Review: The Irish Healer by Nancy Herriman

“My name is Rachel Dunne. I am not a murderer.”

It’s a compelling opening line. Rachel Dunne, a healer, has been forced to leave her Irish home and find employment in London after being shunned following an accusation that she was responsible for the death of an ill child. She is hiding her past and hiding her background in healing from her new employer, Dr James Edmunds, a widower who is struggling with his own medical calling. He is also father of Amelia, who is being raised by his sister-in-law because he felt responsible for his wife’s death after childbirth.

Unfortunately, I didn’t find that The Irish Healerlived up to its early promise. It was very well researched and (as far as I could tell) historically accurate in its handling of the 1832 cholera outbreak in London. But I found the story difficult to get into, because I found both Rachel and James hard characters to like, and because I thought their ‘romance’ seemed to develop too quickly. I know some people marry soon after meeting and still manage to have long and happy marriages, but these are the exception rather than the rule (otherwise there wouldn’t be the saying 'marry in haste, repent at leisure’).

There were a also number of areas where the actual writing felt clumsy (odd choice of vocabulary, use of adverbs, use of first person), or where characters seemed to know things that the reader knew but the characters were not supposed to know. The Irish Healerhad a gripping opening line, but unfortunately I didn't find the rest of the novel nearly so interesting. It wasn't bad; it simply failed to interest me. However, similar novels by Liz Curtis Higgs and Siri Mitchell (both of whom have won Christy Awards) also didn’t interest me, so who knows? This may be another award winner.

Thanks to Worthy and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

Review: A Gentleman's Homecoming by Ruth Axtell Morren

Roberta (Bobbie) Gardner is a 28-year-old spinster, the daughter of one of London's most respected engineers. She is also the 'mother' of her nephew, 13-year-old Sam Travis, as his mother (her sister) is dead and his father is working in America as an engineer. The story opens just after the death of Roberta's father and the arrival back in England of Luke Travis, Bobbie's brother-in-law, who she has secretly been in love with since she was 14. While Bobbie is pleased to see Luke, Sam is not, as he considers the late Mr Gardener to be the only father he has ever known, and he is resentful towards Luke. Luke faces the challenge of developing a relationship with an intelligent and gifted teenager - and with Bobbie, who has raised his son since toddlerhood.

I really enjoyed this book. As a Love Inspired Historical, it follows the standard romance formula which can easily get predictable. Equally, people read Love Inspired and other Harlequin novels because they want a happy ending without too much angst, so predictability can be a positive. What can get tiring is when a predictable plot is combined with an unoriginal setting, resulting in a feeling of de ja vu. These novels slip easily from the mind.

What raised A Gentleman's Homecoming (Love Inspired Historical) above average, for me, was the original setting, being 1888 London and the building of one of the first Underground train lines. Ruth Axtell Morren has combined an obvious interest in the subject of civil engineering with a great deal of research to produce an excellent novel, with the original setting being the icing on the cake, especially as I used to live in London and recognised many of the places she mentioned. It is so nice to see a book not set in the US or in Regency London! I also liked the Christian aspect (Love Inspired is one of Harlequin's Christian lines). The Christian element was present but not overpowering, with no preachiness.

A Gentleman's Homecoming (Love Inspired Historical) is available from http://www.koorong.com/, http://www.christianbok.com/, or Amazon (follow the links above).