by Carolyn Miller
Series: Regency Brides: A Promise of Hope (Book 3)
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Kregel Publications (November 27, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0825445353
ISBN-13: 978-0825445354
Marry in haste, repent in leisure–Mrs. Hale is about to find out how painful that repentance can truly be.
Julia Hale ran off to be married in Gretna Green, following romance instead of common sense. But her tale isn’t turning into a happily ever after. Her new husband is gone and she doesn’t know where–or if he’s ever coming back. Julia has no option but to head home to the family she betrayed by eloping and to hope they’ll forgive her. Especially now that she might be carrying a baby from her brief marriage.
The Making of Mrs Hale is the third in the Regency Brides: A Promise of Hope Series. Julia appears in the first book, Winning Miss Winthrop. I suggest reading that and Miss Serena’s Secret before reading this book. There are a number of characters that have appeared in previous books. Some characters are even from Carolyn Miller’s other series Regency Brides: A Legacy of Grace. I loved The Elusive Miss Ellison and really enjoyed seeing those characters again.
This book is more raw and serious than most books I tend to read. This is a story about forgiving others and forgiving yourself. And most importantly we need to seek forgiveness from God.
I often have a hard time sympathizing with heroes in the rake to redemption story-lines. Especially if they continue to struggle with their problems. While reading this story I was wishing that Julia’s brother Jon would have a talk with his friend Nicholas to get a better perspective. I understand Jon wanting to protect his sister, but he really needed to adjust his attitude to be more Christian like. This reminded me that I needed to work on my attitude on forgiving people as well.
I liked seeing the different stages of Christianity. Nicholas seemed to be very strong in his faith and able to help others. Julia and Thomas were still learning their way. Thomas’ father had a mindset that turned people away from God. He was a preacher yet he was always telling people what they did wrong in a very unloving way and telling them that they would never be good enough.
Sections of the book switched between the present and the past. There were a lot of unexpected elements and I liked that I didn’t know what was coming next. Though it did seem like everyone wanted to kick Thomas while he was down.
There are often stories that involve a character running off to get married at Gretna Green but we don’t often get to hear what happens after the marriage. While I enjoy reading a light-hearted funny story, I think it is also important to read stories like this. I feel that by reading about the person behind the sin it helps us to be more forgiving and understanding.
Timeless Novels 