Miss Mary Hope Adsley always considered herself to be the sensible one. But now, her sensibilities are unraveling around a man she thought she knew. After he attempted to marry her best friend—for money, no less—authorities charge Sir Steven Likebridge with masquerading as a gentleman and abduction. With his execution days away, Mary Hope desperately seeks to learn the truth about the man she … loves.
Will the truth turn out to be worse than his lies?
Written for the General Market (G) (I): Contains little or no; sexual dialogue or situations, violence, or strong language. May also contain some content of an inspirational/religious nature. Similar romance novels in this genre may be categorized as: christian romance, inspirational romance, christian fiction, and clean, wholesome romance.
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I thoroughly enjoyed the second installment of the Triangular Trade Trilogy. Once again, Mendenhall weaves amazing historical details into her story. If you’ve read my other reviews, you know I can be quite harsh on authors who do not do their research. I found the vivid, though horrid details of prison life in Stanley Tower Prison especially riveting as well as hints of social and prison reform movements.
If you have read the first book in the series, Starving Hearts you’ll be delighted to see Peter, Annette and Turtle’s stories progress in the pages of Never Past Hope. I thought Annette to be a less impetuous and more a proper lady than in the first book, but after all she experienced, I can see her transformation as realistic. Peter struggles a bit to take the reigns of leadership of the property he has now inherited and still longs for the quieter pastor’s life he had once sought. Turtle is a truly a delightful character that made me chuckle in just about every scene in which he appeared.
My only complaint was that I felt the story started a bit slow and dealt with a great deal of character inner thoughts and reflection primarily on events that happened both on and off the pages of the last book. I found that a bit confusing and hard to follow and I had just finished Starving Hearts. I do not recommend Never Past Hope as a stand alone read for that reason. However, once I got past the initial chapters the story flowed beautifully and I was once again swept away in the Regency world Mendenhall creates for us.
I loved Mendenhall’s theme of forgiveness and second chances. If anyone needs a second chance, it’s Mendenhall’s unlikely hero, Sir Steven Likebridge. And who better to lead him to that place of brokenness and redemption before God, than the very person he wronged the most, Peter Adsley. I truly treasured Mary. What a strong woman of faith. Her enduring belief that God can forgive anyone who is contrite was inspiring to me, personally.
I was provided a free copy of Never Past Hope by Lighthouse Publishing in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
She’s a saint, he’s a criminal, can they find love…
I started this book with some reservations. I mean, the object of the heroine’s romantic affections is the despicable villain from the last book! I wasn’t sure I wanted to give the rake a second chance. But ultimately that is what Never Past Hope is about, forgiveness and redemption. Each of Janine Mendenhall’s characters struggle with some aspect of one of both of those words. A struggle which I think so many can identify with.
I’ll confess that it took me a bit to get into the story, I was just so deadset on disliking Steven and I thought that Mary Hope was a naive fool for her persistence. But after awhile they both grew on me a bit and I began to take an interest in how the story could possibly have a happy ending.
Never Past Hope couldn’t have been more perfectly titled, the play-on-words with the heroine’s name, and even more the overarching themes of the story. I think I actually may have liked this book better than the previous one, especially with the addition of family secrets and a missing object. I’ll be curious to see where Janine Mendenhall takes her characters in the last book of the Triangular Trade Trilogy.
(I received a copy of this book from the author. All opinions are entirely my own.)