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BOOK REVIEW: An Echo of Hope
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Click cover to purchase book
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by Laura V. Hilton Dancing Word Reviewer
Title: An Echo of Hope Author: Dianna Crawford Publisher: HeartQuest ISBN: 0-842-36012-3 Genre: Inspirational/Historical/Romance
But things have changed since Hope’s finance, Michael Flanagan, walked away ten years ago. She agreed to marry Ezra Underwood after pining for Michael for seven years. Now that Ezra’s dead, Michael has come back to town, escorting the returning soldiers. He wants Hope to come with him, but Hope doesn’t see how she can leave Ezra’s family. His mother is ill, hardly able to get out of bed, and his father is failing physically. Even Ezra’s brother, Joel, needs her care. And what about her son, Timothy? She has to think about him, too.
Michael wanted to return to Hope years ago, but his father and the family were run out of town when Mr. Flanagan committed too many crimes. Even then he held out hopes of going back, until his father was hung, and Michael learns he’ll always be judged by his family’s reputation. He joins the Army, hoping to make a name for himself, a name not tarnished by his father. A chance encounter with dying Ezra gave him a longed for chance to try again. Ezra gives him a packet of letters and tells him to take them home to his family—and to Hope.
With Michael’s return, the townspeople are divided, most of them openly hostile toward him. In order to win Hope’s love, he has to withstand the community’s ridicule and somehow win their trust again. But will even that be enough? Someone else has already asked for Hope’s hand in marriage. Will Hope choose Michael? How can she trust him again?
Book three in The Reardon Valley Series An Echo of Hope easily stands alone. An Echo of Hope has lessons in forgiveness woven all through its pages. Ms. Crawford has written a delightful story which readers are sure to love. It grabbed my attention from page one and kept it all the way through this well-written story. Michael is a wonderful hero, suffering from feelings of rejection and unworth, and Hope is a thoughtful kind heroine, causing everyone who comes in contact with her to rely on her generosity and care.
Pick up An Echo of Hope today! It is a fantastic book to read during the Indian Summer days when you want to sit outside and soak up the last bit of sunshine before winter comes.
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