Before I begin I want to make one thing clear. I am not, nor do I ever see me being a big fan of romance, and a historical romance, for me, only makes it worse. Having said that let me move on to some more positive notes.
GENTLE JOURNEY, by Elaine Lyons Bach is one of the best romances I've red, with the exception of a couple fantasy romances. Her characters are realistic, filled with flaws. Miss Eden Barret quits her nanny job to go work for a painter to learn something about his style. Her desire is to be an artist, among other things. It turns out the artist wants a house cleaner, not a protégé. She decides upon looking elsewhere for a position. This lands her a job as a nanny for Lord Colin Ashton, Seventh Earl of Edmund. He has a young, headstrong daughter, Diana, who is just the right medicine for her.
Working for Lord Edmund isn't without its problems. One of the greatest problems turns out to be Eden's faith in Jesus Christ. It seems that Lord Edmund doesn't want to hear anything about God, nor does he want Eden to fill his daughter's head with such nonsense. Eden, being who she is, gets permission to answer any questions that Diana might ask. There are external problems as well. One man feels Eden and Lord Edmund have wrongfully taken his sons. Just wait until you read about this chimney sweep and the two lads he called his and judge for yourself.
Little by little Eden and Lord Edmund are falling for each other, but even this comes with its own set of unique problems. I like the way that Elaine moves her story along, using her characters to do the work for her. It's refreshing and enjoyable, and for me to say that about a romance is high praise indeed. So if you like this kind of stuff, you will love GENTLE JOURNEY. If you're like me and romance isn't your cup of tea, then don't pick it up and start reading it. You may just find yourself liking it.
Tomorrow's tag team entry on the CFRB blog tour will be on CFRB's main blog
The tour started Sunday with Bibliophile's Retreat with a great interview.
On Monday it was time for Cathi's Chatter to weigh in.
TuesdayLaura Davis had an excellent review.
Susan M. Kirkland posted her perspsective of GENTLE JOURNEY on Wednesday.
Thursday, the baton was passed to Rebecca Wire, who also posted an interview today.
So today you have to put up with me! Sorry about that ;-)
Don't miss out on a humorous but amazingly accurate "fake" review by Stephen L. Rice at Back to the Mountains.
Book Details:
Gentle Journey
Elaine Lyons Bach
Fiction Romance
Outskirts Press (February 9, 2007) 248 pgs
ISBN: 978-1598009040
4 comments:
I'm not big on romances as a rule, even though I'm a female. But, like you, this one was a happy surprise to me. That's one reason I have decided that I just like good books, whatever genre. I agree about the characters; hers are definitely three-dimensional.
Nice review.
Sounds like a good read. I'll need to keep it in mind.
David, I'm glad you enjoyed the book, even if it was a romance! I thought it was a delightful book and I look forward to hearing more from Elaine.
Although I'm not a romance fan, I do like stories that deal with life in a full-bodied manner. GENTLE JOURNEY, by Elaine Lyons Bach was just such a book. She even through it a little action and suspense for us hormonally challenged readers ;-)
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