My Review
New to me author, Julia David has written a book that kept me fully engaged from first page flip to the turning of the last page.
Several reasons I was interested in reading this book.
1. PA is my home state and I enjoy reading books set here even though I do not live close to Hancock,PA where this book is set.
2. Asylums, I have always been fascinated in reading books where all of it or part of it is set in an asylum, especially haunted ones. While this asylum is not haunted it is fascinating to read about and I have a lot of compassion for people that were there, many times against their own will.
3. Civil War, one of my favorite historical subjects to read about.This takes place after the Civil War but does factor into it.
The Civil War leaves Reed Chapman a bitter man, it has left his brother Robert who fought in it a broken dependent man in body and soul.
Reed meets a Polish family when he is a young man. They live next door on land that belonged to his grandfather before it was sold to them. He meets a sweet little girl but tragedy soon follows as a fire wipes out the entire Polish family, parents and children alike.
As the land sits vacant after the fire Reed is determined to get his family's land back which leads him to Lennhurst Asylum. The description of the asylum is so realistic, my heart goes out to all institutionalized. Reed is shocked to see who is there to meet him, the young girl he met so many years ago, the only one who hasn't perished in the fire.
She believes is the heir to the land and she is also leaving the asylum because she is of age to do so.
She is an innocent in all ways having no life experience besides the institution since she has been there for almost all her years. Her tender heart believes in fairies and is friends with the bugs.
Being responsible for a woman, any woman and especially one with so little life experiences is not what Reed is looking for but he feels responsible for this child-like woman.
Reed is understandably frustrated when Patience does things that could endanger her well being.
Could a romance possibly crop up between a man of the world and this innocent child-like woman?
I felt a connection with Patience, she is so in-tune with nature, gardens,lakes,woodland areas and has winged friends. This book has such a good feel to it!
This is the second book in the series and I would absolutely love to read the first and third book, which will be releasing Winter 2019.
Published November 19th 2018 by Field Runner Press. I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you. All opinions expressed are my own.
GoodReads Summary
In his calculations, handsome Reed Chapman certainly didn’t factor an unstable young woman from Lennhurst Asylum inhabiting his beloved land.
In 1867, bitter from the civil war, lawyer Reed Chapman is easily distracted, yet determined to have his land back. How did his simple plan to restore his family’s inheritance leave him driving away from Lennhurst Asylum, elbow to elbow with a beautiful patient in his charge? An unstable, madcap young woman who believes she is the heir to his land.
Patience Stevens spins with the adventure of leaving Lennhurst to find her childhood trees, lake and land. Confident to face the dark unknowns that took place there, she dreams of gardens and woodland homes for all her winged friends. Fortifying herself to face the horrors one by one, the revelations of her past collides with a new struggle in the form of handsome Reed Chapman. He seems overly concerned with her wellbeing and suddenly her heart is taken with his attention.
Can a gullible young woman from an insane asylum trust the ways of the heart? Is his declaration for her hand in marriage hasty or genuine? Her simple list of dreams seems so close she can almost touch them.
Is Reed Chapman to be her tender, passionate husband or her adversary? Can her child-like faith and hope survive this haunted wilderness without him?
About The Author
Julia David is an avid journal writer, published romance author, serial DIY'er and certified life coach. Addicted to Hallmark movies and baking, she believes it's crucial to have some predictable things in life. Her tag line 'escape to an era where true love prevails' was from her own reason for reading stacks of books. Married and mother to five, she also ministers to pregnant and parenting teens. Find more at juliadwrites.com
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