Undaunted Hope by Jody Hedlund

Are you a romance reader? This might be the book for you! :) This book, Undaunted Hope by Jody Hedlund, is a historical fiction/romance book in a setting of a coastal community in Michigan in the 1870's.

Tessa, a schoolteacher who is running away from her past misdeed, arrives at Eagle Harbor to become their next schoolteacher. Her first disappointment is that they were expecting a male teacher and the supervisor seems questionable in his morals. Also on her first day in town she is accosted by a bunch of sailors who threaten her until she jumps/falls into the icy waters and is rescued by Alex, a fisherman. [[here is where the tone of the book is set, I'd say, by the descriptions of this super-handsome, super-strong fellow]].

As Tessa's adventures in town and school continue, so does the love story with Alex and his brother. There are different things that happen in the book, but this is the primary theme. Eventually there is a near-tragedy and in the end a declaration of love by two of the people. I won't spill more :)

SO -- it's a romance, purely a romance. Not much to the story but that. I don't mind romance in the books I read, but I really rather it not be the primary theme. To me it seemed over-romancey (yeah, I know that's not a word) so if you like reading romance books (I know there are a lot of you!) then you will probably like this one. To me, I wouldn't choose to read this type of book. It's a "Christian" book, but there's not really much Christian stuff in it, maybe just the lack of inappropriate romance book themes. . .it's a "clean" book. There were some kind of minor plots that came out in the book that I wished were developed more thoroughly also.

Would I recommend it? Well, it depends. To my mother in law or her mother, who read romances all day long. . .sure. If that's not your thing, then I'd say probably not. If you're just looking for historical fiction, I'd maybe look elsewhere.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review. I was not required to write a positive review.