Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Forevermore - Cathy Marie Hakes


Forevermore

By: Cathy Marie Hake

Genre:  Historical Romance

                This story is about Hope.  Hope is a young lady who travels from farm to farm looking for people that the Lord wants her to help.  She seems to be wise beyond her years and relies firmly on the Lord’s leading.  They only things she owns are her donkey (who wears a hat) and a Sunday dress.

                She ends up at the farm of a German widower (there are many unexplained German words in this book). He has a sister who is pregnant and hiding from an abusive husband; a young child who is afraid of the dark after falling down a well; and a farm hand who is in love with the sister.  Hope is sure that God wants her to save this family. 

                Hope loves to use clichés and Bible verses while working around the farm.  The problem is that she often twists them.  However, her way of twisting them usually makes more sense.  Hope is also illiterate and doesn’t seem to mind that she is twisting them.  At some point the author mentions that Hope is only 24 years old but with all her cliché quoting and odd habits I kept thinking of her as a granny type character.  I never really connected with the character.

                She encounters this family at the harvest time.  Hope steps in to help this German clan fix up meals to serve their neighbors and day laborers as they bring in the harvest.  Jacob, the German widower is worried that all this work will not be good for his pregnant sister.   Hope seems to be the equivalent of a 21st century superwoman.  She can cook, clean, dispense wisdom, and take care of laundry chores all on very little sleep.  She spends most evenings awake talking to God.  There is never a complaint from this characters lips.  I honestly did not find her to be a believable character at all.

                Now, you can’t have a good Christian historical romance without a widower who is unwilling to give up his first love.  Jacob is kind and thoughtful to all those around him and he soon finds himself smitten with Hope.  The problem is he loves his now deceased wife too much through three-fourths of the story and then one day in the barn decides he loves Hope.

                This was a quick read and even a little funny in spots. However, I would not classify this as a book that I couldn’t put down.  However, if you are a lover of this type of story you would probably really enjoy it!

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