Diane Noble

In signing up for this book, I did not realize it was Christian fiction. I thought it would be along the lines of 19th Wife. In general, I find Christian fiction to be preachy, elementary in message and the dialogue to be cheesy (not all, just in general). To give the author a fair shake, I probably would not have requested it. However, gotta say... so glad I didn't know. I loved this book! Diane Noble did an amazing job with the plot, the dialogue... everything. I cannot remember the last show more time I read a book that I literally did not want to put down.

The character development in this book is fantastic. I felt as though I have known these people all my life; that I have gone through their trials with them and shared their joys. As a woman, I know what I would have hoped I would have had the courage to do, given their situation. And through these strong women, I was able to experience it. There were a handful of times I thought, "Uh oh, we're going down that preachy road..." only to quickly reach a 90 degree turn in the road and off we went to the next place.

I'm so impressed with this work and excited to read more by Diane Noble! show less

This is book two in the 'Brides of Gabriel" series and although it can be read as a stand alone story, I encourage you to read book one ('The Sister Wife') first, as it really helps you understand much of the background of this story. Once again, I was very upset and bothered by the way these people follow the Brigham Young belief system (Mormonism in the 1840's) and swallow hook, line and sinker, the glory that will be theirs through the practice of polygamy. It made me angry, but was well show more written and kept me turning the pages to see if these ladies would finally find freedom.

Recently widowed Bronwyn has become the second wife to Gabriel MacKay, and because she is/was best friends with her new sister wife, Mary Rose, she promises her that their marriage will remain strictly platonic. But that doesn't happen and Bronwyn struggles with her feelings for her new husband and the betrayal of a promise to her best friend. When Gabriel takes on a third wife, Bronwyn begins to really question the rightness of this religion.

Bronwyn and Mary Rose begin to plot their escape after some very horrible decisions are made among the leadership and the marrying off of young 13 and 14 year old girls to the old men. There is also a dead body discovered which is alarming to the two sister wives. Now they must decide how and when to leave, but it is a very dangerous thing to do. Who they will find to help them near the end of the book was a good twist to the story. Well done series that showed the author did her research and turned history into an interesting work of fiction. show less

This is a very touching story of a young lady, Mary Rose Ashley, who is travelling by ship from Liverpool to America and in her journey she meets ship builder Gabriel MacKay. They fall in love and get married while still in the ship. When reaching America, they headed to Nauvoo, where Mormon prophet Joseph Smith preaches revelations he received directly from God. Among those revelations, the prophet says that polygamy not only is acceptable but also is encouraged. He orders Gabriel to marry show more Mary Rose's best friend, Browyn and that sets a spiritual conflict on Mary when facing this very difficult and unusual situation, that would shake her life and faith. Then there is Enid, who plans to become Gabriel's first wife regardless prior spouses...
The author was very successful and she had the sensibility to describe all the deep emotions of the characters involved in the story in a richness manner. We suffer with them, we joy with them, we learn with them. The historical aspect of this book shows a lot of research by the author on the early years of the Mormon church and how and why the concept of polygamy was introduced in the Mormonism. Without taking sides on what is right or wrong, Diane lets the reader thinks and reaches his/her own conclusions.
It is truly a magnificent romance and it deserves to be in the permanent library of any serious reader. And I am eager to read how this story will develop through the series "Brides of Gabriel".

This book was written by Diane Noble and was published by Harper Collins that were kind enough to send me a copy for reviewing.

Read more reviews on my blog http://booksandmoviesreviews.blogspot.com and leave comments! show less

This was a well written story that dealt with the early days of the Mormon church. A story of one woman's struggle to deal with her love for her family and learning to accept those things of her religion that she knows in her heart are not right. Mary Rose finds herself thrust into the sect known as the "Saints" when her and her grandfather set sail for the Americas. On board she meets and falls in love with and marries Gabe and together they both start out as new members of this sect, show more seeking to obey its leaders. On board Mary Rose also meets and becomes best friends with Bronwyn and her husband and child.

Now what should Mary Rose do when her best friends husband has died and your husband is told to take another wife, your best friend. Can Mary Rose really be married to a man she loves with all her heart, and have her best friend also married to this same man? The battle and conflicts she faces are very real to her, but I must say that this story angered me and left me just shaking my head at how sad these people are and how deceptive people can be. The author did a great job of making these folks seem like real people who are trying their hardest to stay true to their sect. The men that led this group of people will some day have to give an account to a holy and righteous God on how they distorted God's holy word and tried to be as important as God to these people. It was so sad to read this story, but so well done that I had a hard time putting it down; I kept hoping that Mary Rose would leave these people. There are more books in this series, but I will be honest with you, I don't know if I can read more of this family without getting really mad at the foolishness of accepting a lifestyle that is wrong for so many reasons. show less