Love's Pursuit by Siri Mitchell

I had the pleasure to read Love's Pursuit by Siri Mitchell and I am glad I did
because it was very well written and very enjoyable. I have never read Siri
Mitchell before and am glad this is the first book I read by her.
I will tell you a little about the book first and then go on to give my opinion on it.

Taken from Bethany House's website:

In the small Puritan community of Stoneybrooke, Massachusetts, Susannah Phillips stands out both for her character and beauty. She wants only a simple life but soon finds herself pursued by the town's wealthiest bachelor and by a roguish military captain sent to protect them. One is not what he seems and one is more than he seems.
In trying to discover true love's path, Susannah is helped by the most unlikely of allies, a wounded woman who lives invisible and ignored in their town. As the depth, passion, and sacrifice of love is revealed to Susannah, she begins to question the rules and regulations of her childhood faith. In a community where grace is unknown, what price will she pay for embracing love?

My opinion:

Like I said at the beginning I was very glad to have had the opportunity to read this book as part of the Bethany House blogger review program and since it was my first time hearing of or reading Siri Mitchell I was also excited. While she isn't a new author in the truest sense of new, she is new to me and I am glad to have had the chance to read one of her books - a fictional historical romance. Siri Mitchell had me hooked from the time of the first page and kept me wanting to turn them!

What I especially liked about this book is the historical accuracies that were detailed in the book. I could feel myself walking down the street in Stoneybrooke living among the Puritans and looking into their every day lives. From the grueling woman's work in a hot house over a hot fireplace all day to knowing that one slip up could forever label me a woman unfit to have her own husband, home and children. The pressure was high to succeed and jealousy and 'spies' were watching. From my research of the way Puritans lived this summed up very well how their lives were lived. While they thought their works would save them - not the grace of God and having to be on the look out for a busy body one could easily become overwhelmed with the enormity of it all.

There were two scenes that bothered me and they were between Susannah Phillips and Simeon Wright and given the character's personality and knowing that there was something evil about him one could say that this helped to establish his character. I see far worse things on the nightly news, so I can't come down too hard on Siri Mitchell, since it did help to establish his character without being so blatant that would make it seem like a dime store romance. I appreciate that.

Overall, this book had me on the edge of my seat and rooting for Susannah in a time of arranged marriages regardless of the man or how that man carried on his business and secretly happily when the truth is found out. I could write so much more but that would spoil it and I don't want to provide a spoiler! So I will say if you like historical accuracies in a book then this definitely has it, if you like romance without all the raunchy stuff this is a great book, if you want a book that seeks to lift up God then this it! I suggest you look into getting your hands on this book and sit back for an enjoying read.

This being said I would not recommend this to an unmarried, young woman but if the woman is married and has a good marriage then I would recommend this.

For more information or to order visit Bethany House.