A Heart Adrift By Laura Frantz

A Heart Adrift

by Laura Frantz

Publisher: Revell

ISBN: 9780800734978

Doesn't the cover alone make you want to read this book? Probably will be one of my favorite covers of the year! I was thrilled to join the launch team for this book and was sent a copy for review.

Summary:

It is 1755, and the threat of war with France looms over colonial York, Virginia. Chocolatier Esmée Shaw is fighting her own battle of the heart. Having reached her twenty-eighth birthday, she is reconciled to life alone after a decade-old failed love affair from which she's never quite recovered. But she longs to find something worthwhile to do with her life.

Captain Henri Lennox has returned to port after a lengthy absence, intent on completing the lighthouse in the dangerous Chesapeake Bay, a dream he once shared with Esmée. But when the colonial government asks him to lead a secret naval expedition against the French, his future is plunged into uncertainty.

Can Esmée and Henri'sshared vision and dedication to the colonial cause heal the wounds of the past and reunite them? 

My Review:

What an utterly satisfying story! Laura Frantz drew me into the mid-1700s with every word written in A Heart Adrift. It's incredible to me how well an author's use of the dialect makes such a vast difference in how a story comes across. I can't express how huge this was for me and I need more.

Esmée has taken over her mother's work as a chocolatier and taking care of those in need at the almshouse. You could tell that while it wasn't her dream, she was satisfied with what she was doing with her life. There was this inerrant goodness and kindness about her that didn't seem to be forced, and I appreciated it. Oftentimes authors will write these types of women to an extreme where the/y're unbelievable, but not Esmée. She was very "real". I also just loved her fortitude!

Then there's Henri (which will henceforth always sound French). He's a man's man in all of the right ways. He's not perfect, but he doesn't do anything by half. He's all in and that's what his life has been since his parting with Esmée. He's captained his ship. His return stirs her world and the excitement of it all rises from there.

I loved the setting of Williamsburg and York. Having been to Williamsburg numerous times, it was certainly brought to life in this 1755 time and now I want to go back hoping to "feel" the history of this story. I loved the idea of Esmée keeping the lighthouse! I loved how that came about!

Of course, I can't neglect the faith of the characters. It was such an important part of this story, especially in the hard times. The parallel of the characters living through the pox and what we're living through, trying to find things to be joyful about an hopefully about can be daunting, but God sees us through. The Scripture that's brought up resonated with me in each moment!

Another fantastic read by this author!

About the Author:

Laura Frantz is a Christy Award winner and the ECPA bestselling author of a dozen novels, including An Uncommon Woman, Tidewater Bride, The Frontiersman's Daughter, Courting Morrow Little, The Colonel's Lady, The Lacemaker, and A Bound Heart. She is a proud mom to an American soldier and a career firefighter. When not at home in Kentucky, she and her husband live in Washington State. Learn more at www.laurafrantz.net.