Book Review: Love’s Awakening

I first discovered Laura Frantz’s books several years ago. Our local Lifeway offered her debut book, The Frontiersman’s Daughter, which is now my all-time favorite book, on sale. I still remember the night I finished reading TFD. It was the first time I had contacted an author. At the time, I wasn’t writing professionally, but as I read her book God began to stir up in my heart a long buried desire to write again. I fired off a short email to Laura asking about a sequel. Her friendly response encouraged me to follow her blog or friend her on Facebook.

Years later, she is someone I trust as a friend and established writer. She is not only generous with her advise, but one of the most humble people you will ever have the pleasure of knowing. I enjoy our exchanges on Facebook so much. I am thankful that God placed her first book in my path when He did, because I am now honored to be an advanced reader for this dear lady.

Last month, I received her latest release, Love’s Awakening. Which is the sequel to Love’s Reckoning. If you have not read the first book, then you can pick it up (click the links) at Amazon, B&N, or CBD. You don’t have to read it first, but I would recommend it, since Love’s Awakening follows the family history started in Book 1.

Like all of Laura’s book I finished Love’s Awakening within a day or two days of cracking open the cover. Please allow this to serve as fair warning, her books are incredibly hard to put down. For me it’s a combination of the characters and her amazing ability to describe the time period which draws me in. I dread the long wait until the next one comes out in 2014. Love’s Awakening is the story of Ellie and Jack and their forbidden friendship. This gripping story kept me turning the pages long past midnight as they struggled to sort out their feelings and do what was right. As a reader, I was reminded when life becomes hard we have two choices. We can turn to God, our source of strength, or try to muddle through on our own. This story shows a perfect example of how trusting in God brings about true hope and healing. The message went far deeper than finding true love as the character dealt with real life issues like the Underground Railroad. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing history through the eyes of Ellie Ballantyne.

The Back Cover:

Ellie Ballantyne, youngest child of Silas and Eden, has left finishing school. But back at her family home in Pittsburgh, Ellie finds that her parents are away on a long trip and her siblings don’t seem to want her to stay. When she opens a day school for young ladies, she begins tutoring the incorrigible daughter of the enemy Turlock clan. The Turlocks are slaveholders and whiskey magnates, envious of the powerful Ballantynes and suspicious of their abolitionist leanings. As Ellie becomes increasingly tangled with the Turlocks, she finds herself falling in love with an impossible future–and Jack Turlock, a young man striving to free himself from his family’s violent legacy. How can she betray her family and side with the enemy? And will Jack ever allow her into his world?