Review: A Bride for Noah by Lori Copeland & Virginia Smith

Title: A Bride for Noah
Author: Lori Copeland & Virginia Smith
Publisher: Harvest House
Pages: 304
ISBN: 978-0-7369-5347-4
Publication Date: October 1st, 2013

Synopsis:

It's 1851, and Evie Lawrence is penniless and heartbroken after a failed romance. When a kind elderly man announces his plan to move west and make his fortune, Evie jumps at the chance to go with him and start a new life. She says goodbye to the only home she's ever known and sets out for the Northwest.

There she meets Noah Hughes, a handsome young man who has gambled everything he owns on the chance to make a fresh start. Living the rugged life of a lumberjack, he too is determined to one day make his fortune. The last thing he's looking for is a bride...so why can't he get Evie out of his mind?

In this first book of the Seattle Brides series, two people learn what it means to move beyond their expectations and embrace the very best God has for them.

Review:
A Bride for Noah was a wonderful trip back to Washington state, or in the 1850's Oregon Territory. With the wonderful description, I felt like I was looking out on Washington state again and viewing Mount Rainer. It is a beautiful area of our country and a fantastic setting for this story.

The story focuses on Evie Lawrence, a house maid to an older couple in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She is doing what ever she can to keep a roof over her head, since she was kicked out of her family home after she had lost her parents and then her grandparents, who the house belonged to, by her uncle. She is engaged to be married to a dock worker named James, whose affection is lacking. One day while cleaning, Evie overhears her employers talking about a letter they just received from their nephew, Noah. Noah had recently arrived to the Oregon Territory with a logging company, hoping that the area would be more to him then just logging, but a place to start up a new town.

Evie's employer, Miles Coffinger, views himself as an investor, however, his investments have all failed to date, much to the displeasure of his wife With the news from his nephew, Miles believes his new venture idea would thrive. He offers up the idea to Evie about getting her a few other girls to go with her to start up a business out there. Evie isn't sure, but decides that it would be a wonderful idea to start up a restaurant. So with Miles help, Evie hires on three more women to travel with them.

Upon arriving to the Oregon Territory, nothing is as Evie envisions. There is nothing but a mining camp and mud, lots and lots of mud. However, there arrival isn't as sour as Evie sees it, but a welcome distraction to the men of the logging camp.

From here we follow Evie trying to achieve her dream of building a restaurant, why battling the time constraints of the logging camp, and a business partnership with Miles that isn't all that it was thought to be.

Evie was an interesting character to follow. She started out quiet and willing to go with the pace of things until she realized what she wanted to do. She didn't want to be put down or degraded by anyone. Her determination grew and she was bound to fight against the social constraints against her at the time.

Noah was a good hero for this story. He was quiet hero. He focused on his job and respected those around him and he valued people around him who were willing to work as hard he did.He also had a past to over come, and he had to learn to trust and listen again.

There were also several characters that were fun to read. The orneriness of Cookee and Ethel to Miles' ideas that just didn't seem to pan out as he hoped. It was great also to learn about the history of this area. I didn't know much about how the logging industry of the Oregon territory was started and this book offered a glimpse into it.

I really enjoyed this story.
Too Read
4 out of 5

About the Authors:

Lori Copeland

Lori Copeland is the author of more than 90 titles, both historical and contemporary fiction. With more than 3 million copies of her books in print, she has developed a loyal following among her rapidly growing fans in the inspirational market. She has been honored with the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award, The Holt Medallion, and Walden Books’ Best Seller award. In 2000, Lori was inducted into the Missouri Writers Hall of Fame. She lives in the beautiful Ozarks with her husband, Lance, and their three children and seven grandchildren.
 If you would like to keep up with Lori Copeland, check out her website http://www.loricopeland.com/.

 Virginia Smith

Virginia Smith is the author of more than 20 inspirational novels and 50 articles and short stories. An avid reader with eclectic tastes in fiction, Ginny writes in a variety of styles, from lighthearted relationship stories to breath-snatching suspense.
 If you would like to keep up with Virginia Smith, check out her website http://www.virginiasmith.org/.


Thank you to Harvest House Publishers, I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review.