Adoring Addie By, Leslie Gould (The Courtshio of Lancaster County 2)

 

Rating 2.5 out of 5 Stars

After reading Courting Kate, I had wanted to buy Adoring Addie right away.  However, the reviews on Amazon were less than stellar, and while I don't live and die by others' reviews, I still held off.  I found Adoring Addie on the shelf at our base library and was excited to give it a try for free. 

Summary:
Addie lives in an oppressive Amish household.  She is the only girl of several siblings and pretty much runs the house without help.  When she falls in love at first sight with Jonathan, she finally feels some hope.  However, there is a long term feud between the two families and many people and circumstances that are determined to keep them apart. 

Review:
I found myself enjoying this book at first, but it quickly became quite unrealistic to me.  Love at first sight may actually happen, but it was not believable to me in this book.  Also, Addie's personality was confusing to me.  She constantly would proclaim to have "never" disobeyed or gone against her parents, but all of her internal thoughts screamed "rebellion" and almost hatred of her parents.  I don't really blame her, but it seemed to be a contradiction.
I also felt the ending was too quick.  There were so many things going against them and in one chapter they seemed to fix everything.  Again, just pretty unrealistic. 
Because I enjoyed Courting Kate so much I would definitely try the next book in this series if one were to come out, but this was just not my favorite. 

Candle in the Darkness By, Lynn Austin

Rating 4 Stars

Summary:
Caroline is living in Richmond, VA right in the middle of the War Between the States.  She loves her country and does not want it divided.  She loves her husband, who fights for the Confederacy, but she disagrees with slavery.  She loves her father's slaves and they are more a family to her than her mother and father ever were.  Along the way, an old friend convinces her to help her country by spying for the North.  This struggle to do what is right, to go against her father, precious friends and the man she loves may cost her everything.

Review:
This is my first Lynn Austin book so I had no idea what to expect.  It was a little darker than I usually like to read, but it was so "real"...gritty and tough.  This was also my first read of Civil War fiction since I usually stick to Medieval, Colonial or Revolutionary times.  It was fascinating and heart breaking all at the same time.  Descriptions of the hospitals filled with injured, dead and dying soldiers and the resistance she met just trying to talk about a different side to slavery really helped me to understand how bloody this war was and what agony everyone in this country must have gone through.  I absolutely loved Eli, her father's slave and Caroline's father figure in many ways.  Hearing his Godly thoughts on so many difficult situations really encouraged and convicted me.

The only thing I disliked about this book was that she was spying.  It seems like such a crummy thing to do.  She was listening in on her father and his friends and hosting parties just so she could overhear information to pass on.  Her fiance and best friends had no idea, and while I understand she was doing it in the name of peace, unity and emancipation, it still really rubbed me wrong.  I understand that the author was showing that through this she was "obeying God, not man", but lying and cheating is hard to stomach...especially against one's family.  But I'm sure I'm wrong since she did it for all the right reasons and what she was fighting for was right also.  She knew she could lose her chance to marry and even be hanged, but she believed in what she was doing and kept on.

Will I read Lynn Austin again?  I don't know.  Her writing was superb and the content very rich, but I just light lighter books in general.  However, if I see one at the book sale I will pick it up for sure and give it a read.