My Review - A Place in His Heart

3 out of 5 stars

A PLACE IN HIS HEART seemed to have all the elements for a heart-warming historical romance, yet there was that something special that was missing for me.

When Mary Langton is left at the altar, her father strongly encourages her to marry an eligible milliner from London.  But Mary wants to marry for love.  Barnabas Horton grieves the loss of his wife, but continues to be strong for his two young boys.  Knowing Joseph and Benjamin need a mother, Barnabas considers the idea of remarrying.  Mary knows Barnabas is still in love with his first wife, but she wants to provide stability for him and his two sons, and she thinks eventually she will win Barnabas’ heart.

When Barnabas moves his family to the New World, Mary must leave behind her own family and cleave to an uncertain future.  Mary is committed to Barnabas, and does everything she can to show him her love, and provide for him another child.  But, even after years of togetherness, Mary is still without a child, and it pains her to realize she may never hold Barnabas’ heart.  Barnabas does not see Mary’s pain until it is too late.  Now it is he who must prove to Mary that she has indeed captured his heart.

Like I said previously, A PLACE IN HIS HEART had all the key elements for a satisfying romance, but somehow it just didn’t click for me on all levels.  I felt the momentum was slow and most times I found myself not liking Barnabas.  I had a multi-published, award winning, author once caution a group of novice writers regarding the development of a hero or heroine.  She acknowledged they could be imperfect, even annoying, but the reader must genuinely care about the character for the reader’s attachment to that character to grow.  And though I did like the character of Mary, at times I felt Barnabas was too cold and self-absorbed.  In fact, I like the character of Jeremy, his brother, much more so, and he was just a secondary character without many pages dedicated to him.  The ending should have won me over.  But quite frankly, by the end of the book, I didn’t think Barnabas deserved Mary. 

Book provided for review purposes.

Available June 2014 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.