A Noble Groom - A Book Review

A Noble Groom is the first book I have read by Jody Hedlund, but I can promise you that it won't be the last.  The author made and instant fan out of me with this beautifully written "fairy tale" of a story.

If it's possible to fall in love with the character's in a story then I did just that.

Annalise is a young mother of a 2 1/2 year old daughter and is pregnant with her second child when her husband dies.  Not that there is any love lost.  Hans had never treated her well and she had already come to the realization that there are no happy marriages and that there is no such thing as fairy tales or happy endings.  Now that her husband is dead she must work extra hard to save her farm.  Her father arranges for his brother who lives in Germany to find Annalise a new groom.  She has never disobeyed her father and since marrying for love is something that she has given up on she waits...waits for her groom to arrive.

Carl is a nobleman from Germany that has come to help Annalise until the man who is to be her new husband arrives.  He is unlike any man that Annalise has ever met.  He is charming, caring, kind,  but clearly he is hiding something.  She accepts his help knowing that any day her true groom will be there, but by the time he arrives will she be able to forget this man, this nobleman that has worked his way into the dark shadows of her heart?!

This novel is so much more than a simple love story.  It is rich in historical content which I loved and the author even includes a few pages in the back of the book that tells where the real history and the fiction intertwine.  There is also some nail biting suspense that had me eager to turn each page.  The danger that unfolds through out the story will keep you from wanting to put the book down.  I actually found myself walking through the house and reading just because I didn't want to stop!  The author writes in such a descriptive way that it is as if a picture is being played out right before your eyes.

The only negative thing that I can say about the book is that I wish there would of been a glossary included in the beginning of the book that told the meaning of some of the German words that were used.  By the end of the book I had already figured them out and did not have a problem with them, but at the beginning I was quite frustrated with not knowing the meanings.

This book is definitely going on my book shelf, situated with my other favorite books that I read over and over.  It really did have a fairy tale like love and story line in my opinion and seriously, what girl doesn't dream about fairy tale endings! :):)

***This book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.