A Love So True

Ah, a delightful read! I am loving Teaville, Kansas so much! I admit that I read this book quite slowly because I wanted to savor each event and enjoy the journey for as long as I possibly could. In fact, I liked it so well that it has been really hard to boil my thoughts down into a solid review.

David and Evelyn are a very interesting couple. He's actually slightly younger than her, and it mentions how tall she is...both unusual attributes in modern historical fiction. Evelyn, though, may be ready for a distant friendship, but she's certainly not ready for romance or marriage. Unlike many CF books, her reason isn't some trumped-up prissy dislike of being married...no, this girl has a valid reason! A doozy of a reason, in fact. The flashbacks and dropped comments pile up throughout the tale until she finally has to tell the truth about why she has adopted a path of singleness in life.

Now, much of the focus of the series is on cleaning up the red-light district of town and cleaning up the related graft, etc, among the city leaders who profit from the shady practices that go on there. I'm always wary of stories that mention prostitution at all, because it so often falls into one of two traps: A) The women of the district just want to do it for fun and resent interference with how they earn their money, and details often include how they seek men to bring home by flaunting their wares and being grasping and sensual, or B) they really want out, and underneath all that paint and fine dress and sin, they have hearts of gold just waiting to be mined and they are going to splutter a bit, strut a bit, and then break down and become model citizens, often marrying excellent upright men and becoming pillars of society. Between these two extremes many books fall. This is much more realistic and avoids the sensual details altogether, which is very nice (just by mentioning that occupation, you now what it entails. No need for extra description), and each woman encountered is realistic and unique. Each one has different motivations and some do have a buried dream or two. This part of the story was very well done.

The Christian message is there; David and Evelyn both learn to trust God more and both are trying to live moral, upright lives. Evelyn is driven by wishing to bring the Gospel to the women in the streets and is not shy about denouncing the church people who try to dabble in the things of the world.

All in all, a complex novel with many elements to think about, and one that will hold up well to rereading.

Thanks to the author for a complimentary review copy.