"A Noble Groom" by Jody Hedlund - A Writer's Review by Member Blogger Dawn Crandall

Jody Hedlund does it every single time.

She impresses me. Yes, Dawn Crandall, the virtually un-impressible. And yet she does it... every single time.

With that said, she doesn’t have nearly enough books out! This is only her fourth published novel (with Bethany House), and in my opinion, there aren’t too many authors out there who write half so well.

Also, before I start in on what I loved SO MUCH about the inside of this book, I have to add that A Noble Groom has THE BEST COVER EVER. I don’t often like covers with the hero of the book pictured, especially without the heroine involved at all! But this one went so well with the blurb about the book. Everything about it was perfect: the farm, the wind, the clouds, the suit, the cravat, the colors, the look on his face... everything about it matched everything inside the book to perfection.

I really don’t know how exactly Jody makes reading about two mismatched people working on a farm in the middle of nowhere Michigan in 1880/1881—speaking German (hypothetically) to one another no less—so enthralling. But like I said, she does it every time, no matter what she’s writing about.
 
You know, on second thought, maybe I do know what it is. It’s her characters. Their emotions are so true, their thoughts so amazingly accurate. The situations they find themselves in... so complexly and perfectly orchestrated.

Both Annalisa Werner and Carl von Reichart have so much to learn throughout the pages of this book; about themselves and about each other, as well as about life in general. Although they’re both German immigrants from an area called Saxony, they are from extreme opposite worlds. Annalisa is the widow of a mean-hearted peasant farmer who’s family had relocated to America six years before because of the severe work conditions in Saxony... and Carl, the wrongly-accused fugitive, who happens to (secretly) be the son of the over-bearing Baron who caused the death of Annalisa’s older brother which resulted in her entire family immigrating to America in the first place.

Talk about complex! Although I did begin reading this book the first moment I had it in my grasp (and after, literally, stalking my mailman everyday waiting for it to arrive!), I did not end up reading it quickly. Partly because I simply didn't want it to end and partly because there were so many points in the book that I just had to stop reading so I could digest what all was (or at times, what wasn’t!) going on within and between these two characters. There were also all of the times when I felt that all was lost, and I had no idea how Carl and Annalisa were ever going to end up together by the end of the book....

Sigh.

Then I finally read the last twenty percent as quickly as possible because I couldn’t stand not to any longer.

And then I sighed again, and again, and again. (Haha, that’s especially for Jody and anyone else who might have read the book already).

Now every time I see the cover of the book pictured anywhere, I simply sigh and say, “Oh, yes... that book. That wonderful book.”
 
I blessedly received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, and I give Jody Hedlund’s A Noble Groom 5 (million) stars. 

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Jody Hedlund is the bestselling author of The Doctor’s Lady and The Preacher’s Bride. She won the 2011 Inspirational Reader’s Choice Award, the 2011 Award of Excellence from the Colorado Romance Writers and was a finalist for Best Debut Novel in the 2011 ACFW Carol Awards. Currently she makes her home in central Michigan, with her husband and five busy children. She loves hearing from readers on Facebook and on her blog.  

Find out more about Jody at http://jodyhedlund.com/.

To read specifically about her tips on writing these enthralling characters of hers, click here. 

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Read all of Jody’s amazing and BEAUTIFUL books! I promise, you won’t be disappointed. 

 
 

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Dawn Crandall writes long inspirational historical and contemporary romantic suspense from first person point of view and is represented by Joyce Hart of Hartline Literary Agency. All three of her manuscripts have made it to the semi-final round of the ACFW Genesis Contest. She has a BA in Christian Education from Taylor University and lives in northeast Indiana with her ever-supportive husband, Jonathan, and her two cats, Lilly and Pumpkin. 

Visit Dawn’s author page at www.DawnCrandall.blogspot.com, or her facebook author page at www.facebook.com/DawnCrandallWritesFirst.  She also hosts a book review blog at www.apassionforpages.blogspot.com and tweets those reviews at @dawnwritesfirst.