courage and strong determination. She helps the mother of the man who broke her heart when she was a child, keeping her warm and fed to the best of her ability while one of the woman's sons in doing his duty in the war effort and the other is off gallivanting around the world. Then one day that heartbreaking, gallivanting son is back home, and her world is instantly turned upside down. Between juggling her responsibilities with Miriam (mother of Jean and Pierre), and dealing with an abusive stepfather and a demanding stepmother, Angelique has little time for pleasure. There are people starving in her camp, therefore the crime rate is up like never before as hungry young men do anything that they can to scrape up a meal. Who keeps Angelique out of trouble? Well Pierre of course. I love how obvious a transformation Pierre undergoes. From a selfish young boy to a responsible man, he notices Angelique in a way he never has before.

The only thing that I didn't really love about this book was that the whole story was based on Angelique's love life. There weren't any sub stories to keep things fresh, and there was nothing going on outside of the whole Pierre/Jean thing. I would have liked the story to have had more emphasis on something else as well, maybe the fact that the two brothers were fighting on "opposite" sides? I don't know. That being said, I still really enjoyed this book! It was suspenseful, captivating, well written, and a great book for me to invest my time in. I encourage you to check out this book as soon as possible (or something else by Jody Hedlund. All her books are phenomenal).

Blessings,
Madilyn

D I S C L A I M E R: I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion by Bethany House Publishers, and that is exactly what I have given. I was not further compensated to review this product and all thoughts and sentiments expressed above are completely my own and unbiased.


 




1 comment:

  1. Jody has written some wonderful books thus far, and being a Michigan girl at heart I really looking forward to reading this book!

    pattymh2000(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete

Thank You For Commenting! Please make sure that you use clean language, as all comments will be monitored before being published.