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Jody Hedlund

A Reluctant Bride (The Bride Ships) Paperback – June 4, 2019

by Jody Hedlund (Author)

944 ratings

Book 1 of 4: The Bride Ships

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Living in London's poorest slum, Mercy Wilkins has little hope of a better life. When she's offered an opportunity to join a bride ship sailing to British Columbia, she agrees. After witnessing so much painful heartache and loss in the slums, the bride ship is her only prospect to escape a bleak future, not only for herself but, she hopes, someday for her sister.

Wealthy and titled Joseph Colville leaves home and takes to the sea in order to escape the pain of losing his family. As ship's surgeon, he's in charge of the passengers' welfare aboard the Tynemouth, including sixty brides-to-be. He has no immediate intention of settling down, but when Mercy becomes his assistant, the two must fight against a forbidden love.

With hundreds of single men congregating on the shore eager to claim a bride from the Tynemouth, will Mercy and Joseph lose their chance at true love, or will they be able to overcome the obstacles that threaten to keep them apart?

Print length

352 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Bethany House Publishers
Publication date

June 4, 2019
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.88 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

0764232959
ISBN-13

978-0764232954
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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

A New Life Awaits Her across the Horizon

Living in London's poorest slum, Mercy Wilkins harbors little hope for a better life. So when she's offered the opportunity to join a bride ship sailing to British Columbia, she agrees. The journey abroad is her only prospect to escape a bleak future--both for herself and to help her sister, who's suffering in a workhouse.

Wealthy and titled Joseph Colville leaves everything behind and takes to the sea to escape the pain of losing his family. As the ship's surgeon, he's in charge of the passengers' welfare aboard the Tynemouth, including sixty brides-to-be. He has no immediate intention of settling down, but when Mercy becomes his assistant, the two must fight against a forbidden love.

With hundreds of single men congregating along the shore of Vancouver Island, eager to claim a bride from the Tynemouth, will Mercy and Joseph miss their chance at true love, or will they overcome the obstacles that threaten to keep them apart?

"Weaving in faith elements organically, Hedlund explores the prejudices, restrictions, and moral codes of the Victorian era, as well as what it means to know oneself and to love someone. This excellent series launch will leave fans eager for the next entry."--Publishers Weeklystarred review

"Hedlund is an expert in grounding her wildly engrossing stories in historical facts, and capturing the plight of the poor with compassion. The sizzle between the main characters is palpable, their devastating and dangerous voyage heightens their chemistry, and their journeys toward vulnerability and bravery in the new world parallel their emotional awakening to self-worth."--Booklist

"The Christian faith elements are introduced seamlessly into the narrative, along with the class prejudices of that era. London's slum life is lucidly imagined, and the descriptions of the confined life, sickness, and weather on a lengthy sea voyage are vividly recounted. Readers will look forward to the second book in the series."--Historical Novels Review

About the Author

Jody Hedlund (www.jodyhedlund.com) is the bestselling author of more than 30 historical novels for both adults and teens and is the winner of numerous awards, including the Christy, Carol, and Christian Book Awards. Jody lives in Michigan with her husband, busy family, and five spoiled cats.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bethany House Publishers (June 4, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0764232959
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0764232954
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.88 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #710,717 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,291 in Historical Christian Romance
- #4,285 in Christian Historical Fiction (Books)
- #9,026 in Clean & Wholesome Romance (Books)

Customer Reviews:
944 ratings

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Jody Hedlund is the best-selling author of over forty books and is the winner of numerous awards. She writes sweet historical romances with plenty of sizzle. Find out more at jodyhedlund.com.

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4.6 out of 5

944 global ratings

5 star		71%
4 star		20%
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Carolina Consumer

A Bit Unrealistic

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 20, 2022

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While I was ignorant of, then appalled at, the descriptions of life for the poor in London at this period in time, I found the descriptions of Mercy were almost too good to be true. She was depicted as an actual 'angel of mercy, as she dedicated her life to helping others who were also in her dire straits. And, of course she was astonishingly beautiful, in spite of being raised in filth, starvation, and degradation. The background story of the 'bride ships' was fascinating, and at the same time distressing. The future for those who embarked on such a venture was tenuous at best, having to endure 100+ days of a rough sea voyage in appalling conditions in order to get to their new homes, where hordes of female-starved men awaited their arrival like a pack of ravenous animals. Joseph's characterization was also almost too good to be true, in his relentless devotion to those of much lower rank and fortune. He was evidently 'one in a million' within the British aristocracy. The sparks between Joseph and Mercy began to fly almost immediately upon their first meeting, and continued to blaze during the months at sea. While the story of the bride ship and its passengers was interesting, I felt the main focus of the writing was on the passion being kindled between the two main characters. The story seemed to bog down with the constant references to the furtive looks, their increasing attraction, their immediate 'bodily responses' to their encounters, ultimately their passionate embraces and kisses, etc etc. After awhile, this seemed overdone and much too repetitive. I enjoy a beautiful love story as much as the next reader, but this one seemed too unrealistic to be possible. And, there was the fact that neither of them wanted to get married...to anyone. Although there was so much writing about their increasing passion, it did remain a clean and wholesome story. One other element I didn't really care for and felt was overdone was the description of the pastor who accompanied the women of the bride ship, and whose duty it was to keep them away from the crewmen on board so they would arrive 'unsullied'. His characterization was of one who was unloving and unkind, while also being conniving...not the type of pastor who garnered any respect for his position. He was depicted as a caricature of an 'unchristian' Christian who tried in vain to steer Joseph toward one of his daughters while sabotaging Mercy at the same time. All's well that ends well, I suppose, but it all seemed too good to be true. All in all, I became somewhat bored with this book and was relieved to finally reach the end. Maybe the next books in this series will be better?

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 3, 2022

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This book series. IS. SO. GOOD. Oh my goodness I loved each book so much. The author weaves a beautiful tale of four women.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 4, 2022

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A Reluctant Bride by Jody Hedlund was a very good read for me. The description of the book led me to choose to read and review it for NetGalley.com. I did like this book and would recommend it to those loving history and romance. I like most of Jody Hedlund’s novels and highly recommend all of them.

Mercy Wilkins lives with her large family in the slums of London. Her sister has been asked to leave so the family can provide for the smaller ones. Mercy is next to be asked. She decides to embark on a journey to British Columbia as a bride for those men who have settled there. There are sixty brides-to-be on the ship sailing for British Columbia. The voyage was very difficult because of seasickness and other ailments. Mercy becomes the ship’s doctor’s assistant.

By the time they arrive at their destination, they both have a deep love and respect for each other. According to t rules of the committee that set up this bride ship, Mercy is bound to follow through with the demand that she marry one of the men from British Columbia. I found that the rest of the story was quite a novel experience for all involved.

I received a Kindle copy of this book from NetGalley.com in return for my honest review.

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Erin L

Great historical romance

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 20, 2020

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Another great historical romance by Jody Hedlund! This book follows a bride ship of women immigrating from England to the British colonies in what is now Canada to marry the miners who populated the area. The ship and its voyage were real to history, but the characters were fiction. This book follows Joseph Colville, the ship's doctor (and a baron who has cared less about his title and opted to study medicine, a career of "commoners"), and Mercy Wilkins, a poor woman whose compassion is unrivaled. You couldn't help but like these 2 characters as they continually put others first. They were both running from the griefs of the past as well. It was good to see the growth as they learned how to put the past behind them and move forward. I had 2 minor complaints, making this a 4 star read rather than a 5 star. The first was that while I know that the difference in their social status was a huge deal at the time, the conversations and thought processes surrounding it seemed very repetitive. The second was that while both of them exhibited wonderful self-less natures, both of them had to get to a point of surrender to God as neither of them really had a relationship with him at the beginning. Without Christ, it is nigh impossible to exhibit a Christ-like nature that we see in both of them. I would have liked to have seen more growth in those elements of their characters (or seen them get exhausted by trying on their own without Him) instead. Also, the kissing scenes were a bit too steamy for my liking, but that's just a personal preference. All in all, just minor concerns - overall, the book is very well written, the story is interesting and the characters are likable. Just what one would expect from this author! I would recommend to fans of inspirational historical romance.

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Chris

Reluctant four star read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 8, 2020

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Hedlund writes with style and this novel was easy to read but just fell short of being believable for me. I think Hedlund lets me down because her characters become too consumed with physical attraction.

La veneziana

Tynemouth: la nave delle spose

Reviewed in Italy 🇮🇹 on March 9, 2021

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Nella postfazione, l'autrice rivela che quella raccontata, sia pure romanzata, è una storia vera: il viaggio di 100 giorni della nave Tynemouth dalla Gran Bretagna alla Colombia Britannica.
Nella seconda metà dell'Ottocento i missionari sbarcati nella British Columbia avevano scritto alla madrepatria per farsi inviare giovani donne disposte a sposare i coloni, minatori e cacciatori di pellicce che non potevano formarsi una famiglia in mancanza di femmine disponibili. Su una di queste navi si imbarca all'ultimo momento Mercy Wilkins in cerca di un futuro migliore rispetto ai quartieri più malfamati di Londra in cui la sua famiglia sta letteralmente morendo di fame.
Mercy è un prodotto insolito per quella zona: è bella, è buona e si dà moltissimo da fare per tenere a galla la famiglia nonostante le enormi difficoltà ed ha, in qualche modo, allacciato un rapporto di stima con il vecchio medico che lavora indefessamente nel dispensario locale. Nel dispensario incontra per la prima volta un giovane medico ricco e titolato Joseph Colville, che immediatamente riconosce l'intelligenza e il grande cuore di Mercy.
I loro mondi tuttavia sono socialmente agli antipodi.
Quando, per disperazione, Mercy si imbarca, non sa che anche Lord Colville si è imbarcato sulla stessa nave in un viaggio che per lui è un modo per rendersi utile e per girare il mondo.
La descrizione del viaggio e dei pericoli incontrati sono realistiche e le difficoltà delle donne a bordo vengono raccontate con crudezza e con partecipazione. A quanto pare anche coloro che potevano permettersi di pagare il viaggio, avevano sistemazioni scarne e un trattamento che non era poi così diverso da quello dei passeggeri più poveri.
Il rapporto che pian piano di approfondisce fra Joseph e Mercy è dolceamaro perché minato dalle aspettative sociali e dalle insicurezze dei due protagonisti, pur essendo chiaro fin dal principio che l'attrazione reciproca è profonda e piena di rispetto.
Ho molto apprezzato lo stile di scrittura che letteralmente "risucchia" il lettore nelle vicende di una umanità coraggiosa, resiliente e disperata di cui non si può fare a meno di seguire con partecipazione i destini.
Se il libro ha un difetto, e non è un difetto da poco, è che Mercy è troppo educata e delicata nel parlare rispetto alla sua provenienza.
L'autrice cerca di dare fondamento questo fatto introducendo la figura di una suora che aveva seguito in passato Mercy e sua sorella ma è troppo poco per far pensare che sia possibile che una ragazza possa uscire dagli slums parlando meglio di Eliza Dolittle!
Non c'è da stupirsi se Lord Colville si sente attratto.
Il finale poi, per rendere le cose più drammatiche, è un tira e molla di "parto" e "non parto" che ho trovato un tantino ridicolo.
Più interessanti sono le descrizioni delle difficoltà e degli imbarazzi di un gruppo di ragazze che si trovano in una terra sconosciuta e selvaggia e che sono trattate come poco più che merce in vendita. La realtà di alcune scene sarebbe rivoltante se non il lettore non conoscesse l'ambiente spaventoso di provenienza di queste creature e la terribile sporcizia di mesi trascorsi in mare senza potersi lavare!
Comunque la mia valutazione globale è più che positiva perché mi sono resa conto che tutte le volte che interrompevo la lettura, non vedevo l'ora di riprenderla.

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George Jones

interesting plot

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on December 8, 2022

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This story was very interesting regarding the early settlement of the British colony of Victoria. It is well written and based on historical facts. A delightful romance included.

Ruby

Couldn't put it down!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 4, 2022

Verified Purchase

This was a great historical slow burn romance. I loved the realistic historical aspect of it which was well researched for this time period. Also, the love story was sooooo heart warming! Would definitely recommend.

ginette

Loved it.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 5, 2021

Verified Purchase

This book is full of hIstory and the story is totally believable. The ready lives every moment of anguish, hope and anticipation. Great author!

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