Review: My Hope is Found by Joanne Bischof
Gideon O’Riley has been given another chance at a life with Lonnie. But will the fight for her heart risk it all over again?
After finally finding love with his sweet bride Lonnie, Gideon’s heart was torn when a woman from his past claimed to be his true and rightful wife, forcing him away from his family. God’s merciful hand saw Gideon through the heartache, and with Cassie’s blessing, he is able to return home. But his journey back through the Blue Ridge Mountains will hold a trial he never anticipated.
Meanwhile, Lonnie determines to seal off her heart from Gideon, convinced he is lost to her forever. Strengthening her resolve to move on is her growing fondness for the handsome Scotsman, Toby McKee—the young reverend she has come to care for deeply. His proposal of marriage offers a bright future for her and her young son.
Yearning to allow joy back into her life, Lonnie must put aside the broken pieces of her heart that still love Gideon. When he returns to find her betrothed to another, he has to place his hope in God, trusting that the One who redeemed their love once can do it again.
This is the third book in the Cadence of Grace series. I went into the first one [Be Still My Soul] not getting what I expected. But I had to know what happened and so along came book 2: Though My Heart is Torn. Knowing what I was getting into, I liked it MUCH better.
And book 3? I couldn’t wait. [I read it MONTHS ago, as soon as I got it, but the review got lost in conference prep :p.] I had a chance to talk with Joanne while at the ACFW conference and am still hopeful that we’ll get a fourth, related book for the boy that didn’t get the girl.
Because Lonnie’s going to have to choose. Between Gideon, who she fell in love with after their very difficult start. And Toby, the man who helps take care of her broken heart when Gideon is forced to return to his first wife – one he thought he’d been divorced from for some time [annulled? divorced? one].
Gideon is free to come home – to find Lonnie and their son, but the trip takes much longer than expected and when he gets there, she’s already engaged to Toby.
Toby is a good man. He loves Lonnie and her little boy. But so does Gideon. As much as I wanted Lonnie and Gideon back together, I wondered if Joanne wouldn’t take the less expected route and put her with Toby. I would have been okay with that, too.
Joanne kept me riveted through the entire book and I was happy and satisfied with the ending [I’m pretty sure she made me cry more than once again :p]. I do hope she gets to write a fourth book for the other man, but I haven’t heard for sure if it’s going to happen or not.
Overall rating: 8.5 out of 10 stars