In Be Still My Soul, Lonnie Sawyer hasn't lived an easy life. With a controlling father and an overly submissive mother, she has tried to blend into the background to avoid being noticed. Until the night Gideon O'Riley walks her home and requests a good night kiss. Even though Lonnie knows she fought him off and nothing happened, she can't prove it, and her father forces Gideon to do "the right thing," by marrying her. Forced to marry Lonnie, can Gideon get past his anger and resentment and become the husband she needs him to be?
This book surprised me by how much I enjoyed it. I read the entire book in a day, because I could not put it down. I especially enjoyed the hero characters of Jebediah and Elsie. It's rare for an older couple to be placed in the saving role in a novel, but the mentor relationship is so important for younger men and women to understand how to change and grow. It really worked well in this story, and I wanted Jeb and Elsie to take me under their wings!
Gideon struggles a lot with not only the changes he needs to make, but with the very idea that he needs to change. He didn't want this marriage, he didn't want Lonnie, why should he step up and help her? His personal growth through the book felt very honest and realistic. It was a gradual change, and it was believable. As a reader, I wanted him to change more quickly for Lonnie's sake, but he had to learn his lessons slowly and want to really change.
There is definitely an element of sadness in the book, but it fits the story and doesn't feel excessive. I know there are readers who don't like to read sad books, so I like to prepare you if that's you!
I'm excited to see that this is the first book in a series, and I look forward to reading the next one!
I give this book 4 stars.
You can read an excerpt from Chapter 1 HERE.
You can find Joanne's blog and website HERE.
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I received a copy of this book from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group in exchange for my honest review.
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