A Reluctant Bride: A British Columbia Historical Romance with a Doctor and Nurse (The Bride Ships) Paperback – June 4, 2019

Spellbinding, riveting, evocative, stirring, tear-jerking, compelling, imaginative, ruminative - are only some of the descriptives that give a glimpse of this book. The lead characters are pulsating with life, love, character, sorrows, vibrant pasts, gentle humor, as are the supporting characters.Would give it ten stars if I could!!

I’ve read several of Jody Hedlund’s books lately. And I really like them. I like the way she puts her characters in real situations. And the way she has them think about God, the way they would have. Especially in historical times. She just makes these characters and plots jump off the page for me. And I love it!This one features Mercy. Mercy’s life at the beginning of the book made me so sad. She lived in the slums of London. Death was no stranger to her. And her family was really messed up. The saddest thing was her sick sister at the factory. So when Mercy gets the chance to go to Victoria, Canada on a boat, she takes it. And makes her sister promise to be on the next ship. But…Mercy doesn’t realize that she’s on a bride ship. Each of the women is supposed to go and get married.Joseph is the male lead. He’s a doctor and asked to go on the ship by the captain. He longs for adventure. And to have something. His whole family had died, leaving him alone. I liked the way he was kind to Mercy and the other girls like her. Many weren’t, including the pastor who went with them to be their chaperone. He was awful!I loved the setting of this one. Victoria is one of my very favorite cities. And I was really excited to get to see a little of how it came to be. That part was one of my favorites. The author did such a great job with her settings, London, the ship and Victoria were all almost real to me.I loved this story! Can’t wait to read more of this series.

My emotions are all over the place reading this book. I love how deeply woven the bible is in this story, the characters are dynamic, and the plot is twisty, exactly as I like it. In all. This was a good read.

Lovely story about a poor English woman who joins a bride ship bound for Canada though she doesn’t realize it at first. On the ship she helps the ship’s doctor and they fall in love. He is a member of the aristocracy and she isn’t. The suffering of the poor in England is written so that one can imagine what it was like to live there. Very good story.

Overall Rating: 5 starsStory Rating: 5 starsNarrator-Esther Wane: 5 starsI had a copy of this book and purchased the narration from Audible.My thoughts about this book:• A loved the story between a man and a woman from two different classes. A wealthy Lord that was a doctor and a woman who came from the slums of London.• I was intrigued by the premise of a bride ship headed to Vancouver.• I liked the relationship of caring that Joseph and Mercy had with each other. I felt it throughout the book. They were people I easily became attached to.• How much baggage do we carry with us in life? Do we unconsciously drag it along life's pathway hindering our forward progression? These were questions I pondered as I read this book. I like books that make me think.• The descriptions of locations and emotions were well done and easy to visualize. I felt a part of the scenes.• The author writes with an easy-to-follow prose that guides the reader without confusion. • There were some religious overtones in this book, but it was a natural part of the characters' lives. This book was not preachy.• This story was well edited.• This was a clean read.• The narrator did an exceptional job and brought this story to life.I enjoyed this book very much and I highly recommend it. It is a unique romance and I think you'll enjoy it. I plan to read more books by this author.

I would highly recommend this book. The story was riveting and kept my attention to the end. The characters were so lively and relatable. The romance and sizzle were spot on without being inappropriate. A wonderful read!

This was a great historical slow burn romance. I loved the realistic historical aspect of it which was well researched for this time period. Also, the love story was sooooo heart warming! Would definitely recommend.

I tried this one as first book of this author, because a friend recommended it to me. I was very disappointed, not only because of the unrealistic characters and the unbelievable sort of "Cinderella-story", but because this is another "clean christian romance based on erotic suspense". Sorry, I'm not a fan of this kind of books. It is even dangerous, to see this characters preoccupied with holding back their lust until (to the readers relieve) they are married at last. Really poor christian characters! I'm sorry to say, this is the case in all four books of the brideship-saga. I won't read more of this stuff. There are better christian fiction authors to be read, like Lynn Austin, Francine Rivers, Stephen Bly (my favourite).

Nella postfazione, l'autrice rivela che quella raccontata, sia pure romanzata, è una storia vera: il viaggio di 100 giorni della nave Tynemouth dalla Gran Bretagna alla Colombia Britannica.Nella seconda metà dell'Ottocento i missionari sbarcati nella British Columbia avevano scritto alla madrepatria per farsi inviare giovani donne disposte a sposare i coloni, minatori e cacciatori di pellicce che non potevano formarsi una famiglia in mancanza di femmine disponibili. Su una di queste navi si imbarca all'ultimo momento Mercy Wilkins in cerca di un futuro migliore rispetto ai quartieri più malfamati di Londra in cui la sua famiglia sta letteralmente morendo di fame.Mercy è un prodotto insolito per quella zona: è bella, è buona e si dà moltissimo da fare per tenere a galla la famiglia nonostante le enormi difficoltà ed ha, in qualche modo, allacciato un rapporto di stima con il vecchio medico che lavora indefessamente nel dispensario locale. Nel dispensario incontra per la prima volta un giovane medico ricco e titolato Joseph Colville, che immediatamente riconosce l'intelligenza e il grande cuore di Mercy.I loro mondi tuttavia sono socialmente agli antipodi.Quando, per disperazione, Mercy si imbarca, non sa che anche Lord Colville si è imbarcato sulla stessa nave in un viaggio che per lui è un modo per rendersi utile e per girare il mondo.La descrizione del viaggio e dei pericoli incontrati sono realistiche e le difficoltà delle donne a bordo vengono raccontate con crudezza e con partecipazione. A quanto pare anche coloro che potevano permettersi di pagare il viaggio, avevano sistemazioni scarne e un trattamento che non era poi così diverso da quello dei passeggeri più poveri.Il rapporto che pian piano di approfondisce fra Joseph e Mercy è dolceamaro perché minato dalle aspettative sociali e dalle insicurezze dei due protagonisti, pur essendo chiaro fin dal principio che l'attrazione reciproca è profonda e piena di rispetto.Ho molto apprezzato lo stile di scrittura che letteralmente "risucchia" il lettore nelle vicende di una umanità coraggiosa, resiliente e disperata di cui non si può fare a meno di seguire con partecipazione i destini.Se il libro ha un difetto, e non è un difetto da poco, è che Mercy è troppo educata e delicata nel parlare rispetto alla sua provenienza.L'autrice cerca di dare fondamento questo fatto introducendo la figura di una suora che aveva seguito in passato Mercy e sua sorella ma è troppo poco per far pensare che sia possibile che una ragazza possa uscire dagli slums parlando meglio di Eliza Dolittle!Non c'è da stupirsi se Lord Colville si sente attratto.Il finale poi, per rendere le cose più drammatiche, è un tira e molla di "parto" e "non parto" che ho trovato un tantino ridicolo.Più interessanti sono le descrizioni delle difficoltà e degli imbarazzi di un gruppo di ragazze che si trovano in una terra sconosciuta e selvaggia e che sono trattate come poco più che merce in vendita. La realtà di alcune scene sarebbe rivoltante se non il lettore non conoscesse l'ambiente spaventoso di provenienza di queste creature e la terribile sporcizia di mesi trascorsi in mare senza potersi lavare!Comunque la mia valutazione globale è più che positiva perché mi sono resa conto che tutte le volte che interrompevo la lettura, non vedevo l'ora di riprenderla.

Hedlund writes with style and this novel was easy to read but just fell short of being believable for me. I think Hedlund lets me down because her characters become too consumed with physical attraction.

I really loved Mercy and Joseph's story. Read the whole book in 1 day. Could not put it down. Highly recommend.