Saturday, May 28, 2022

Review: Laurel's Dream by Pepper Basham

Genre: Historical Romance
Released: Oct. 29, 2021
254 pages

About the Book:

Dreams are precious commodities in the Blue Ridge Mountains of 1918 and Laurel McAdams is attempting to make hers come true, but sometimes life in the mountains has a way of squandering dreams. As she attempts to avoid matrimony, she is secretly saving for her future with the sole purpose of becoming a teacher and bringing consistent education back to "her people".

Having failed his British father again by being unable to fight in the Great War, Jonathan Taylor joins his uncle's missionary endeavors as a teacher in a two-room schoolhouse in Appalachia, but nothing prepares him for the rugged wilderness, narrow-minded natives, and...Laurel McAdams. Her joy and friendship prove a guiding light in the middle of his new responsibilities and tempt his timid heart toward a future she never expected.

But when Jonathan's teaching methods lead to dangerous outcomes and Laurel's dream is threatened by an unexpected choice, will these two learn how to find hope and maybe even love beyond the heartache? Can Jonathan and Laurel create a new dream from the shattered pieces of the old ones or will bitterness and brokenness keep them apart?


My Rating & Thoughts:    


While I did like the characters of Laurel and Jonathan I struggled with this story, I felt the story moved slowly. I also found that each time when I went to return to the book after putting it down I had to reread the last few paragraphs to remind myself of what had just happened and that is not normal for me. I also found the language hard to read at times due to the broken English but the character speak was due to the setting. I didn’t understand the father’s actions, he could be do nice and then not so nice and everyone just acted like this was normal, I didn’t understand that. This story did involve one of my favourite tropes (I am not going to say what that was because it would be a spoiler) so that kept me wanting to finish the book. I was disappointed by this book as I have enjoyed other stories by Pepper Basham.

Favourite Quote: 
“I don’t know what I’d do without the imagination of books to take me places. They’re truly one of the underappreciated treasures in this world.”

(I purchased my copy of this book; opinions expressed 
in this review are my honest opinion and completely my own.)

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