Rebellious Heart by Jody Hedlund

It's 1763.

Susanna Smith comes from a family of wealth and prestige and has been given everything she wants, except for an education. She does use her status to help out those less fortunate. Before she knows it, she finds herself in a dangerous mess after helping a poor young woman.

Benjamin Ross is not looked upon favorably by Susanna's family. After all, he's only a lawyer with no land or wealth to his name. He does have a passion for justice and an intolerance for the British military that finds themselves stationed in Massachusetts. When his path crosses with Susanna's desire to help a young woman, the two of them find themselves on a dangerous journey.

Rebellious Heart had a good balance of romance and action. I found the beginning to be slow, but after a few chapters the book took off. There were a few twists and turns along the way that keep you on your toes. The characters in this book were well developed and multi-faceted, helping to drive the plot in a natural progression. I did find there was a lot more sexual innuendoes and slight physical descriptions presented throughout the book than usually found in Christian fiction, which was a surprise to me. It was nothing explicit, but it certainly catches your attention. The author's note at the end of the book adds to the entire story. Jody did a great job weaving history into this fictional piece.

Bethany House Publishers provided a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Adoring Addie by Leslie Gould

A modern tale of star-crossed lovers. The Cramers and Mosiers have been two families against each other for a long time, so long that the younger generation doesn't even know why. They just go along with their parents' animosity...all except Addie Cramer and Jonathan Mosier, who fall in love with each other. The only problem is the Cramers expect Addie to marry Philip Eicher, a man with means but no passion for their daughter. Is there any way Addie and Jonathan can reconcile what happened years ago? To do that, they must first dig to find the source of all the tension, but will that cause even more problems?

This was a book that was easy to get into. The characters were believable, and I liked that not all of them were perfect. Sometimes that seems to be the case in Amish based fiction. Leslie Gould did a great job getting across this universal theme. Many times people have hatred towards others without even knowing why. It's just something that continues generation after generation because that's how the children are raised, but no explanation is given. She clearly showed the effects of that behavior.

Bethany House Publishers provided a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.