BOOK REVIEW:To Have and To Hold, by Mary Johnston

To Have and to Hold: A Tale of Providence and Perseverance in Colonial Jamestown by Mary Johnston


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book was an unexpected delight. Besides the fascinating historicity of 17th century life in the early Virginia settlement (Jamestown), there is a love story, a good meaty villain, and a winsome, well developed cast of characters. The place sketches (land, water, geography, topography) is so well drawn by the author that you can feel the wilderness about you while reading.
The heroine is perhaps the "weak" spot in the book. She is a stereotypical frail beauty, retiring, shy, and breathtaking. She does manage to make a small claim upon the heart by the ending chapters particularly; and the chapters where Indians are prevalent are really eye-opening. We get to see how treacherous life was back then, and appreciate the cunning and subtlety of the native enemies. Great history, fun story, go for it.

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Note: This book was a free upload from Amazon Kindle.

A Prisoner of Versailles

A Prisoner of Versailles is the second book in the "Darkness to Light" Series by Golden Keyes Parsons, from Thomas Nelson Publishers.

I was pleasantly surprised with Prisoner. Although I enjoyed the first book (In the Shadow of the Sun King), this book was even better. The story was fast-moving, the heroine was more sympathetic, and there were lots of "King Louis" scenes, which to me make up some of this author's best writing. There was more of a romance, which is always enjoyable, and a bit more character-development of the key players.

I have to admit that I'd enjoy more authentic-sounding dialogue, and costume description of the ladies, including the hair styles; not in every word or sentence but a bit more to keep me in the time period. But anyone who enjoys a good historical setting with lots of action (derring-do, musketeers, royal courtiers!) will want to read this book. I was happy to return to it whenever I got the chance, and it has a satisfying ending--along with (happily) the promise of another sequel! I definitely look forward to it.

This book gets five stars, and the heroine is a "she's got character" lady for sure. Thanks to Thomas Nelson for providing me with a review copy.