Beyond All Measure by Dorothy Love

Title: Beyond All Measure (Hickory Ridge Romance #1)

Author: Dorothy Love

Pages: 314

Year: 2011

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Note: I received a free copy of this book from a Goodreads, First Reads giveaway.

     This is a captivating Christian Historical novel.

     After Ada Wentworth loses everything and everyone that is important to her she sets out to take a job as companion to an elderly widow, Lillian Willis, in rural Tennessee. This is a drastic change for the young lady from a well-to-do Boston family shortly after the end of the Civil War. Many of the local residents of the small town in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains view Ada as an enemy because of her Yankee upbringing.

     Wyatt Caldwell is Lillian Willis’s nephew, Ada’s new employer. After the war ended he returned to Hickory Ridge and opened a lumber mill.

     I was drawn into the story very quickly. The characters were very easy to connect to. The plot was easy to follow and did not become bogged down at any point. Dorothy Love handled the touchy subjects of the Ku Klux Klan and the freed slaves that were trying to figure out the new order of things. I wanted to see the people in Hickory Ridge work out their differences and sort out their problems. I thoroughly enjoyed the simple way that those whose belief in God was solid encouraged others to trust Him and rely on Him.

     I give this book a 5 star ranking and I highly recommend it.