My Rating: 4 StarsDescription: In a colony named New Hope, while their friends are seeking a southern utopia...
Hayden is seeking revenge. Relentlessly.
After years of all but selling his soul to track down his scoundrel of a father, Hayden Gale discovers his search must continue in South America, where his father is reported to be helping colonize Brazil. Hayden has nothing more to lose, certainly not a good reputation, and vows to keep pursuing--at any cost--the vile man who he believes killed his mother.
Magnolia is seeking a way out. Desperately.
She's in the jungles of Brazil against her will, but what choice does Magnolia Scott have? Her father insisted on uprooting their family to escape the uncertainty of Southern life after the Civil War. But how will she survive without all she holds dear--wealthy suitors, beautiful clothes, summer balls, and slaves waiting on her every whim? She vows to find a way to get back home--and attaches herself to handsome Hayden Gale.
As they journey toward Rio de Janeiro, they each seek to use the other for their own purposes. Deceptively. Falling in love was never part of their plans....
My Thoughts: Amazingly, I have never read a novel set in the jungle before. I wish that I had. All of the flora and fauna made for a unique setting. I also enjoyed the supernatural elements, which have not played much into any of MaryLu's other series. I can't wait to see how that continues to unfold in the next book. The only thing I would have changed would have been to have the supernatural take more of a part in Hayden and Magnolia's story.
And speaking of their story, might I just say that it was rife with tension. There was bickering, attraction, and betrayal. What made it all the more interesting was that their fatal flaws were the other's most loathed vice. Hayden uses people, Magnolia has been used all her life and is tired of it. Magnolia lies to get what she wants, Hayden hates being lied to because it reminds him of his own faults. The conflict kept me enthralled and I could not put it down until I knew the end.
I received this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review.
It is a book for those of us today who feel like we don't measure up. For those who measure beauty by outward appearance only, and not what God wants to see changed 'on the inside'. There is hope. And "Elusive Hope" brings us that ... and much more.
ReplyDelete