Thursday, January 16, 2014

A Passion Denied by Julie Lessman

About the Book
Has she fallen in love with a man who cannot love her back?
Elizabeth O'Connor has been like the little sister John Brady always wanted, sharing his love of literature and his thirst for God. But in the throes of the reckless Roaring Twenties, Lizzie has grown up. Suddenly she wants more from the man who has been her friend since she was a child. When this shy little bookworm blossoms into a beautiful young woman bent on loving John, she discovers that his past won't let him return that love. But Lizzie refuses to give up--until his shocking secrets push her away.
Can true love survive the betrayal and deceitful of a painful past . . . or will it be shattered like the fairy-tale dreams of a girl in love?
Brimming with romance, longing, and redemption, A Passion Denied, will quicken your pulse and gladden your heart with a riveting story of the true power of love

My Thoughts
Ok I'm pretty sure this is my favorite book in this series! From the first time we met Elizabeth O'Conner in A Passion Most Pure I knew I was going to love her since I could identify with her shy quietness and her love of books. And I also loved Brady as soon as he came on the scene being Collin's friend and helping lead Him to God. So needless to say I could not wait to see how their story would play out!
I think one of my favorite things about this book was the fact that both Brady and Lizzie had a passion for God from the beginning and they both strove to honor Him with all that they did. I loved how close Brady's relationship with God was, how he lived it out all the time, and how he seemed to be constantly drawing others to Him. Brady is just one of the very best heroes ever written and I actually cried when he thought he had done something awful when he was younger because he was just that close to God that the thought of his sin crushed him. Ok I better stop but I really could go on about Brady for quite awhile!
Lizzie, she is so innocent, sweet, and kind that you really just can't help loving her. My heart broke for her as she dealt with rejection from Brady and then the pain of some truly awful discoveries. But through it all she still remained the Lizzie we knew and loved with a few moments of Irish temper thrown in.
Once again the secondary cast of characters was amazing! I loved Father Mac and his unique ability to mix being a priest and a friend. And Cluny McGee was such fun especially with knowing how he was going to grow up! And of course the O'Conners, McGuires, and Dennehys were fantastic!
Like Julie Lessman books often do this book made me cry at some points and at others left me with a huge grin splitting my face! So in short it was simply amazing!

Meet the Author
Julie Lessman is an award-winning author whose tagline of "Passion With a Purpose" underscores her intense passion for both God and romance. Winner of the 2009 ACFW Debut Author of the Year and Holt Medallion Awards of Merit for Best First Book and Long Inspirational, Julie is also the recipient of 14 Romance Writers of America awards and was voted by readers as "Borders Best of 2009 So Far: Your Favorite Fiction." Chosen as the #1 Romance Fiction Author of the Year in the Family Fiction magazine 2012 and 2011 Readers Choice Awards, Julie was also awarded #1 Historical Fiction Author of the Year in that same poll and #3 Author of the Year, #4 Novel of the Year and #3 Series of the year. She resides in Missouri with her husband, daughter, son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter and is the author of "The Daughters of Boston" series--A Passion Most Pure, A Passion Redeemed, and A Passion Denied. Book 1 in her "Winds of Change" series A Hope Undaunted ranked #5 on Booklist's Top 10 Inspirational Fiction for 2010. You can contact Julie through her website at www.julielessman.com
P.S. She's just an all around amazing person!

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26 comments:

Janka H. said...

Sounds as a lovely book ! I have a soft spot for bookworms, being one myself :)

Abbi Hart said...

Janka-It is! I have the same soft spot for the same reason! :)

Elyssa said...

Definitely agree with you, Abbi! This book was so amazing! I ached for Lizzie as she struggled through everything with Brady, and once again couldn't help but smile at the end of the book after reading their journey. And I absolutely LOVED watching Cluny and Katie together, especially the Lifesavers scene. ;)

lubell1106(at)gmail(dot)com

Heidi Reads... said...

Thanks for your review! I'm with you- the characters sound like people I can relate to :) That always makes it easier for me to connect emotionally to a story.

Julie Lessman said...

Oh, Abs, it's ALWAYS fun to see which of the O'Connor books is someone's favorite, and APD usually runs pretty close with APMP, which seems to be the #1 favorite based on some polls I've done in the past. :)

LOVE your reviews, my friend -- you really get to the heart of the matter, and with passion -- something I TRULY appreciate!! :)

Thanks again for reading my books!! :)

Hugs,
Julie

Kissed books said...

OMGoodness! A Passion Denied was my favorite too! I loved how Brady was the one who was fighting the attraction instead of the women like in all the others. It truly showed how great of a guy he was, and his drive for God was amazing! LOVE!

Bonnie Roof said...

Loved your review of A Passion Denied, Abbi!

Like you, I loved the sweet innocence of Lizzie, and Brady's closeness to God - and shared the pain for both of them! Another wonderful God-inspired novel from Julie - LOVED it!!!! Her characters ALWAYS touch my heart!!

bonnieroof60(at)yahoo(dot)com

Abbi Hart said...

Elyssa-Oh I know! My heart broke for all she and Brady had to go through but I too ended this book with a big smile! I loved Cluny and Katie too! They just cracked me up to no end! And yeah the lifesaver scene is awesome!

Heidi-Yeah I love finding characters who I can really connect to-it makes the story just a little bit better!

Abbi Hart said...

Julie-Yeah it's hard to choose a fav and out of the whole saga it's a toss-up between this one and AHR but really I love them all SO much! Thank you for your kind comment about my reviews and for writing such amazing books!

Salyna-So cool that we have the same favorite! I completely agree with what you said about Brady!

Bonnie-Thank you! Yeah Lizzie and Brady are awesome!

Melody said...

This is better than the previous saga? Oh no! I can't wait to read about these 2, I pictured them liking each other but they didn't seem to realize it!

Unknown said...

Sounds like another great book by Julie! I just picked up her Romance -ology 101 and I'm so excited to start reading that!

Abbi Hart said...

Melody-It's my fav of her first series! And she knows she likes him but he takes a little longer!

Micaela-It is! It's so very good! I just got that too, even though I'm not a writer!

Bonnie Roof said...

Great minds, and Julie reader friends think alike. Abbi (LOL)!! I'm not a writer, either, and purchased the soft cover copy of Romance-ology 101 - wanted to get inside Julie's head a little more, enjoy the funny bits I knew would be there, and get more info on how she writes such amazing, wonderful, books. I will ALWAYS buy WHATEVER she writes, and in ANY form (LOL)!!

bonnieroof60(at)yahoo(dot)com

Abbi Hart said...

Bonnie-Haha! I had the same thoughts about Romance-ology 101! I knew if Julie was writing it I would love it! And I'm with you on always buying her books-in fact she is one of the only authors who's books I actually bought instead of waiting to get them as gifts! I bought all but two of them (one I won and the other I got for review) and I'm not sorry at all!

Lady DragonKeeper said...

I thought APD would be my favorite, because of Lizzie also, but ironically, it was Katie's story that became my favorite. I loved how we kept seeing other characters and couples from the previous books. I could relate with Lizzie though ... I've also been tempted to want to catch a (good) guy's attention, but I never had the guts to actually go through with it, LOL.

Abbi Hart said...

Lady DragonKeeper-The fact that we got all the couple's stories throughout the books was one of my favorite things about these series! Haha yeah I would never have the guts to try that!

Wanda (A Book Lover's Retreat) said...

I agree with Miss Julie's books bringing forth the tears and the bone jarring smiles. Great review!

Abbi Hart said...

Wanda-Haha yeah she's good at both! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I agree with you again, Abbi! I think this one may have been my favorite, as well! I loved Brady, except, once again I wanted to hit him and tell him to let go! lol What can I say? I don't know how Lizzie put up with him for so long without trying to knock some sense into him. :)
I had this big grin on my face at the end, when they're finally at their wedding, and Connor is picking on Brady, Mitch is ticked, and Patrick is trying not to cry as he walks Lizzie down the isle.
~Sarah

Abbi Hart said...

Sarah-Yeah there were definitely times that you wanted to shake Brady till he did the right thing! I had that same grin, it was such a great ending!

Julie said...

Lizzie is a sweet character. And goodness did Brady put her through some pain! I'm glad that Julie Lessman books always have happy endings!

Abbi Hart said...

Julie-I completely agree!

Thea C. said...

This book is amazing!! Lizzie is such a sweet character that I absolutely adore!! I loved Brady as well but I discovered I wanted to knock some sense into him!! I would get so angry that I wanted to reach into the book and strangle him!! Even though there were times I was so mad I thought could spit, it made the ending so much better. I could not put this book down!!! It is defiantly one of my all time favorites.

Sparks of Ember said...

I love a series that incorporates characters from each book.

Abbi Hart said...

Thea-I completely agree with your comment!!

Abbi Hart said...

Lady Saotome-Me too! That's why series about siblings are always my fav!

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