Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Book Blog Swap: The Girl in the Gatehouse


PhotobucketThe Book Blog Swap is hosted by Edgy Inspirational Romance.  You can find Joy on her wonderful blog by clicking on her button to the left of this text!  Today I have swapped blogs or reviews with Joy!  She has my review up on her site and I am happy to bring you her review of The Girl in the Gatehouse by Julie Klassen.

Girl in the Gatehouse, TheThe author's bio on the back of this book says, "Julie Klassen loves all things Jane- Jane Eyre and Jane Austen."Want to read the first chapter? Go HERE


...And I love all things Julie Klassen.

The Girl in the Gatehouse is the third novel I've read by this author and each has been fantastic. I actually snuck this one to work in my purse to read during my free periods instead of photocopying worksheets for my students.

The Auten-esque feel of this Regency romance starts with the beautiful cover and continues into the storyline which is about a disgraced woman who's fallen from her place in society-a recurring theme in Jane Austen books.

I would not consider this novel edgy in any way, but I was surprised by the level of disgrace the heroine endured in her backstory. I kept thinking she must be remembering things as worse than they were-but no, she really went there. In my opinion, the harder the characters fall, the sweeter the redemption, and Klassen does a great job weaving a theme of forgiveness throughout the book.

Another thing she weaves throughout the book is mystery. She crafted a tranquil, romantic setting, filled it with an eccentric cast of characters who aren't always what they appear, and turned their quiet lives into an adventure I couldn't put down.

Want more info? Here's the back cover blurb:


Mariah Aubrey lives in seclusion with her secrets. Will an ambitious captain uncover her identity...and her hidden past?

Banished from the only home she's ever known, Mariah Aubrey hides herself away in an abandoned gatehouse on a distant relative's estate. There she supports herself and her loyal servant the only way she knows how-by writing novels in secret.

When Captain Matthew Bryant leases the estate, he is intrigued by the beautiful girl in the gatehouse. But there are many things he doesn't know about this beguiling outcast. Will he risk his plans-and his heart-for a woman shadowed by scandal?

Intriguing, mysterious, and romantic, The Girl in the Gatehouse takes readers inside the life of a secret authoress at a time when novel-writing was considered improper for ladies and the smallest hint of impropriety could change a woman's life forever.

 
Rating


(Thanks to Bethany House and to Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for providing a review copy).

About Joy
Joy is a wife, mother, and Jesus lover. She is also a pre-published writer and a slightly obsessed book blogger. When she's not hanging out with her husband and sons, she reads and writes romance. It gives her a daily dose of girl in a house full of men. You can get girlie with her at her blog, Edgy Inspirational Romance.

You can visit Joy @ www.edgyinspirationalromance.com




I hope everyone enjoyed this review as much as I did!! 
Don't forget to show Joy some love!  Leave a comment and visit her blog too!
Check out this title on Amazon: The Girl in the Gatehouse


 

2 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for having me Tiffany! I wanted to mention that we're discussing The Girl in the Gatehouse for our next Christian Fiction Book Club on April 9, so if anyone wants to swing by and link up, they're more than welcome!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for leaving a comment! I appreciate any comments or feedback! It is great to interact with other book lovers! If you read a book after seeing my review I would love to read your review! Come back and leave me a link ( : Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!