Love's Awakening by Laura Frantz ~ review

• Series: The Ballantyne Legacy (Book 2)
• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Revell (September 15, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0800720423
• ISBN-13: 978-0800720421

This book is also available as an e-book.

To purchase a copy of "Love's Awakening" click here.

Ellie Ballantyne, youngest child of Silas and Eden, has left finishing school. But back at her family home in Pittsburgh, Ellie finds that her parents are away on a long trip and her siblings don't seem to want her to stay. When she opens a day school for young ladies, she begins tutoring the incorrigible daughter of the enemy Turlock clan. The Turlocks are slaveholders and whiskey magnates, envious of the powerful Ballantynes and suspicious of their abolitionist leanings. As Ellie becomes increasingly tangled with the Turlocks, she finds herself falling in love with an impossible future--and Jack Turlock, a young man striving to free himself from his family's violent legacy. How can she betray her family and side with the enemy? And will Jack ever allow her into his world?

My take on this book:

"Love's Awakening" is the second book in The Ballantyne Legacy and I can easily say that I enjoyed this book as much as the first one. With this story we are taken back to Pittsburgh,PA during 1822. The main character of the story is Elinor Ballantyne, who is fresh out of finishing school and headed home when she finds herself running into Jack Turlock, a sworn enemy of her family. Determined to find her place in the world she opens a day school and one of the students she agrees to take on is Chloe Turlock, Jack's sister. Tutoring Chloe has her traveling often to the Turlock home where she and Jack soon find feelings developing, but there is no way that her family would ever allow a relationship between them. 

A beautiful cover pulled me in with this book, but it was the intricately woven historical plot that kept me reading.The author's descriptive writing,filled with rich detail brings the past to life within the pages of this book.  The many twists and turns that take place along with the forbidden feel of the romance that develops between a Ballantyne and Turlock made this a page turner for me. The two families on opposite sides of the fence, one family owns slaves while the other is firmly against slavery. It was easy to see that Ms. Frantz did her research because the historical aspects of this story was so very well written, she even touches on the Underground Railroad. Strong characters made this story a winner as well, I felt like Ellie was such a upstanding person, and I enjoyed watching the friendship blossom between her and Chloe. Overall, fans of historical fiction will certainly enjoy this story, and even if you haven't read the first book in the series the author provides enough information that this could be read as a stand alone book. I always enjoy historical fiction that provides a spiritual message while allowing me to feel as if I am also getting a history lesson and "Love's Awakening" did just that for me! 

A complimentary copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Available September 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.