By virtue of her profession as a midwife, Tabitha Eckles is the keeper of many secrets: the names of fathers of illegitimate children, the level of love and harmony within many a marriage, and now the identity of a man who may have caused his wife's death. Dominick Cherrett is a man with his own secret to keep: namely, what he, a British nobleman, is doing on American soil working as a bondsman in the home of Mayor Kendall, a Southern gentleman with his eye on a higher office.
By chance one morning before the dawn has broken, Tabitha and Dominick cross paths on a misty beachhead, leading them on a twisted path through kidnappings, death threats, public disgrace, and . . . love? Can Tabitha trust Dominick? What might he be hiding? And can either of them find true love in a world that seems set against them?
My thoughts:
This was another one of those books that I tried so very hard to like, but it was oh-so-difficult. I think that the author had a great idea to base a series of books on midwives, but this first book just fell flat. There was so little information about midwives and their roles in society that I was left wanting by the book's end. This may have had something to do with so few women in the book that were pregnant (only 3 deliveries of babies and one litter of puppies in a 400 page novel).
Another thing that kept me from really enjoying the book was all the filler. One chapter left me on a climax, then the next chapter switched to a different scene entirely, and it usually was one that had no excitement at all. By the time I got back around to the resolution of the cliffhanger from 2 chapters before, my anticipation to know what happened had vanished. This is something that I've noticed with authors that typically write short novels (Heartsong or Love Inspired), who then switch to writing a full-length novel. The plot of the story may be good, but the delivery gets choked up by all the filler to make it a longer book. (At this point, I have not read any of Ms. Eakes' other novels, but I know she has some shorter novels that have been released, and that's why I am drawing this conclusion.)
I am still interested to read the next book in this series, and I hope that there will be more of a midwife feel to it as opposed to another historical Regency. Ms. Eakes' has a great deal of talent with her writing; I just hope that it will be more focused in her next full-length book.
3 Stars
Southern? Yes
Sass? No
**Many thanks to Revell for providing a copy for review.
I love historical regencies and have been looking forward to this book. This is a very well thought out review though and I thank you for it. I appreciate your honest comments about the book.
ReplyDeleteI'm always sad when a novel disappoints . . . I hopped over here from Twitter and read your sidebar. 1,500+ books in your house? Time to invest in a Kindle! LOL!
ReplyDeletei forgot to mention it in my own review, but i totally agree about the cliffhangers at the end of chapters. i really disliked that in the next chapter, all the action had taken place offscreen. it really annoyed me. i think what you said about authors transitioning from the shorter novels to the longer novels is true.
ReplyDeleteLee~
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming by. I always hate writing a negative review, much less a mildly negative one. I've seen some of these same comments, though, on some other reviews, so I know I'm not alone.
Renee Ann~
Thanks for coming by, too!! I loved what I saw on your blog today, and look forward to following your posts in the future. :o) Oh, and I already have a Kindle, and am slowly but surely downgrading my print stash of books.
Deborah,
Some authors can make a successful transition from the shorter novels to the longer, but sadly, not everyone can pull it off.
I wanted to like this one as well. It was fascinating, but ultimately disappointing. I will probably look at the next one too, though. Sometimes the sequels are better than the first!
ReplyDelete2 Kids and Tired Books
Holly,
ReplyDeleteI hope you're right!