I would strongly recommend reading all the books in order! Feel free to read my review of Love’s Reckoning here and Love’s Awakening here.
In 1850s Pennsylvania there is a hint of war on the horizon – the issue of slavery has continued to boil over through the years – and the Ballantynes are in the middle of it.
Rowena “Wren” Ballantyne has lived apart from her family’s great wealth and opulence in New Hope – having grown up far more humbly with her father Ansel and her now deceased mother in Kentucky.
When Wren’s father receives a letter from her grandfather Silas, they are suddenly immersed in society, as Wren’s father takes them to his hometown – a place that Wren is terribly unfamiliar with – and not at all suited for.
One of the few people she feels comfortable with is James Sackett – an apprentice of her father’s once and now steamship pilot of the Ballantyne shipping line.
But as Wren’s family – most of whom she just met – encourage her to have a Season and embrace the luxuries they can offer her, she finds herself shying away.
Possibly to her peril…
Laura Frantz is excellent at providing a rich, sweeping, historical vibe in her novels – and she does it again in Love’s Fortune.
I was happy to return to a simpler heroine – not that I didn’t like Ellie in Love’s Awakening, I just preferred Eden’s story in Love’s Reckoning.
This is a soaring tale of a fish out of water, really. Wonderful period details, suspense and romance.
It’s enjoyable to me to follow a family through generations – and I wish I didn’t get the impression this was the final book because, as I’ve said before, I’d find it highly interesting to follow this legacy on through contemporary times. Can you imagine? I’d be thrilled!
Full of Christian characters – without being preachy – Love’s Fortune presents an often painful but satisfying and lovely story of love and family.
Laura Frantz continues to be one of my favorite Christian historical fiction novelists – along with Tamera Alexander and Julie Lessman.
*I received a copy of Love's Fortune from the Baker Publishing Group. Their generosity in no way influenced, nor sought to influence, my opinion of the novel.
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