Hearts Made Whole, Beacons of Hope,book 2 by Jody Hedlund

Paperback, 379 pages

Published June 2nd 2015 by Bethany House Publishers 

ISBN 0764212389 (ISBN13: 9780764212383) 

Series: Beacons of Hope #2

Characters: Ryan Chambers, Caroline Taylor, Tessa Taylor

About Book

After her father’s death, Caroline Taylor has grown confident running the Windmill Point Lighthouse. But in 1865 Michigan, women aren’t supposed to have such roles, so it’s only a matter of time before the lighthouse inspector appoints a new keeper–even though Caroline has nowhere else to go and no other job available to her.Ryan Chambers is a Civil War veteran still haunted by the horrors of battle. He’s been given the post as lighthouse keeper, and the isolation where he can drown in drink and hide from his past is appealing. He’s not expecting the current keeper to be a feisty and beautiful woman who’s none-too-pleased to be giving up her position. They both quickly realize he’s in no shape to run the lighthouse, but Ryan’s unwilling to let anyone close, ravaged by memories and guilt. Caroline’s drawn to this wounded soul, but with both of them relying on that single position, can they look past their loss to a future filled with hope…and possibly love?

Where to Purchase:  Amazon, CBD, B&N

About Author

Jody Hedlund is an award-winning and bestselling author of inspirational historical romances including books for adults and youth. She currently makes her home in central Michigan with her husband and their five busy children.

As a busy mama-writer, she has the wonderful privilege of teaching her crew of 5 children at home. In between grading math papers and giving spelling tests, she occasionally does a load of laundry and washes dishes. When she's not busy being a mama, you can find her in front of her laptop working on another of her page-turning stories.

She loves reading almost as much as she loves writing, especially when it also involves chocolate and coffee. 

Jody Hedlund website:  http://jodyhedlund.com/

My Thoughts

Caroline feels it is her responsibility to care not only  for her younger siblings but for the lighthouse she helped her father care for until his death.  She refuses without a fight to relinquish the care of the lighthouse to a Civil War veteran Ryan Chambers.  Caroline is being replaced for the simple fact that  she is a woman.  In her mind she has all the other requirements to perform the job.  

Ryan is willing to have Caroline assist him with caring for the lighthouse mainly because, what we now call PTSD, makes him unable to perform as the soul light-keeper.  Besides he is becoming very fond of Caroline and her siblings but this is not enough to officially keep her as his assistant.  The only way for Caroline to stay at the lighthouse in any form would be if she married an approved light-keeper.  Yet it is the apparent threats on her family that conveniences her that someone does not want Caroline to remain at the lighthouse.

At first I did not have a lot of sympathy for Ryan and his addiction. But I learned compassion from Caroline and with her constant patience and forgiving of Ryan's constant failure to perform his job. She saw in Ryan what God also saw, that he was capable of doing the job.  Therefore giving him time to forgive himself for his past and present mistakes. A healing within himself.

The author kept me captivated!  Caroline was a very determined young woman and Ryan was so broken from the war.   There is romance, mystery, vengeance, trust, forgiveness and one of my favorites is the history. 

I highly recommend this book.

I rated this book 5+ out of 5.

Disclosure:  I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for review.  I was in no way compensated for this review.  This review is my honest opinion.