MY REVIEW:
When Ada Wentworth accepted a position as a lady’s companion in Hickory Ridge, Tennessee, she planned for it to be a stepping stone toward her dream of owning her own hat shop. To her surprise, not only was the climate much different than her Boston home, but anti-Yankee sentiments were still prevalent in the area well after the end of the Civil War. And elderly Miss Lillian – well she was what they called a real pistol and expected far more from her than Ada had anticipated. And then there was Miss Lillian’s nephew Wyatt. If Ada hadn’t already been burned once, she might be just a little bit attracted to the man.
A well paced and compelling plot, realistic and appealing characters, and a charming setting kept me turning the pages of Beyond All Measure. The historical background added extra dimension to the narrative, especially the suspenseful elements generated by Klan activity. This story has it all – plenty of drama, action, conflict, mystery and danger tempered with a good measure of humor, friendships, faith, and romance. I thoroughly enjoyed Beyond All Measure and look forward to future installments to the Hickory Ridge Romance series.
A digital copy of this book was provided for review by BookSneeze.
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 townsfolks: 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.
Read an excerpt of Beyond All Measure HERE.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Before returning to her writing roots in historical fiction, Dorothy Love published twelve novels for young adults. Her work has garnered numerous honors from the American Library Association, the Friends of American Writers, the International Reading Association, the New York Public Library, and many others. The Hickory Ridge Novels mark her Christian fiction debut.
