A Place In His Heart by Rebecca DeMarino

• Series: The Southold Chronicles (Book 1)
• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Revell (June 3, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0800722183
• ISBN-13: 978-0800722180

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This book is also available as an ebook.

Anglican Mary Langton longs to marry for love. Puritan Barnabas Horton is still in love with his deceased wife and needs only a mother for his two young sons. And yet these two very different people with very different expectations will take a leap of faith, wed, and then embark on a life-changing journey across the ocean to the Colonies. Along the way, each must learn to live in harmony, to wait on God, and to recognize true love where they least expect to find it.
This heartfelt tale of love and devotion is based on debut author Rebecca DeMarino’s own ancestors, who came to Long Island in the mid-1600s to establish a life–and a legacy–in the New World.

My take on this book:

I am always excited to find a new author to read especially when the book is historical fiction. The book pulled me in from the beginning, Mary Langton is left at the altar and feels the pressure from her father to marry someone else, thing is she wants to marry for love. She finds herself drawn to Barnabas Horton a widower with two young boys to raise. He still loves his wife, but that doesn't deter Mary she feels that he will eventually come to love her and decides to marry him. Little does she know that he plans on coming to the New World. How will Mary feel about moving to the New World, what sort of adventures await them as they embark on their life,will they find happiness together?

While I had high hopes for A Place In His Heart it actually was just a middle of the road read for me. I found myself drawn in immediately, but then the momentum sort of fell flat, and I think part of the reason was because the timeline of the story often took huge jumps making me stop to reread just to understand where I was. I also felt like the character of Mary was a bit wishy washy, she said she wanted to marry for love, but married instead hoping the man would eventually love her. I did enjoy the rich detail,which pulled me into the time period,  and the fact that the story was based on the author's own ancestors. While this was just an ok read for me historical fiction fans should really check it out.

A complimentary copy of this book was provided for review.