A Place in His Heart: A Review

 Today I'm reviewing A Place in His Heart by Rebecca DeMarino. I received this book in exchange for my honest review, which I have given.

Description: Anglican Mary Langton longs to marry for love. Puritan Barnabas Horton is still in love with his deceased wife and needs only a mother for his two young sons. And yet these two very different people with very different expectations will take a leap of faith, wed, and then embark on a life-changing journey across the ocean to the Colonies. Along the way, each must learn to live in harmony, to wait on God, and to recognize true love where they least expect to find it.

This heartfelt tale of love and devotion is based on debut author Rebecca DeMarino's own ancestors, who came to Long Island in the mid-1600s to establish a life--and a legacy--in the New World.


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 I have mixed feelings about the review today. And you'll soon see why, I suppose.

 As far as characters go... I loved Mary. She was wonderful. She tried so hard to be a good wife and mother, and worked without complaint even as she was dragged around everywhere. I really cared about this character who loved deeply. Barnabas... was a different story. I mean, he lost his wife, and went through some pretty sad stuff, but I just didn't... care for him. And some of his behavior made me think he was a bit detestable. You'd have to read the book, but Barnabas did not leave a good impression on me, and some of his changes in character sometimes felt a bit too quick. I liked the character of Winnie, and Indian woman. She was a bit of a standout, and I liked Barnabas' sons, Ben and Jay.

 The plot and story were pretty good. I picked this book to review because the story intrigued me. I probably enjoyed the earlier chapters better than later chapters, but that was just me. It was interesting to read about old practices, like the village baker baking everyone's bread, and different things such as that. The story did tend to drag in several places. I intended to read this book in a week, but it took me three. There was a piece missing from the story for me. I can't quite say what it was. Some of my favorite parts were Mary interacting with the boys is various ways, and some of my least favorite were when Barnabas was being a meanie.

 All in all, this was a pretty good book. I'd probably rate it 3 to 3 1/2 stars. The author did an excellent job with looking up historical facts, but the love story that was advertized wasn't really there for me. One thing of interest is the fact that this is based on a true story, something I didn't realize until I completed the book. That added an extra ounce of interest, to be sure. If you would like to read the book (because you should judge it for yourself, you might like it a lot!) you can buy it from Amazon, or wherever books are sold.