Abbie Ann by Sharlene MacLaren ~ 5 stars

Abbie Ann

Sharlene MacLaren

The Daughters of Jacob Kane series #3

Whitaker House Publishing

About the book:

Abbie Ann Kane, the youngest of Jacob Kane's three daughters, is a busy woman. In addition to working at Kane's Whatnot and teaching Sunday school at the Third Street Church, she leads the local Woman's Christian Temperance Union chapter in promoting women's suffrage and Prohibition. But their campaign is not universally popular. While Abbie focuses on helping abused women, her brother-in-law, Sheriff Gabriel Devlin, investigates several threats directed at her.

For years, Noah Carson ran a successful shipworks in Connecticut, that is, until his business partner cheated him our of his share, not to mention his wife. Hoping for a fresh start, the recent divorce moves with his six-year- old son, Toby, to Sandy Shores, where he joins his uncles window business. Bur Noah's passion for shipbuilding proves hard to stifle, especially when a local businessman commissions him to construct a ship to race in the annual regatta.

When an unexpected incident virtually catapults Noah Carson into Abbie Anns life, the two feel an immediate attraction that Abbie works hard to ignore. After all, Noah is nor a committed Christian, nor does he seem committed to marriage, considering his divorced status. Still, Abbie finds herself drawn to him, and to his son. Will the independent Abbie trust the Lord and surrender to His surprising plans?

My review:

I love Sharlene’s books. I have read all of her books except one, and I have never failed to be thrilled by them! You can see her love of children in each of her books, and this was no exception. Abbie is a character that, despite her flaws, you love. Her drive to defend others and stand up for what she believed in was really inspiring. I loved her idea for the Hope House! That was great. :) Noah had been hurt by so many people and was struggling just to get by, day-by-day. I really liked him as the male lead for this book, and Abbie’s “other half.” While on the long side, (I tend to like longer books, though) I was able to read this book fairly quickly. The element of suspense in the book certainly didn’t hurt that! If you haven’t read anything by Sharlene, or just haven’t read this series yet, I suggest you move it towards the top of your To Be Read pile, because it is worth it!