Shadowed by Grace- Cara Putman

My Rating: 2 Stars

Description: Shadowed by Grace is the first in a stirring new series of stand-alone historical suspense novels by acclaimed author Cara C. Putman. Desperate to save her dying mother, Rachel accepts her newspaper’s assignment to travel to Italy to captures images dangerously close to the front lines of WWII. Her real motive – to find the father she never knew -- an artist she hopes can offer the comfort and support both she and her mother need to survive. It’s an unlikely situation for love and faith to flourish, but soon Rachel not only finds herself, but also her long-lost earthly father, and ultimately, the man her Heavenly father created to cherish and provide for her.

My Thoughts: When I first saw this, I was interested because it had to do with the monuments men. With the movie soon coming out about them, I thought it would be interesting to learn about them somewhat before hand. I was disappointed to find little information on how the monuments men actually worked. Scott goes from place to place to save art, yet most of those interactions are glossed over and there is no real idea of what he is doing.

The romance was cute, but a bit predictable. Scott and Rachel continuously bump into each other. While this makes sense in some instances, that they always meet up in different cities outside of their orders, it was unbelievable. To those who know the history of the war, it was rare to find anyone after the way, let alone during it. It was simply too many coincidences.

As I said, Scott and Rachel made a cute couple, and outside of the war I would have enjoyed their story. However, as a history love as well as a romance reader, I could not overcome my disappointment in the lack of information.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.