Book Recommendation - Bride of Convenience

When it comes to Christian historical romance, Jody Hedlund is one of the names that comes to mind for a great story. I was introduced to her writing several years ago when I won her biographical fiction piece on John Newton entitled "Newton and Polly". Two years ago, she wrote an amazing series on the orphan trains that I thoroughly enjoyed and she is currently doing a series on the bride ships that brought women from England to the Canadian colonies where miners had settled in and men outnumbered the women 100 to 1. When Ms. Hedlund learned of these ships, she wondered at what sort of desperation would cause women to leave the only home they've ever known, sail for months at a time to come to a colony and plan to marry a stranger. This series looks into those reasons and each leading lady has a different one. Bride of Convenience is the 3rd book in this series. It follows Zoe, who has come to the colonies on the bride ship not only to be a bride, but also to find her brother who immigrated 2 years prior. When she finds herself in custody of an orphan child, she knows that she has to find a husband sooner than later. While I'm generally not overly keen on romance novels in general, a marriage of convenience story is probably my favorite trope within the romance genre. I think this is because the love is built on the solid foundation of commitment, and I appreciate that about a romance novel.

Here's a brief synopsis of this novel:
Unemployed mill worker Zoe Hart jumps at the opportunity to emigrate to British Columbia in 1863 to find a better life and be reunited with her brother, who fled from home after being accused of a crime.
Pastor to miners in the mountains, Abe Merivale discovers an abandoned baby during a routine visit to Victoria and joins efforts with Zoe, one of the newly arrived bride-ship women, to care for the infant. While there, he’s devastated by the news from his fiancee in England that she’s marrying another man.
With mounting pressure to find the baby a home, Zoe accepts a proposal from a miner of questionable character after he promises to help her locate her brother. Intent on protecting Zoe and frustrated by his failed engagement, Abe offers his own hand as groom. After a hasty wedding, they soon realize their marriage of convenience is not so convenient after all.
For more information, check out the following links:
Jody Hedlund's website: https://jodyhedlund.com/
Jody Hedlund's facebook page https://www.facebook.com/jody.hedlund
Jody Hedlund's reader room facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1645996612301613/about
My full 4.5 star review of this one: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3380968885

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