Love Unexpected!

I am captivated by lighthouses. I love to visit them and simply look up at them in awe because they are so amazing and each has its own stories to tell. Recently I enjoyed reading Love Unexpected by Jody Hedlund. It is the first in her new Beacons of Hope Series. Before this one, I read her e-book prequel, Out of the Storm, which takes place on the same location, Presque Isle on Lake Huron.  

Love Unexpected is a poignant story of two people who marry for purely practical reasons.  Emma Chambers emigrated to America from Ireland with her family for a better life. Instead, she loses her mother and moves with her father and brother wherever the next job comes along. After losing her father, she and her brother Ryan are moving once again for the next job that may change their luck. It all seems promising until the steamboat they are traveling on is boarded by pirates and subsequently sunk.

Patrick, the lighthouse keeper is one of the men who rescue the survivors. Emma awakes after her rescue to find him and his young son burying his wife. The traveling preacher, Holy Bill watches Emma as she bonds with the child who strays from his father. His surprising proposal to Patrick and Emma starts their real story of a quick marriage of convenience. Emma wishes to stop being a burden to Ryan and has long dreamt of a home of her own. Patrick can't perform his duties as keeper of the lighthouse while caring for his young son. Can two people who marry within an hour of meeting build a strong marriage of love and respect? Do either have anything to hide under the privacy of a deserted lighthouse?  The answer lies between the pages of this book.

The story is well written and the characters will hook you right away. I confess I stayed up far too long in the evening to finish the book but it was worth it.  Love Unexpected is to be read, shared and discussed!