Saturday, December 28, 2019

Reviewer's Bookshelf: "The Rebel Bride" by Shannon McNear


Book Summary...Can Love Form Amidst Tensions of War?During the clash between Union and Confederacy, quiet Tennessean Pearl MacFarlane is compelled to nurse both Rebel and Yankee wounded who seek refuge at her family’s farm. She is determined to remain unmoved by the Yankee cause—until she faces the silent struggle of Union soldier Joshua Wheeler, a recent amputee. The MacFarlane family fits no stereotype Joshua believed in; still he is desperate to regain his footing—as a soldier, as a man, as a Christian—in the aftermath of his debilitating injury. He will use his time behind enemy lines to gather useful intelligence for the Union—if the courageous Rebel woman will stay out of the line of danger.

My thoughts....The Civil War was such a complex time in our nation's history. Each book I've read in this time period presents a different perspective and always interesting food for thought. In this tenth book of  The Daughters of the Mayflower series, both the North and the South are well represented through Pearl and Joshua as well as other supporting characters. I really appreciated that there was no definitive right or wrong side in this story...the reader had to decide for him/herself which position they wanted to take. Even this, however, was not easy to come by. History shows that there really wasn't a "right" or "wrong"...both sides paid dearly with many lives lost and much blood spilled. Pearl and Joshua both had to take a moment to see the war from the "enemy" perspective and both had to serve each other in ways they did not anticipate. The tomantic tension between them was also influenced by their political tension...almost a Romeo and Juliet effect. Thankfully, while the death toll in the Civil War was tragic, this story does not end in the same way that Romeo and Juliet did. I would definitely recommend this novel along with others in this series! Check out my reviews of a few other books I've reviewed in the Daughters of the Mayflower series:
The Liberty Bride
The Cumberland Bride (also by Shannon McNear)
The Captured Bride

**I was given a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in order to give an honest review, which I did.**

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