Beyond All Measure...Review

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About the book:
Unless she can trust God's love to cast out her fears, Ada may lose the heart of a good man. 

Ada Wentworth, a young Bostonian, journeys to Hickory Ridge, Tennessee, in the years following the Civil War. Alone and nearly penniless following a broken engagement, Ada accepts a position as a lady's companion to the elderly Lillian Willis, a pillar of the community and aunt to the local lumber mill owner, Wyatt Caldwell. Ada intends to use her millinery skills to establish a hat shop and secure her future.

Haunted by unanswered questions from her life in Boston, Ada is most drawn to two townsfolk: Wyatt, a Texan with big plans of his own, and Sophie, a mulatto girl who resides at the Hickory Ridge orphanage. Ada's friendship with Sophia attracts the attention of a group of locals seeking to displace the residents of Two Creeks, a "colored" settlement on the edge of town. As tensions rise, Ada is threatened but refuses to abandon her plan to help the girl.

When Lillian dies, Ada is left without employment or a place to call home. And since Wyatt's primary purpose for staying in Hickory Ridge was to watch over his aunt, he can now pursue his dream of owning Longhorns in his home state of Texas.

With their feelings for each other growing, Ada must decide whether she can trust God with her future and Wyatt with her heart.

Having lost her fortune, family and fiance during the Civil War and its aftermath, Ada Wentworth answers an ad for a position as a lady's companion and finds herself in Tennessee, a long way from Boston.   While her greatest desire is to own her own millinery shop, she realizes she must first fund it and Wyatt Caldwell wants her to put her full attention toward caring for his crotchety aunt.  Ada also has a painful past and must learn what it is God wants her to do.  Naturally, Ada and Wyatt are attracted to each other, but a jealous school teacher wants Wyatt only for herself.

I enjoyed watching Ada and Lillian's relationship grow and it was refreshing to see the townspeople begin to soften towards Ada as they put aside their Yankee prejudices.  This is a book packed full of adventure and experiences and the KKK aspect and overt racism brought a different perspective.

Beyond All Measure is a charming, clean Christian novel.  While I enjoyed the novel, I found some of the characterizations a bit extreme. However, this is a story that does draw you in and I'm glad to know it's the first of a series.  I look forward to the next installment.

Thanks to Lisa at TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to review this book.  You can learn more about Dorothy Love here. You can purchase your own copy here. You can see other tour stops here.

Monday, October 17th:  A Fair Substitute for Heaven
Tuesday, October 18th:  2 Kids and Tired
Wednesday, October 19th:  Reviews by Molly
Thursday, October 20th:  A Chick Who Reads
Monday, October 24th:  Reviews from the Heart
Tuesday, October 25th:  All Grown Up? 
Wednesday, October 26th:  I Am A Reader, Not A Writer  author Q&A
Thursday, October 27th:  Luxury Reading
Friday, October 28th:  Life in Review
Tuesday, November 1st:  Deb’s Book Bag
Wednesday, November 2nd:  Cheryl’s Book Nook
Thursday, November 3rd:  Life in the Thumb
Friday, November 4th:  Southern Sassy Things
Monday, November 7th:  By the Book
Wednesday, November 9th:  Christian Bookshelf Reviews
Monday, November 14th:  The Overweight Bookshelf
Wednesday, November 16th:  Peeking Between the Pages

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Read 10/11

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3/5 Stars

Comments

  1. Love the "look" of this novel - so pretty. Glad you enjoyed this one, Holly. So many times, an author's work will get stronger in the following installments... perhaps that will be the case with this series.

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  2. This looks like a really great story and something I would enjoy reading. Thanks for the opportunity! My profile is already open/visible:)

    I am a follower of the blog via GFC

    and I tweeted about the giveaway

    http://twitter.com/#!/crazymidwestgal/status/126405090755088384

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  3. I would love to read this! It sounds like a good story. thanks for the giveaway!

    I'm a follower.

    Margaret
    singitm(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  4. I think this may be my favorite genre! I would love, love to read this book. I would love add another favorite author to my list.

    I am follower of your blog.

    I tweeted about this giveaway:

    http://t.co/uMOA970U

    CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com

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  5. I'm happy to see that you are intrigued enough by the story to be looking forward to the next one in the series! Thanks for being on the tour.

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  6. I'm a new follower!

    I also tweeted about the giveaway:
    https://twitter.com/#!/JourneyThruWord/status/128268718030598144

    Thanks for the opportunity!

    journeythroughwords at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for letting us know about this book.


    Sorry I'm at work on lunch break & have to use anonymous otherwise I have to sign out of my work gmail acct.

    maynekitty [at] live [dot] com

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  8. Hi! Just stopping by to thank you for hosting my book on your site.

    I'm glad you enjoyed Ada's story and hope you'll like the next book even more.

    Blessings, Dorothy

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  9. I'd love a shot at this. Thanks!

    I follow

    nfmgirl AT gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete