“Night’s chill tickled her skin. Lonnie pressed her hands together and glanced up. He was even more handsome up close. Having grown up the shy, awkward daughter of Joel Sawyer, she’d hardly spoken to any boy, let alone the one who had mothers whispering warnings in their daughter’s ears and fathers loading shotguns.
Pretty Lonnie Sawyer is shy and innocent, used to fading into the background within her family, and among the creeks and hollows of the Appalachian hills. Though her family is poor and her father abusive, she clings to a quiet faith. But when handsome ladies’ man and bluegrass musician Gideon O’Riley steals a kiss, that one action seals her fate.
Her father forces her into a hasty marriage with Gideon—a man she barely knows and does not love. Equally frustrated and confused by his new responsibilities, Gideon yearns for a fresh start, forcing Lonnie on an arduous journey away from her home in Rocky Knob.
Her distant groom can’t seem to surrender his rage at the injustice of the forced matrimony or give Lonnie any claim in his life. What will it take for Gideon to give up his past, embrace Lonnie’s God, and discover a hope that can heal their two fractured hearts?
Gideon only ever cared about himself. Now that Lonnie is his wife, will he ever be worthy of her heart?”
When I first read this description of Joanne Bischof’s book, Be Still My Soul, I thought it was going to be a little cheesy for my taste. However, I was pleasantly surprised that the book wasn’t cheesy at all but was instead a good read that kept me entertained and was hard to put down.
The story follows a young girl named Lonnie, as she gets mixed up very innocently with a not-so-innocent young man. Assuming the worst of her, her abusive father forces her into a marriage, freeing her from one horrible man and delivering her straight into the arms of one that seems to be just as bad. Lonnie continues to hold onto her faith and her belief that God sees her and cares for her, even as she’s forced to move far away from her home with the violent stranger she now calls her husband. As the story progresses, Lonnie finds a new home with people who love and care for her, even as her husband continues to make poor and dangerous decisions. Will he turn his life around and make things right?
The writing was well done, and even though the ending was predictable in some respects, it was still well laid out, planned, and executed. I would actually rate this book as a step above some of the similar, historical Christian fiction out there, as the writing was much better than I’ve found in other books.
Many thanks to Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing for providing me with a free copy of this book to review. All opinions expressed are mine entirely.
Jenn Faulk 