I wasn't sure what to expect from this book going in - except the surprising revelation that it was set during the Civil War and involved doctoring. II wasn't sure what to expect from this book going in - except the surprising revelation that it was set during the Civil War and involved doctoring. I was surprised about this since the cover model does not at all seem Civil War-ish.
I mean, I suppose you could say, "It's a picture of her nursing so of course she doesn't have the skirtage!" But she at least needs a few extra petticoats or else her dress would be slouching ridiculously. xD
Anyways, my confusion aside, I struggled to get into it at first. Not as in it was difficult to read, but as in, I felt like it jumped around a lot, and I didn't care about the main character. Around 30% in, that started shifting as the book picked up speed, stopped jumping like a jackrabbit, and the main characters started developing storylines.
To get the rest of my negatives out of the way, I was occasionally confused once again, and I was a bit confused by why Cadence kept letting Joshua kiss her - like, can we just ...? *confusion* I'm not offended by the kisses themselves, but it seemed out of character for Cadence. (I mean, what woman, especially a woman like Cadence, kisses a man back when he just randomly kisses her during an argument - from her POV, I mean? Like ...???) Honestly, half of the time, he's just like, "It's too dangerous!" And she's like, "But I love danger!"
Also, I still feel like Cadence was a little annoying and maybe overly innocent, but I think she might just be ... not my type of character? So that's okay. I did get to liking Joshua, though I really wish the author had dug a little more into both their personalities and character arcs because sometimes it seemed more like, "Whatever works for the story" and other times they're trying to convince me the character has always been like X, and I'm like, "So why did they X here?" Like Cadence being shy/fearful/etc. but then turning around and literally being like, "I love Joshua because she's dangerous." CHILD I OUGHTA-!
ANYWHO, all that aside, I still think it was a good book. It had some fun intrigue, some adorable children, some talks about serious but important subjects, and a great theme about pleasing people vs. pleasing God (not something I struggle with but still something I could understand).
I really enjoyed the writing, and the medical descriptions (though perhaps too brutal for some - I felt they were tasteful, but I'm a literal cow-slaughterer) really fascinated me. I always like reading about how medicine has evolved and all. (I did feel like it was a little extra for Cadence to figure out that the instruments needed sanitized, but whatever. I mean, it was all figured out around that time ...) Joshua is a great dad, and Cadence will make a great mom, which is great.
I looked up a few names while reading because I was curious, but the author's note confirmed that a lot of what she was writing about was based on reality. I wondered that, as some of the elements felt so fantastical that I hoped she had drawn from real life! And she had. I didn't know about The Knights (I mean, I've studied the Civil War A LOT, so I figure I must've learned about them some time, but I had completely and utterly forgot!) so that was really interesting.
Anywho, those are my general thoughts! I think it was a pretty good book. I rambled about negatives, I know, but I still enjoyed it, and there were a lot of pros to outweigh the cons....more
Well, this novella didn't really have that much to it, but it was still a cute little story. I wished the author had spend a bit more time developing Well, this novella didn't really have that much to it, but it was still a cute little story. I wished the author had spend a bit more time developing the main characters and their romance, and I wish there hadn't been quite so much info-dumping, but it was otherwise a fun little read! I enjoyed it....more
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