A Reluctant Bride - Review

A Reluctant Bride (The Bride Ships, # 1)

By: Jody Hedlund

Publication: June 4th 2019 by Bethany House Publishers

384 pages

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction, Christian Fiction

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

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Goodreads description--Living in London's poorest slum, Mercy Wilkins harbors little hope for a better life. So when she's offered the opportunity to join a bride ship sailing to British Columbia, she agrees. The journey abroad is her only prospect to escape a bleak future—both for herself and to help her sister, who's suffering in a workhouse.

Wealthy and titled Joseph Colville leaves everything behind and takes to the sea to escape the pain of losing his family. As the ship's surgeon, he's in charge of the passengers' welfare aboard the Tynemouth, including sixty brides-to-be. He has no immediate intention of settling down, but when Mercy becomes his assistant, the two must fight against a forbidden love.

With hundreds of single men congregating along the shore of Vancouver Island, eager to claim a bride from the Tynemouth, will Mercy and Joseph miss their chance at true love, or will they overcome the obstacles that threaten to keep them apart?

*Slow start. Took me a while to feel connected to the story and characters. Mercy's living situation had to be properly set up for the reader to feel her desperation. Joseph's backstory felt a little unexplored. We know he is grieving his family but how they died was barely mentioned and his past, while mentioned in passing, was just missing it felt like. Very few flashbacks or memories were included that could have enhanced the story.

*Too much description at times. I found myself skimming some passages occasionally. 

*I always have a hard time connecting to characters that are anti-marriage. I could understand where Mercy was coming from initially, but she fought the idea of marriage one grand gesture too many for me. But on the whole, I enjoyed Mercy and Joseph's story. 

*The Author's Note added a lot to my enjoyment. You know how sometimes discussing a thing is better than the actual thing? Well, I feel like that's the case here. Specifically, reading which parts were based upon actual events added to the story.

A Reluctant Bride was good but not a perfect read for me. Once I got past the beginning, I finished at a decent pace. I struggled with some sections with too much description. I appreciated how much of A Reluctant Bride was based off true events and people. A Reluctant Bride gets 3.5 Stars. Have you read A Reluctant Bride? What did you think? Let me know!