Review: The Reluctant Bride by Jody Hedlund

The Reluctant Bride by Jody Hedlund

Book Description:

After facing desperate heartache and loss, Mercy agrees to escape a bleak future in London and join a bride ship. Wealthy and titled, Joseph leaves home and takes to the sea as the ships surgeon to escape the pain of losing his family. He has no intention of settling down, but when Mercy becomes his assistant, they must fight against a forbidden love.

Andrea's Review:

Jody Hedlund's new book, the first in her Bride Ships series, is well written and fascinating. The idea of bride ships really blows my mind. Hedlund did a great job crafting a story based on real situations that showed why women were so desperate to leave all they'd ever known to marry strangers.

I really liked the main characters. They were well developed and I couldn't help but feel for Mercy. Her home life was horrible, and time after time throughout the story she demonstrated what a good heart she had.

This isn't my first Hedlund read, and it won't be my last. I really appreciated the research she put into making this an interesting read, plus it's clean and a quick read.

Rorie's Review:

I had never heard of bride ships before reading this book, and the idea was intriguing and somewhat horrifying. I guess it's pretty similar to mail-order brides though. I can't even imagine going to marry someone you didn't even know, but if you're faced with starvation and worse, it makes sense that you would jump at any chance at a possible better life.

The author does a really good job of describing the horror of trying to survive in London's slums. My heart ached for Mercy and those that she loved. She was so selfless, always looking out for those who needed help, no matter how hard things were for her. 

My favorite parts of the story took place on the ship. Not that they were all happy, unicorns and rainbows, but the story telling was done so well that I was completely immersed in what was going on. Once they landed in British Columbia, the story started to drag a bit - there was a bit too much internal dialogue and not enough of anything else  - but thankfully it wasn't too long before the story picked up again. 

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. The author does a really good job developing the characters and I'm looking forward to reading the other books in this series.

Title: The Reluctant Bride
Author: Jody Hedlund
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Published: June 2019
ISBN: 0764232959
Source: We received copies from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Purchase: Amazon