A Bride of Convenience by jody Hedlund

Upon discovering an abandoned baby, Pastor Abe Merivale joins efforts with Zoe Hart, one of the newly arrived bride-ship women, to care for the infant. With mounting pressure to find the baby a home, Abe offers his hand as Zoe’s groom. But after a hasty wedding, they soon realize their marriage of convenience is not so convenient after all.

Jody Hedlund is the author of over twenty historicals for both adults and teens and is the winner of numerous awards including the Christy, Carol, and Christian Book Award.

Jody lives in central Michigan with her husband, five busy children, and five spoiled cats. Although Jody prefers to experience daring and dangerous adventures through her characters rather than in real life, she’s learned that a calm existence is simply not meant to be (at least in this phase of her life!).

When she’s not penning another of her page-turning stories, she loves to spend her time reading, especially when it also involves consuming coffee and chocolate.

Jody Hedlund brings us the third book in her Bride Ships series and it’s so very good. One thing I enjoy about her writing is that she does wonderful historical research and it often spurs me on to do some research myself!

In this book, Pastor Abraham Merivale is on the island awaiting the time when he can send for his fiancé back in England to come and marry him. He misses her so much and watching the brides coming off the bride ships makes him miss her even more. In about a week, he unexpectedly finds himself married to one of those brides, not really even sure how it happened. An infant is left in their care when the widowed father of the babe dies and now he has a wife and a baby! And a fiancé in England.

Hedlund handles this situation so well, as she is wont to do in her books. Zoe doesn’t know what is expected of her and Abe doesn’t know what is expected of him. Zoe just wants to find her brother, who came to the island a few years earlier when he was angry with her. Then there is the danger of one man who seeks Zoe with the intent of destroying both her, her brother and Abe. I was captivated throughout the book as I watched everything unfold. The spiritual them is strong here and one that is relevant today for every believer. Sometimes out own plans are not what God plans. I loved every minute. Recommended.

*My thanks to Bethany House Publishers for a copy of this book via Net Galley. The opinions in this review are entirely my own.