Love Unexpected

 Title: Love Unexpected

Author: Jody Hedlund

Narrator: Becky Doughty 

Publisher: Bethany House

Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance, Christian Fiction

Source: Library

My Review:

I started out listening to the audiobook. I got halfway through it and had to switch to the book. 

I liked the premise of this book.  I appreciated the fact that Emma wanted a home. While her and Patrick are talking before they marry, Patrick tries to tell Emma about his past. She trusts Holy Bill and tells Patrick it does not matter. She immediately takes to Josiah and does her best to be a good mom to him.

I struggled with the narrator as their seemed to be a perpetual whine in her voice. I finally picked up the paperback to try and finish the book, because I try really hard to finish books that I start. I was frustrated with the lack of communication between characters that caused a lot of unnecessary tension. At one point I was really annoyed when Emma asked if Josiah, the two year old, knew his dad had once been a pirate. Seriously?! What two year old has a concept of what their parents do? Especially things that happened before they were born. Anyway, I will not continue to expound on the stuff that bothered me. I will say this was not one for me. I have read other works by Jody Hedlund and enjoyed them, so don't be quick to dismiss the author out right from my less than stellar review.

★★/5

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

All she's ever wanted was a home. But stranded at Presque Isle port after their steamboat sank, Emma Chambers and her brother, Ryan, couldn't be farther away from security. While Ryan at least can find work, Emma can't even find a place to stay. An unlikely solution arises when the lighthouse keeper, who recently lost his wife and is struggling to raise his young son, arrives in town. A traveling preacher believes they might be the answer to each others' problems, and after a hasty marriage, Emma is headed back to the lighthouse with this handsome but quiet stranger.

But nothing in her wandering life has prepared her for suddenly being asked to raise a child and keep a house. Struggling at every turn, Emma also suspects Patrick may be keeping something hidden from her. In town she hears whispers about strange circumstances surrounding his previous wife's death, and it seems as though Emma's answered prayer for a home and family may actually be something much more dangerous.