This was my first book by Jody Hedlund. I really enjoyed the book. I liked the characters and was interested in their story. It was a great illustrations of immigrant's lives in America during that time period. I did think the book was a little slow paced. Although there was some drama, it wasn't exactly a book that I had to stay up all night reading. The book was a little cookie cutter historical Christian romance, but it had its own little twist that made it interesting. For example, I felt like I had already read a book where the cabin catches fire in the end and someone needs to save the damsel in distress. One redeeming quality is that some of the twist were unexpected, so it was a little different from other books. I also liked the way the author included God because it was done in a way where the book wasn't too preachy. There was still some passion between the characters, but it was done in a clean way. I don't need a book to be filled with sex, but it is nice to see that the main characters have an attraction. Because I was able to put the book down I gave it only 4 stars. It was still good, but it will not be one of my favorites. I would definitely purchase another book by the author. As my review title states, it was a good first impression of the author.
I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers for my honest review.
