Review: "A Love Surrendered" by Julie Lessman

Reviewed by Katie McCurdy for Legacy of a Writer

5/5 Stars

THE BOOK:

Orphaned in Iowa, Annie Kennedy moves to Boston to stay with her spinster aunt. She longs for romance to fill the void left by her parents' death. But when she falls hard for Steven O'Connor, the man who broke an engagement to her sister, Annie is worried. Will he break her heart too when he discovers who she really is?

With heart-pounding romance, intense family drama, and emotional twists and turns, A Love Surrendered is everything Julie Lessman's many fans have been waiting for.

MY REVIEW:

Wowza, what a completion to the series!! Actually, I should say both series, to be exact. :-o The Daughters of Boston series and Winds of Change series both follow the O’Connor crew through countless years of their lives and half a dozen marriages :-) It’s hard to believe that there won’t be any other books on this awesome family—after 6 books, a bookworm like myself can’t help but grow attached to them!

For the final book in the Winds of Change series, it focused on Steven O’Connor and Annie, the younger sister of Steven’s former girlfriend. While this book tells their story (and a very sweet story at that!), in typical Julie Lessman style, there are several side stories interwoven into A Love Surrendered that visits just about each of the O’Connor siblings. From Emma’s struggle to give Sean children, to Katie and Luke butting heads over who they should and should not hang out with. I really loved getting to take a peek inside each of their marriages—it even made me want to go back and reread their books! Especially Sean and Emma’s—their story had to be my favorite…though after reading A Love Surrendered, Sean and Emma just might have to share the “favorite” spot with Steven and Annie!

As in all of Lessman’s books, there are several “bedroom scenes” in A Love Surrendered. None are overtly explicit, but all are still very intimate and, in my opinion, for a mature reader’s eye only. Lessman knows how to heat up the pages, that’s for sure, and older readers will no doubt enjoy the tender love scenes, but I wouldn’t recommend this book to younger, teen readers.

There was one point in A Love Surrendered (about 2/3 of the way through) that I wasn’t sure how Lessman was going to keep the story going. I mean, it seemed as if everything was going perfectly and everyone would get their happily ever after. Well, I should have known better, since this book is written by Julie Lessman—THE Drama Queen! ;-) It wasn’t two chapters later that something big happened and threw a huge curveball into the plot. I couldn’t put the book down after that. Awesome, awesome job, Lessman!!

I don’t think there’s anything more I can say about A Love Surrendered except that it was a wonderful read with some realistic, endearing characters. I did get a little tired of all the ladies in this family that seem to have a thing for hiding things from their husbands…but then it creates all the drama, so what can I say? Haha! But, really, if you at all love drama, the stubborn Irish, and a love story that will get your blood pumping…check out Julie Lessman’s A Love Surrendered today!!

* I reviewed this book for Revell. It was not required that I give a positive review, but solely to express my own thoughts and opinions of this book, which I have done.