A Noble Groom
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4.7 • 21 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
2014 Carol Award Winner for Historical Romance
Michigan, 1880
Annalisa Werner's hope for a fairy tale love is over. Her husband failed her in every way and now his death has left her with few options to save the family farm. She needs a plentiful harvest. That, and a husband to help bring it in. Someone strong, dependable. That'll be enough. A marriage for love...that's something she's given up on.
So her father sends a letter to his brother in the Old Country, asking him to find Annalisa a groom.
Then a man appears: Carl Richards, from their home country of Germany and a former schoolteacher--or so he says. He's looking for work and will serve on the farm until her husband arrives.
With time running out, she accepts his help, but there's more to this man than he's admitting. He's also gentle, kind, charming--unlike any man she's ever known. But even as Carl is shining light into the darkness of her heart, she knows her true groom may arrive any day.
"Swiftly becoming a well-known contender in the world of Christian historical fiction, Hedlund skillfully taps into her own German heritage to develop this tale of Old World romance and masked identity set against the backdrop of a nineteenth-century German American community." -- Booklist
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hedlund (Unending Devotion) crafts a historical romance set in the 1880s farmlands of Michigan. Her cast of German immigrants has come to America in search of a life free from the serfdom of their native country. Heroine Annalisa Werner toils under the cruelty of a foolhardy husband, but, when he dies and Annalisa discovers she is pregnant with her second child, a bad situation suddenly becomes exponentially worse. Her family's swift and sole solution is to marry her off. With no suitable candidates in the immigrant community, her father beseeches his brother in Germany to send a potential husband. Carl von Reichart arrives in response to this request, but only to provide temporary assistance to Annalisa until the intended groom can secure passage. While Annalisa suspects Carl is hiding a dark secret, she is helpless to do anything but accept his assistance. Her circumstances grow more complicated as financial woes and devastating illness strike. Hedlund's love story may be simple and predictable, but her characters and their situations are anything but, as they deal with the timeless issues of love, faith, and self-worth.
Customer Reviews
When marriage can mean survival...
A Noble Groom takes you into the year 1880 when marriage can sometimes mean survival, but not necessarily love. When German immigrants flee a harsh caste system to freedom in Michigan, America, they soon find trials of faith, of family, of courage and of moral strength that lead them to question some of their traditions. A grievous error of a greedy father leads another father to grief and hatred. When their children unknowingly meet and fall for one another, trouble ensues. Especially as one is hiding under a disguise putting everything at risk. When nobility is earned by ones actions, rather than a birthright, the character of a man shines radiantly. When one is married off for survival giving up hope of the fairy tale romance, learns that love comes in unexpected ways, she has to rethink the defenses she's set around her heart. Add in a greedy murderous villain, a drought that threatens livelihoods, a life threatening illness and you have to wonder if they will survive it all. All in all, the reader finds themselves immersed in the past, living the daily trials of survival amongst numerous adversities hoping love will conquer all.