The Promise of Breeze Hill

At first this was shaping up to be very close to a five-star read. The prose is lyrical and the characters and circumstances very engaging. I was a bit shocked to see a French profanity in a scene, but I was still really enjoying it.

A little past the halfway point, it seemed to lose focus. Strong Isabella falls prey to worry and misunderstandings and begins to believe that the bad guy might actually hold the solution. It was still a very interesting story, but it wasn't as compelling, and I felt that it began to lose a bit of its uniqueness as a story in a little-featured time period and place. Then I encountered two more profanities, this time in English, at 73% and 74%. Seriously, I'm so fed up with Christian authors who write characters who take God's name in vain. Fed up with “mainstream” Christian publishers who think it's okay to leave it in.

Well, so Isabella finds herself at the end of the rope, and she takes matters into her own hand. Rather than seeking wise counsel from the people around her, rather than praying and seeking God for an answer, she does what she thinks is “wise,” thereby endangering herself and several other people. The odds are not good. Ultimately the rescue felt like mere chance, a convenient way to complete two or three plot points within a given amount of time.

The ending was satisfying and the writing style itself stayed engaging and well-crafted throughout the story.

Thanks to NetGalley for a free review copy.