Review: To The Farthest Shores by Elizabeth Camden

Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: Bethany House
Released: Feb. 28, 2017
330 pages

About the Book:

The unpredictability of her upbringing prepared army nurse Jenny Bennett to face any challenger at the Presidio Army base, but the sudden reappearance in her life of the dashing naval officer who broke her heart six years ago is enough to rattle even her.

Lieutenant Ryan Gallagher is one of the few men in the world qualified to carry out a daring government mission overseas—an assignment that destroyed his reputation and broke the heart of the only woman he ever loved. Honor-bound never to reveal where he was during those years, he can't tell Jenny the truth, or it will endanger an ongoing mission and put thousands of lives at risk.

Ryan thinks he may have finally found a solution to his impossible situation, but he needs Jenny's help. While her loyalty to her country compels her to agree, she was too badly hurt to fall for Ryan again despite his determination to win her back. When an unknown threat from Ryan's past puts everything at risk—including his life—can they overcome the seemingly insurmountable odds stacked against them in time?

My Rating & Thoughts:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a second chance romance story between Jenny and Ryan set in 1904. At the very beginning we learn that Ryan left to go fight in the war and promised Jenny that upon his return they will get married, but a year letter she gets a letter from him saying he is sorry, but he can’t fulfil his promise and will not be returning. Five years later Jenny discovered he has returned to California but that he has a 4-year-old daughter with him, Jenny has so many questions. She is mad and hurt and is struggling with her feelings. Ryan is in a difficult position; he is trying to train Finn to take over his position in Japan but isn’t allowed to tell anyone what he is doing and if Finn can’t pass the tests required Ryan will have to return to Japan. Finn has some issues that need to be dealt with and Jenny is assigned to work with Ryan to help Finn due to her training as a nurse. Ryan really wants to stay and still has strong feelings for Jenny, he sees the opportunity to work together with Finn as a good thing, but Jenny wants to keep her distance. Ryan thinks he is protecting Jenny by keeping secrets from her but when Jenny discovers Ryan isn’t telling her the whole truth, he only hurts her more. I did not like Finn at the beginning, but I grew to like him. He changed from the selfish person he was at the beginning to someone who cared about others and wanted to do the best job possible. He really grew over the course of the story. I knew pretty much nothing about oysters and pearls, so the aspect of the oyster farm was interesting. I loved Ryan’s daughter, Lily, she was cute and sweet. Jenny tries her best to keep her distance but can’t help falling for Lily. I also loved the relationship between Jenny and Simon, he has become like a father to her, taking her in at a young age after learning her background and has tried to instill a faith in God in her. I really enjoyed these characters, seeing their growth, learning to trust God and each other. 

Favourite Quote: 

“I know you are afraid, but there are going to be times in life when you have to stand up to fear, because fear kills more dreams than anything else in the world. Fear kills hope. Fear can paralyze people. Don't let fear make you blind.”

(I purchased my copy of this book; opinions expressed 

in this review are my honest opinion and completely my own.)