Unexpected Romance ~ Be Still My Soul by Joanne Bischof ~ Review

            It’s a mountain romance with a very interesting twist…because technically the reader isn’t inclined to like the hero.

            How do you enjoy reading a romance where the hero is completely unlikeable? Surprisingly enough, that is exactly what I did: greatly enjoyed this novel. It’s an unconventional romance, but one the reader is aware of when they start the book. Honesty with the reader is so key in a novel where the norm is far from the expected and it kept me from becoming overly frustrated with this young man.

            The plot is one reason I loved the novel so much. The unexpected takes an ordinary setting, a tried and true plot and crafts it captivating.

            “Be Still My Soul” is a quick read, but a fulfilling one. The Blue Ridge Mountains make for a great backdrop for our characters struggles, contributing to their hardship, but also how they handle them. And I loved these characters. I know, I know a hero you can’t like, you ask? Read the book, I promise you’ll find something in Gideon to love, I know I did. By the end of the last page, I held every confidence in this young couple. That to me, is writing at some of its finest. Take a character you can’t love and believably change them before the end of the novel…? You’ll have to read the book to see for yourself. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

            This review is my honest opinion. Thanks to the author for my advance copy to review.

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More about the novel...

Night’s chill tickled her skin. Lonnie pressed her hands together and glanced up. He was even more handsome up close. Having grown up the shy, awkward daughter of Joel Sawyer, she’d hardly spoken to any boy, let alone the one who had mothers whispering warnings in their daughter’s ears and fathers loading shotguns.
 
Pretty Lonnie Sawyer is shy and innocent, used to fading into the background within her family, and among the creeks and hollows of the Appalachian hills. Though her family is poor and her father abusive, she clings to a quiet faith.  But when handsome ladies’ man and bluegrass musician Gideon O’Riley steals a kiss, that one action seals her fate.  
 
Her father forces her into a hasty marriage with Gideon—a man she barely knows and does not love. Equally frustrated and confused by his new responsibilities, Gideon yearns for a fresh start, forcing  Lonnie on an arduous journey away from her home in Rocky Knob. 
 
Her distant groom can’t seem to surrender his rage at the injustice of the forced matrimony or give Lonnie any claim in his life.  What will it take for Gideon to give up his past, embrace Lonnie’s God, and discover a hope that can heal their two fractured hearts?
 
Gideon only ever cared about himself. Now that Lonnie is his wife, will he ever be worthy of her heart?

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