A Healer's Promise - Review

A Healer's Promise (Brides of Laurent, # 2)

By: Misty M Bellery

Publication: May 1st 2022 by Bethany House Publishers

304 pages

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction, Christian Fiction

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

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Goodreads description--Levi Masters's time as a British spy hasn't ended, though his country's war with America has. Overhearing a scout reveal a discovery that could give America an upper hand in future conflicts, Levi is sent to investigate. While trekking through the Canadian Rockies, he is convicted about his life of lies and half-truths. But just as he decides to embrace truth at any cost, warriors from a hidden mountain village take him captive.

Village healer Audrey Moreau is more curious than afraid of the outsider. And she's drawn to his commitment to honesty even at his own expense. But despite her arguments, the council decides he's too great a risk. Compelled to help him escape, she sneaks him out of the village. But when Levi faces a life-threatening injury and the fierce mountain winter closes in, Levi and Audrey are forced to discover just how far they'll go to ensure the safety of the other and the love growing between them.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to read Book 2 in the Brides of Laurent series. I enjoyed Misty M Beller's Hearts of Montana series, but A Warrior's Heart wasn't as smooth as I wanted. I think my issue is because of the whole hidden society angle. But I did like Audrey as a character in the first book, so ultimately I decided to check this book out. I was worried it would follow too similar of a pattern to book 1 and in some ways it did and in others it didn't.

Basically Levi worked as a spy for the Brittish army. The war is now over, but he overheard Evan telling his superiors about something he found that could win the Americans any war they fought against England. And so Levi felt it his duty to follow Evan. And thus he stumbles upon Laurent. Audrey sees him in the woods before he's captured, and of course, Levi is taken to the same storage room that Evan was kept in. Because of Levi and Evan's history as spies for opposite sides of the war, Evan doesn't trust Levi. Personally, I always appreciate stories that reflect how there are good people on both sides of a conflict, not just the moral right and moral wrong.

Audrey visits Levi shortly after his capture to bring him food the same way she did for Evan. In her brief encounter with him, she feels so strongly a call from God that this man isn't their enemy. That he is a good man. But not only does Evan have history with Levi personally, but Laurent has history with the British. And Audrey isn't sure the people of Laurent will be unbiased towards Levi due to his heritage. Because Audrey felt the message from God so clearly but others don't seem to be listening to her, she acts rashly and lets Levi escape. Of course, he's injured in the process and in need of a healer. Audrey can't stand for others to suffer when she can help and so she risks nearly everything in order to help Levi heal.

Audrey's story is easy to relate to if you've ever strongly felt God leading you. Yet like many of us often do, Audrey kind of took the reins out of God's hands once He revealed part of His path to her. It reminds me of Sarah in the Bible. When God told her she was going to have a son and first she laughed and then she basically gave her servant to her husband in order to bring God's promise to fruition. She took God's promise into her own hands the way Audrey tried to take Levi's salvation into her own hands.

Of course, I loved their relationship. Things weren't much more than a nice woman trying to help a nice, misunderstood, and innocent man. The progression was slow enough to be natural while fast enough to keep me intrigued. The romance was definitely my favorite part, and I'm glad I decided not to skip A Healer's Promise.

Favorite quote:

-I'm sorry if I ran ahead of you, Lord. But perhaps God's plan all along had been to use her to free Levi Masters. Why else would she have felt such a strong certainty that he was innocent.

I liked this quote because I've found myself wanting to follow God's leading in a particular area of my life but was unsure if He was leading me in X direction or Y. Sometimes we pray for His will to be revealed and He does give us direction. And sometimes we just have to do the best we can with the information we have at the time.

A Healer's Promise was better than I expected. I wasn't sure if I was going to pursue this series after A Warrior's Heart, but I'm glad that I did. Audrey has a story that no one else would be able to replicate yet many of us can relate to trying to work out the details for God. I look forward to reading the next in the series now. A Healer's Promise gets 4 Stars. Have you read A Healer's Promise? What did you think? Let me know!