Searching For You by Jody Hedlund
Orphan Train #3
Bethany House, December 2018
eGalley from NetGalley
(Public Service Announcement: Please read book one and two before reading Book Three, this is not a stand alone novel)
I previously reviewed books one and two from the Orphan Train Series by Jody Hedlund on my blog at this link.
Despite years on the run, Sophie Neumann is determined to care for two young children. She won't abandon them the way she thinks her older sisters abandoned her. But times are growing desperate, and when she falls in with the wrong crowd and witnesses a crime, she realizes fleeing 1850s New York is her only option.
Disappearing with her two young charges into a group of orphans heading west by train, Sophie hopes to find safety and a happy life. When the train stops in Illinois for the first placement of orphans, Sophie faces the most difficult choice of her life.
Reinhold Weiss has finally purchased his own small farm. With mounting debts, a harvest to bring in, and past scars that haunt him, he's in no position to give his heart away . . . but can he say no when his long-lost friend shows up on a nearby train pleading for his help?
I really enjoyed this entire series from Jody Hedlund. I love her writing as a combination of several things I look for in a novel: clean romance without seeming silly, characters that are hard to let go of, historical settings and an underlying storyline regarding one's faith.
This novel picks up where the second book left off and I wrote in that review that I was perturbed that the search for Sophie was not a predominant theme. And so voila here is book three devoted to Sophie at last! Elise and Marianne are not featured very much at all this time as the story focuses on Sophie's struggle to hang on to Olivia and Nicholas. Sophie is wild at heart but a good person through and through making it so easy to love her, even when you want to strangle her due to her wild nature. She is still young and impetuous but lucky for us we witness her transformation with the help of a genuinely good soul who takes her in.
The setting of 1850's is portrayed as simple, quaint and close-knit on the farm, with nuances of the crimes and poverty prevalent in the cities. I absolutely adored Reinhold and would definitely see him as a super sexy cross of Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth kind of guy. Sophie could be young sweet combinations of Reese Witherspoon (she has that wild side!) with a dash of Nicole Kidman. Would love to see this as a PBS special or mini-series.
The romance angle was so perfect for Sophie and sitting here thinking in hindsight that it all wrapped up nicely in a pretty bow yet the steps we took with Sophie to get there was a blessing of a story. I have read a few of Hedlund's other novels before and have truly enjoyed each of them and I could gush copiously about the masterful storytelling of Jody Hedlund but I just want you to see for yourself.
Fans of Christian Fiction and historical romance will definitely enjoy the Orphan Train Series, but will be very sad to see the end of the stories of the Neumann sisters. If you're not open to scripture and His promises of love and healing then these stories would not be recommended for you.
.JPG)