For Fans of Jane Austen ~ Born of Persuasion by Jessica Dotta ~ Review

They say that the first page sells the book and the last page sells the next book. That is pretty much 100% truth to describe my response to “Born of Persuasion”.

           

I wasn’t completely sure about the novel within the first 100 pages. I loved that it was in first person and I was growing to know this character on an intimate level, but the description did start to weigh the story down, in my opinion. Once that first third of the book was crested, however, I couldn’t stop for the reading of it and the last two thirds of the book did truly sell me on reading the second release.

          

  Written very much in a Jane Austen style, what I especially appreciated about this title was realism of these characters. I often forgot it was a historical novel, not because there weren’t plenty of descriptions for their period, but because these characters came alive with struggles that even the modern girl can relate too.

            

At times over dramatic, the romance is ardent, the writing engaging and the story depth not even a little bit shallow. This will definitely be a sequential series and I’m curious to what will happen with Julia. She certainly doesn’t have a neat and tidy story life that is for sure.        

          

  This review is my honest opinion. Thanks to the publishers through CFBA for my copy to review.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

More about the title and author...

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Born of Persuasion Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (September 1, 2013) by Jessica Dotta

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Born in the wrong century–except for the fact that she really likes epidurals and washing machines–Jessica Dotta writes British Historicals with the humor like an Austen, yet the drama of a Bronte.

She resides lives in the greater Nashville area—where she imagines her small Southern town into the foggy streets of 19th century London. She oversees her daughter to school, which they pretend is an English boarding school, and then she goes home to write and work on PR. Jessica has tried to cast her dachshund as their butler–but the dog insists it’s a Time Lord and their home a Tardis. Miss Marple, her cat, says its no mystery to her as to why the dog won’t cooperate. When asked about it, Jessica sighs and says that you can’t win them all, and at least her dog has picked something British to emulate.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The year is 1838, and seventeen-year-old Julia Elliston’s position has never been more fragile. Orphaned and unmarried in a time when women are legal property of their fathers, husbands, and guardians, she finds herself at the mercy of an anonymous guardian who plans to establish her as a servant in far-off Scotland.

With two months to devise a better plan, Julia’s first choice to marry her childhood sweetheart is denied. But when a titled dowager offers to introduce Julia into society, a realm of possibilities opens. However, treachery and deception are as much a part of Victorian society as titles and decorum, and Julia quickly discovers her present is deeply entangled with her mother’s mysterious past. Before she knows what’s happening, Julia finds herself a pawn in a deadly game between two of the country’s most powerful men. With no laws to protect her, she must unravel the secrets on her own. But sometimes truth is elusive and knowledge is deadly.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Born of Persuasion, go HERE.