{"id":5797,"date":"2010-09-23T22:07:52","date_gmt":"2010-09-24T03:07:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/\/?p=5797"},"modified":"2010-09-23T22:07:52","modified_gmt":"2010-09-24T03:07:52","slug":"a-hope-undaunted-by-julie-lessman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/?p=5797","title":{"rendered":"A Hope Undaunted by Julie Lessman"},"content":{"rendered":"<hr \/>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>MY REVIEW:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>A Hope Undaunted<\/strong><\/em> revisits the O&#8217;Connor family as well as other characters introduced in Lessman&#8217;s <em><strong>Daughters of Boston<\/strong><\/em> series. Katie O&#8217;Connor and Cluny (Luke) McGee are all grown up but still striking sparks in their love\/hate relationship. New characters have been introduced and some of them will hopefully be more fully developed in a future story.<\/p>\n<p>As in her earlier novels, Lessman has boldly written a story filled with passion yet laced with faith. Characters are lifelike with realistic emotional struggles. The plot moves like a roller coaster with highs and lows, twists and turns, and always a surprise right around the corner. This is definitely not a predictable storyline. It may (or may not) end as you anticipate, but it will keep you wondering right up to the end.<\/p>\n<p>Personally, I did think <em><strong>A Hope Undaunted<\/strong><\/em> was a couple hundred pages too long. By the time I finished it, I was ready for some of the characters to make up their minds already. I was worn out. The story was very well written and would be an excellent choice for those who are often disappointed when their book reaches the end. <em><strong>A Hope Undaunted<\/strong><\/em> definitely gives the reader plenty of bang for their buck.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>Available September 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><br class=\"spacer_\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"divider2\" src=\"..\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/divider21.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"399\" height=\"52\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em>This book was provided for review by<br \/>\n Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>ABOUT THE BOOK:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/AHopeUndaunted.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-5799\" style=\"margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;\" title=\"A Hope Undaunted\" src=\"http:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/AHopeUndaunted.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"223\" height=\"345\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/AHopeUndaunted.jpg 223w, https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/AHopeUndaunted-96x150.jpg 96w, https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/AHopeUndaunted-150x232.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 223px) 100vw, 223px\" \/><\/a>Passion during the Roaring Twenties<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>New romance series will appeal to fans of Deeanne Gist.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>A Hope Undaunted<\/em><\/strong> is the first book in the highly anticipated new series, <em>Winds of Change<\/em>, from award-winning author <strong>Julie Lessman<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>This highly charged romance takes readers to Boston, while the 1920s are drawing to a close. Katie O&#8217;Connor is the epitome of the new woman\u2014feisty, smart and sassy with goals for her future that include the perfect husband and a challenging career in law. Her boyfriend Jake fits all of her criteria for a husband\u2014good-looking, well-connected, wealthy, and head-over-heels in love with her.<\/p>\n<p>But when Katie is forced to spend the summer of 1929 with Luke McGee, the bane of her childhood existence, Katie comes face to face with a choice. Will she follow her well-laid plans to marry Jake? Or will she fall for the man she swore to despise forever?<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>A Hope Undaunted<\/em><\/strong> has been lauded by Booklist: \u201cA rich girl and a poor boy find that love can be the great equalizer in Lessman\u2019s engrossing tale, which has more awareness and sizzle between the hero and heroine than your average inspirational romance.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Publisher\u2019s Weekly has praised Lessman, saying her \u201cwriting skill is noteworthy\u201d in <strong><em>A Hope Undaunted<\/em><\/strong><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><br class=\"spacer_\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>ABOUT THE AUTHOR:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/Julie-Lessman1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-5804\" style=\"margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;\" title=\"Julie Lessman\" src=\"http:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/Julie-Lessman1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"240\" height=\"288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/Julie-Lessman1.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/Julie-Lessman1-125x150.jpg 125w, https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/Julie-Lessman1-150x180.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px\" \/><\/a>Julie Lessman<\/em><\/strong><em> is the author of A <\/em>Passion Most Pure, A Passion Redeemed, <em>and<\/em> A Passion Denied<em>. Lessman has garnered several writing awards, including ten Romance Writers of America awards. She lives in Missouri.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> <\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>Praise for <em>A Hope Undaunted<\/em> by Julie Lessman<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cA rich girl and a poor boy find that love can be the great equalizer in <strong>Lessman\u2019s engrossing tale, which has more awareness and sizzle between the hero and heroine than your average inspirational romance.<\/strong>&#8221; \u2013 Booklist review<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<strong>Lessman\u2019s writing skill is noteworthy.<\/strong>\u201d \u2013 Publisher\u2019s Weekly<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>Lessman writes my favorite kind of book: the kind I can&#8217;t put down<\/strong>.&#8221; \u2013 Siri Mitchell, author of <em>She Walks in Beauty<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>Captivating characters, richly drawn, along with riveting and thought-provoking scenes<\/strong>. Julie Lessman has written a novel that resonates throughout with constant reminders of God&#8217;s unconditional love.&#8221; \u2013 Maggie \u00a0Brendan, author of Heart of the West series<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>With deft plotting and sparkling, true-to-life characters<\/strong>, <em>A Hope Undaunted<\/em> delivers an emotionally intense, spiritually satisfying read that you will not forget!&#8221; \u2013 Laura \u00a0Frantz, author of <em>The Frontiersman&#8217;s Daughter <\/em>and<em> Courting Morrow Little<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>A passionate romance with characters that touch every emotion<\/strong>. &#8221; \u2013 Judith Miller, author of <em>Somewhere to Belong<\/em>, Daughters of Amana series<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>I love her work, and this may be the best book yet.<\/strong>&#8221; \u2013 Mary Connealy, author of <em>Doctor in Petticoats<\/em> and <em>Wrangler in Petticoats<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>Ms. Lessman&#8217;s exquisite talent for expressing the deep passions<\/strong>, joys, and torments of the soul will endear you to her characters.&#8221; \u2013 MaryLu Tyndall, author of <em>Surrender the Heart<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MY REVIEW: A Hope Undaunted revisits the O&#8217;Connor family as well as other characters introduced in Lessman&#8217;s Daughters of Boston series. Katie O&#8217;Connor and Cluny (Luke) McGee are all grown up but still striking sparks in their love\/hate relationship. New characters have been introduced and some of them will hopefully be more fully developed in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,34,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-historical","category-romance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5797"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5797"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5865,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5797\/revisions\/5865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}