{Revell Blog Tour} Love's Fortune by Laura Frantz

About the book:


With two very different horizons stretched out before her, one young woman stands on the cusp of an unknown future.
Sheltered since birth at her Kentucky home, Rowena Ballantyne has heard only whispered rumors of her grandfather Silas’s vast fortune and grand manor in Pennsylvania. Then her father, Silas’s long-estranged son, Ansel, receives a rare letter summoning him to New Hope. Rowena makes the journey with him and quickly finds herself in a whole new world— filled with family members she’s never met, dances she’s never learned, and a new side to the father she thought she knew. As she struggles to fit in during their extended stay, she finds a friend in James Sackett, the most valued steamship pilot of the Ballantyne’s shipping line. Even with his help, Rowena feels she may never be comfortable in high society. Will she go her own way . . . to her own peril?
With her signature attention to historical detail and emotional depth, Laura Frantz brings 1850s Pennsylvania alive with a tender story of loss, love, and loyalty in this final installment of the Ballatyne saga.

My Star Rating: 5 stars

My Review:

It's bittersweet to see the Ballantyne saga come to an end, but reassuring to know that the pages can be revisited again, and again.  Continuing on with her superb writing style that readers have come to love, Laura Frantz has penned a beautiful work of art here in the pages of Love's Fortune.  As with all of her novels, the reader is rewarded with a unique reading experience . . . one that transports you to another place in time, and one that captivates the senses, as well as the heart.  With rich details, and literary prose that takes your breath away, Laura Frantz continues to be one of my favorite authors, and one that I frequently recommend.

Love's Fortune is full of rich, historic detail, that historical fiction fans are sure to savor and enjoy.  The characters are well drawn, as is the setting.  The romantic scenes are beautifully done, and definitely worthy the wait!  The romantic tension between the characters is as it should be, and leaves you quickly turning the pages to see exactly how things are going to turn out.

Love's Fortune is a fine conclusion to the Ballantyne Legacy series, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to historical fiction fans, as well as to anyone who already loves Laura Frantz' work. It's a satisfying read, one that I'm privileged to have had the opportunity to read. The writing is top notch, stellar, and not to be missed!

**Thank you to Revell for a review copy.**
Available September 2014 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

 

{Revell Blog Tour}: Dare to Love Again by Julie Lessman

About the Book:

 

Spunky Allison McClare is determined to be a fearless, independent woman, resorting to a mammoth hat pin for protection on her way to and from the school where she teaches. But when she takes a notion to explore the wild Barbary Coast she quickly discovers she is no match for rum-soaked brute strength.

Detective Nick Barone would rather do almost anything than teach this petite socialite jiu-jitsu, but it seems he has little choice in the matter. Sparks fly every time the two meet until a grudging friendship develops into something deeper. But when Nick suddenly leaves town, Allison realizes he's a fraud just like all the rest of the men she's cared for. Does she dare love again?

The lushness of the glorious Gilded Age beautifully showcases Lessman's passion as a writer in this engaging love story written with humor and heart. From the glamour of San Francisco's Nob Hill to the seedy gambling dens of the Barbary Coast, Dare to Love Again is a journey to find a love that never fails. Fans will love revisiting the world of the cousins McClare, and new readers will seek more of Julie's passion-filled novels.

My Star Rating:  5 Stars

My Review:

 

What a fantastic story! Julie Lessman has proven again why she is one of my top favorite authors! Dare to Love Again is a fine example of all the things I've come to love from a Julie Lessman novel.

Stellar dialogue and the playful (and not so playful) banter, shines brightly as one of my favorite elements of all of Julie's novels; this novel being no exception.

The San Francisco setting is superb, and the amount of research and detail that has went into this novel is top notch. 1903 San Francisco truly comes to life, and I was left feeling as if I had jumped into the story along with Allison, Nick, and the rest of the McClare family. From the danger of the Barbary Coast, the excitement of the cable cars and Chinatown, the smell of crab on the wharf, and the fine elegance of Nob Hill, Julie has left me longing for a trip to San Francisco, but more importantly, she's left me anxious for the third installment of The Heart of San Francisco series.

Last, but certainly not least, I must say how effortlessly the spiritual thread is woven throughout the story. The messages of God's love, forgiveness, and redemption are portrayed beautifully, and it's one of the elements that I appreciate most. Bravo, Julie!

**Thank you to Revell for providing me with a free copy, in exchange for my honest opinion.**