Only one word comes to mind. Epic!Book Rating: Up All Night’er
Everyone has been telling me I gotta read Julie Lessman. And finally, I finished her first novel! Literally, I stayed up all night. (Well, OK maybe just until midnight…a mom’s gotta have a few hours of sleep, right. *wink *)
First of all, I’m a big fan of Boston, MA so that was a winner for me right there. Lessman’s style is very easy to read and downright beautiful. She adds just enough detail to make it come alive, but you don’t feel bogged down with unneeded fluff.
In this story Faith O’Connor is trying to deal with an unrequited love, so to speak. She has been head over heals for Collin McGuire for many years. But, as luck would have it, he’s in love with her sister. Say, what? (Yes, now, for me this was S-uper weird, and apparently, this is a theme in Lessman’s books because I also just read her latest book A LOVE SURRENDERED…review coming Oct 1, just FYI…and it was the same thing in that story. Only, that one was even more crazy if you can believe it. Personally, I do not think that I could kiss someone that my sister kisses all the time. And I mean "kisses" because both relationships Faith and Charity/Collin are going on at the same time. I’m sure it happens…like I say, that’s just a personal thing and it was weird for me.)
Anyway, back to the book. Faith is a strong Irish girl and her faith in God is wonderful. She tries to get Collin to turn his life to Jesus, but he won’t, and her grief is complete.
Collin is determined to marry Charity except—he’s not really sure he loves her because he has growing feelings for Faith that he never thought he would have. AHHHHH! Those emotions play with poor little Faith and everything just gets more intense as the book goes on.
Speaking of Charity. Wow. That girl is pure, unadulterated EVIL! I don’t like to use this word, but seriously, I hated her. I really did. The next book in the series is about her, and I just don’t know if I can read it. PLEASE, please tell me she changes. Some one please tell me she finds Christ and becomes a nice person, so I can read the next story!!
There is really SO much that happens in this book that it’s impossible to explain it all. Needless to say, it has a happy ending and leaves you hanging for the next one.
This book doesn’t really follow traditional HCR fashion, in that, you will read from MANY character’s POV. For me, this wasn’t really a bad thing, but I didn’t love it either. Because I spent so much time in other people’s heads (the parents, and others…) I didn’t really feel myself understanding the main characters as well as I would have liked. So, for that reason alone, I cannot give it my highest rating.
The passion really is totally awesome. I loved it. I plan on staying up until midnight (or later if I’m feeling daring) reading the rest of her books.
So, long story short (no pun intended…) I love Lessman, and I loved this book. If you haven’t read her stuff, you’ll want to put it at the top of your to-be-read list, ladies!
Happy Reading!
Buy it!
