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A Historical Romance You Don't Want to Miss




After a sheltered life in Pittsburgh, Hope Irvine is ready for a new adventure. When her father takes a position as a preacher in a railroad car converted into a traveling church, she's thrilled at the chance to accompany him. While accommodations in their new chapel car home are tight, Hope couldn't be happier putting her musical skills to good use and ministering to the people of West Virginia alongside her father. But when their chapel car arrives in Finch, West Virginia, they find a coal mining community that has hit hard times and is suspicious of outsiders. 

Luke Hughes works for the coal mine when he can, but the struggling company doesn't always offer steady work. When Reverend Irvine and Hope arrive in town, Luke is intrigued by what the reverend can teach him--and by the lovely and kind Hope.

When Hope's desire to bring supplies and Sunday school classes to neighboring counties leads to her traveling with a flirtatious young mine manager, Luke is hard-pressed to suppress his jealousy. But when he begins to suspect the manager's motives are less than charitable, can he prove it without hurting Hope, or worse, putting her in danger?

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Meet the Author:
Judith Miller is an award-winning writer whose avid research and love for history are reflected in her bestselling novels. Judy and her family make their home in Kansas. Learn more at www.judithmccoymiller.com.

My Take:
I enjoyed this book from the first chapter, in which Hope loses her hat and ends up facing a pretty rowdy group of men over it. Her father begins to have second thoughts about bringing her on this mission.
Historical fiction is probably one of my favorite genres, so this book was appealing to me. I loved learning about the railroad chapel car time period and the small mining communities, as well as, the struggles the miners endured. I also really enjoyed the characters in this book. Hope was sweet, stubborn, and very lovable. She displayed a humble heart and a contagious love for God and helping people. I totally admired her father's faithfulness to the ministry and spreading the gospel to the small towns along the railroad lines. Maybe that comes from being reminded of my own parents dedication as missionaries for many years. And Luke, Hope's suitor, is a dedicated Bible scholar, yet demonstrates qualities of humanity in that he gets angry, jealous, and struggles with God answering his prayers.
Kirby Finch, mine owner's son, was a guy you would love to hate. Seriously, spoiled rich brat, basically sums him up! He does what he wants, is sneaky and conniving, and pretty much only out to please himself. He takes advantage of people with no regard to how it may affect them, so long as it benefits him. Yet, he is smooth with the ladies and easily worms his way into their affections. ARGH!! Guys like him get under my skin! 
The book is not extremely humorous, but has a lightheartedness about it, with a few mildly intense moment, such as when Kirby gets stopped by the revenuers, or when Hope has to face a group of intoxicated men alone, and a few more I will leave for you to discover.  I didn't really find myself laughing outright at anything in particular. There are a few sad moments, such as, when Hope's father falls ill, and Luke is struggling with indecision about his relationship with Hope. You just want to step in and cheer them on! There are several times your blood may get to boiling a bit, but overall it is a pretty steady read. Interesting, yet not necessarily over the edge on one extreme or the other.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a historical romance. I even took a little time to look up a railroad chapel car, when I finished the book. Judith did a great job keeping the book engaging with clean romance. I am giving it 4 stars.

I received a free copy of this book courtesy of Bethany House to read. I was not required to give a positive review and all opinions are my own. 

Comments

  1. Hey!

    Nice blog (: I just started mine up and was looking for a few relative friends in the book world! I have a Booktube channel too. Also, There is a giveaway currently going on and I will be posting more as soon as I finish editing a few videos.

    Thanks and I hop you like my blog! :*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by. I did take a minute to check out your blog also. Welcome to the blogging world

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