A Bride Most Begrudging (2005)

As someone who is quite familiar with the historical romance genre (well... Regency romances, anyway), I was a BIT NERVOUS to read a CHRISTIAN historical romance... and one that took place in 1643 Virginia, for that matter. No offense, but that time period does NOTHING for me. At least 19th century England can be glamorized.... (though I'm sure it was actually gross and unsanitary and dirty and stuff...)

And then the prologue was QUITE cheesy... fortunately, her writing got better farther into the book. Although some of the way the people talked... the sentence structures... were just AWKWARD. It was the negative statements, like, "I know not how to cook" (vs "I do not know how to cook") and "You were kidnapped not?" (vs "Were you not kidnapped?")... and those awkward negative sentences were all over the place. So that was strange... and annoying. It was funny though, because they're talking all Old English-like, then when they start talking about God, it magically transforms into modern-day Southern Baptist speak. Funny how that works.

Plus, she REALLY should have used the King James Version of the Bible. SRSLY. Using the New King James doesn't even make sense. So what if the author doesn't "get" the KJV? Look the verse up in your version, then type out the KJV verse into your writing. Theoretically, the meaning should be the SAME. Durrrr... If people would spend more time reading King James, it wouldn't be so difficult...

ANYWAY, but the book was REALLY GOOD! (The summary pretty much sums it up.) It wasn't TERRIBLY preachy... and the storyline was really cute. I TOTALLY cried. Twice. :) ( )

This book intrigued me because it sounds a lot like [b:To Have and to Hold: A Tale of Providence and Perseverance in Colonial Jamestown|671844|To Have and to Hold A Tale of Providence and Perseverance in Colonial Jamestown|Mary Johnston|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348427900s/671844.jpg|657874]. The basic plot does has a lot of similarities, but they are still very different.

I tried to like this book, but it was hard to take it seriously. 2 1/2 stars.

Here are some of my thoughts while reading:

Lady Constance calls herself "Lady Morrow" at one point. Why can't Christian historical fiction authors do basic research on proper titles and forms of address!

"Lifting her hands above her head, she leaned her face toward the heavens and twirled in a circle." — In context, this struck me as very odd behavior.

Constance refers to Drew as "this O'Connor person" — That doesn't sound like 17th century language, does it? Also, Drew is an anachronistic name.

"Lady Hannah Eastlick" — another anachronistic name (for her class)

Everyone has a middle names, which is very anachronistic.

"What all were you taught?" Seriously, Drew?

Constance's older sisters were married at ages twelve and thirteen. I question the historically accuracy of that.

The sisters are named Leoma, Arietta, Kristina, Doreen, and Jocelyn. Hahahaha! Is it really that hard to choose historically accurate names?

"God ye good den" — what in the world does that mean?? [apparently it means "Good day" but it was never explained]

Drew considers building a schoolhouse for the children and letting his wife be the teacher. I'm pretty sure that never would have been allowed.

Oh my word, there is a character named Kendra! I can't believe this. LOL

Umm, the word "okay" did not exist back then. ( )

Very good read!

Lady Constance Morrow slips away from her maid to bid goodbye to her uncle. Uncle Skelly has been sentenced to seven years labor in the colonies and Lady Constance cannot bear being separated from a man who has cared for her most of her life without farewell. However, she soon finds herself kidnapped by an unscrupulous crew, added to the convict women in the hold, sold as a tobacco bride, and wed to Drew O’Connor. She is going to need to find a way to survive in this wilderness at least until proof of her innocence comes.

I have to admit that historical christian fiction is a guilty pleasure of mine. I grew up reading Jeanette Oake's books, like Roses for Mama and A Bride for Donnigan. These were facinationg for me because they took me to the pioneers and how the American west was settled. A Bride Most Begrudging's back drop in 1643 and is set during the tobacco boom of Virginia and the tobacco brides that help "settle down" the farmers.
This book was fun and I got a few giggles out of it but the language was uneven. Lots of historical speech but then lapsing into a more modern tone. I would suggest choosing one or the other and making it consistent rather than switching. I did enjoy the characters, mainly Constance and Mary but Drew (the love interest) kept making me mad. His constant mood swings and changing his mind every time something came up just frustrated me. The historical elements were interesting and seeing how a tobacco farm would be run in the 1600's was fun to experience but I just thought that the book lacked a bit of polish. This is one of Gist's earlier books and I would be willing to try one of her newer books to see if she worked on some of her earlier flaws. I have Maid to Match (2009) on my Nook and still have the interest to see how Gist may have improved. Plus it is set in a later time period.
Overall, a cute fast read with romantic entanglements that lead to the two main characters falling in love. Typical stuff but still worth a few giggles from comebacks and witty remarks. Plus Constance has a love of math that is unusual in any book. ( )