Book Review: Love's Awakening

For the past two days I’ve been living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the tumultuous years of the 1820’s. I’ve been a silent guest in the majestic rooms of New Hope, where Ellie Ballantyne resides with her three older siblings and her two doting parents, Silas and Eden. I watched, anxiously, as Ellie came home from finishing school to discover her family in a perilous endeavor.

As Ellie’s journey unfolds, I was invited to River Hill, the once grand, now rundown and almost forgotten home inherited by Gentleman Jack Turlock. Jack is the son of a notorious Whiskey maker and slave holder—his family known for their ruthless activities. But a near death experience has left Jack to face his past…and question his future.

I silently witnessed Ellie being reacquainted with Gentleman Jack, the boy who taunted her as a child, but the man who ignites her desire as an adult. Ellie is a Ballantyne, and Jack a Turlock, their families bitter enemies even before they were born. Despite their very different lives, I stood by breathlessly in the dusty halls of River Hill as Ellie and Jack fell in love.

I devoured Love’s Awakening in two sittings. Laura Frantz is a brilliant writer, her stories crafted with a masterful pen. I was amazed at the breadth and depth of the emotions I felt while reading this story. It isn’t often that I have to stop and hug a book to my chest, just to allow my emotions to calm down, but such was the case with this book! I literally found myself holding my breath during pivotal scenes. I had to restrain myself from yelling at one character as he came between Ellie and Jack during a delicious scene in a moonlit garden. I was enraptured and I simply could not stop reading until I reached the end. The characters became real, their hopes and dreams palpable, and their struggles unbearable. I savored every word.  

Available August 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Your Turn: Have you read Love's Awakening? Have you read any of Laura's other books? Are you just as smitten as me?