A Civil Contract (Reader's Choice)

Rating:
Summary: A Love Story Based On True Faith
Review: Althea Breton comes from wealth but lives with the poor, lower class. Simon Aguilar is a Jew who publicly renounced his faith to become a Christian for the sake of his political career, yet while he no longer embraces his Jewish heritage, neither has he embraced the Christian faith. He is a man of two worlds, but also of none.

And while Althea has fully embraced her faith, inasmuch as her father is a wealthy Lord, yet she lives as a nurse and a servant, neither is she of either the world of privilege or peasant, so she, too, is of two worlds, but also of none.

Both Simon and Althea are at loose ends, though neither is fully aware of exactly what they lack in their lives. But when Simon hires Althea as a nurse and companion for his seriously ill daughter, Rebecca, Simon and Althea begin to see a glimpse of what each needs to find happiness and fulfillment.

Love, tenderness, understanding, and acceptance begin to grow in the Aguilar household, but is that enough? Doesn't the Bible caution against becoming "unequally yoked" and isn't a relationship with Simon a classic example, Althea worries? How can she fall in love with a man who doesn't truly believe and have the passion for Christ that she does?

Morren weaves an intriguing tale of love into a fabric of faith and creates a garment that will bless readers with its timeless message.

Reviewed by: Tina L. Miller, author of "When A Woman Prays" (also available at Amazon.com)

Rating:
Summary: the healing power of faith-simply wonderful read
Review: I loved Winter Is Past. A historical inspirational set in Regency England, the book's hero was a jew who had converted to the Church of England in order to be a PM in the House of Commons, thus helping to further his family's ambitions, and the heroine was the illegitimate daughter of a lord who left the comforts of the ton to practice Methodism and help the poor. Simon, the hero, hires Althea, the heroine to be a nurse to his dying daughter. The book had very original characters with a well-researched background you don't often see in romance books today. There are no miracle cures for any of the events in this book, but the uplifting message of the healing power of faith in the face of overwhelming tragedy and despair is certainly uplifting and appealing.

Rating:
Summary: a superb read
Review: Jo Beverly gives one of the best introductions I've ever read, and she's right -- you either love "A Civil Contract" or else you don't. I belong to the former camp because I not love this novel, I also think that it is probably the best Regency-era romance novel that Ms Heyer ever wrote. To begin with, "A Civil Contract" isn't what you'd usually expect from a Regency-era romance novel: the hero, Adam Deveril, has returned from the Napoleonic wars only to be greeted by the news that he has inherited a badly in-debt estate with his father's sudden death at the hunting field. A deeply honourable man with principles, Adam is willing to sell the estates and give up on his dream of marrying the love of his life, the beautiful and much pampered Julia Oversley. Fate steps in the shape a rich merchant, Jonathan Chawleigh. Mr. Chawleigh offers to help Adam settle his father's debts, save the estates and see that the rest of the Deverils are settled comfortably, if Adam will marry Mr. Chawleigh's plain and practical daughter, Jenny. And even though every feeling revolts at such a scheme, Adam finally agrees to the scheme so that his mother and sisters will be comfortable, and so that he can save his ancestral home. But will Adam be able to put aside his feelings for Julia and allow himself to feel some affection for practical Jenny? Or will he spend the rest of his life bitterly regretting that he had to give Julia up?

The novel centers on the first year of Adam's marriage to Jenny -- how the couple learn to live with each other, to understand each other and to cope with their families (in this case Adam's melancholy and slightly melodramatic mother, and Jenny's brash and over bearing father). Is their marriage a success? Does Adam come to love and value Jenny? I've always liked to think so. But not many readers have agreed; many believe that while Adam comes to value Jenny, all he feels for her is affection and gratitude. Whatever conclusion you come to however, it is undeniable that "A Civil Contract" is one the best, almost realistic look at an arranged marriage that has been recently written. Once again Ms Heyer makes us care for the principal characters involved and to hope that Adam really has come to passionately care for Jenny (as she so devoutly hopes that he one day will). "A Civil Contract" is a superbly written book, and is one that really should not be missed.

Rating:
Summary: Realism Meets Well Written Fiction
Review: This book far exceeds most writing that I have been witnessed to, and I most heartily recommend it to others. Not only was it well written and well-researched, but delved beyond the cliches and the far fetched plots. It was real, the characters, the plot, everything. It is deep, far beyond the shallowness of Christanees that plagues the American church, and delves into the issue of God's true plan for His church. I am glad to see an author take the high ground, and actually move beyond our Gentile Christianity, and look into our Hebrew roots. The heroine's realization of her heritage from the Old Testament is what moved me beyond words. I say, Bravo, and recommend this to a person who can truly appreciate the art of writing.