She's found the love of her life.
Unfortunately, he loves her sister.
As World War I rages across the Atlantic in 1916, a smaller war is brewing in Boston. Faith O'Connor finds herself drawn to an Irish rogue who is anything but right for her. Collin McGuire is brash, cocky, and from the wrong side of the tracks, not to mention forbidden by her father. And then there's the small matter that he is secretly courting her younger sister. But when Collin's affections shift, it threatens to tear her proper Boston family apart.
Book 1 of the Daughters of Boston series, A Passion Most Pure will carry your heart from the sophisticated streets of Boston to the green hills of Ireland as men go off to war and women long for their return. Full of passion, romance, rivalry, and betrayal, it will captivate you from the first page.
My Thoughts
So I wrote a review for this book awhile ago but I waited to long after reading the book and I really don't like it! It in no way gave my full feelings for this book so after rereading it I'm going to give a second try!
Words cannot fully express my love for this book! Several times I would just stop reading to hug the book and give a happy sigh-yeah I'm a bit ridiculous! This book gives you the full spectrum of emotion. I laughed out loud several times and other times tears made it hard to read. Julie Lessman is one of those amazing authors that can make you happy to be sad and it is a true gift. And knowing what was coming didn't help any in lessening the emotions in fact since I read the prequel I think it was even harder!
Faith is an amazing heroine! Her relationship with God was so close and real; it was truly inspiring! I also was insanely impressed with how she kept God as her priority and refused to be with anyone who didn't love Him as much as she did!
Collin is not that admirable of a hero to begin with but as his love for Faith draws him closer to God he begins to turn into a man you really like. And when he finally gives his heart to God he becomes one of your favorite heroes!
Patrick and Marcy's relationship was made even more special after reading A Light in the Window which is the story of when they fell in love! I love how even after over twenty years their love has not dimmed but instead has grown!
In short I once again loved all the characters with the exception of Charity but knowing how much I ended up loving her in the other books made her much more bearable in this one! I love the O'Conner family dynamic and each of them endeared themselves to my heart. The other characters were pretty awesome as well from Mrs. Gerson to Mitch, and Faith's friends at both The Herald and the Irish Times.
So now that I've rambled for awhile I will end by saying I adored this book and it is truly one of my absolute favorite books!
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!
Don't forget to enter the giveaway for a signed copy of the Julie Lessman book of your choice!
33 comments:
WOW, Abbi ... what a review, my friend!! I am beyond blessed by your "passion" for the O'Connors -- THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!!
You are THE BEST!!
Hugs,
Julie
Another great review, Abbi! I actually just finished re-reading all of Julie's books as well, and I have to say, they're just as amazing the second time around. I too loved how inspiring Faith's faith was, and how Collin turned around completely!
lubell1106(at)gmail(dot)com
It's so nice to hear your thoughts on this book! I've heard lots about it, but have never actually read it. Thanks for the giveaway!
Bethany
I love all of Julie's books!!
An Irish rogue, hmm? Count me in! Thanks for the great review!
Girl! Do I know what you mean! I hated A Hope Undaunted when I first read it, but then I read it a second time and absolutely loved it! So much that I had to finish the rest. I know, I started in the middle, but right after AHU I went straight to the beginning and started all over. Best decision I made in a while!
I absolutely loved this book and fell in love with the O'Connors and not only that, it really had be thinking about my own faith! Thank you Julie!
An Irish rogue? Ah la la, count me in!
Thanks for sharing your review! I love books to sigh over :)
Julie-Thank YOU!
Elyssa-Thank you! I agree they are just as good the second time!
Bethany-You definitely should check it out! It's amazing!
Alisa-Me too!
Lady Saotome-Yep Irish rogues are the best!
Salyna-I can see how if you read AHU first you wouldn't like it as much but I'm glad you read the rest and loved them all! These books are truly amazing!
Melony-Yeah these books definitely challenge me in my faith! To try an have such a close walk with God!
Janka-Something about those Irish men is irresistible!
Heidi-My pleasure! And yes I love books that make me sigh with happiness!
It took a bit for Collin to grow on me ... Even if he's gorgeous on the book cover, LOL. I kept wanting to smack him half the novel. :P. He became one of my favorite characters in the series though. :) interestingly, Jamie from "Love at Any Cost" had a ... Kind of similar background or pseudo bad boy thing going on, but I didn't get as annoyed with him for some reason.
Faith is amazing ... A part of me would think, "forget Collin, Faith. Why would you like him?" But I think her struggle was realistic, even if she did have a strong faith in God. I can't think of a lot of Christian romance that deals with temptation like that ...
What a wonderful review, Abbi! And - I ABSOLUTELY agree, and identify, with EVERYTHING you said!! After reading A Passion Most Pure, it is hard to come up with adequate words to describe your feelings!!
As I read Julie's books - EACH becomes a NEW favorite!! I feel her heart and soul - in each of her books - as well as her intense love for God!! I know her greatest desire is to have others draw closer to God - through the reading of her books, Melony, and she is always so touched, when someone tells her that has happened. I am retired, and found myself wondering if I might have made better life choices, when I was young, if I had had Julie's books to read . They are SO inspiring!!
Jennifer-I know what you mean about Collin-I couldn't wait till he woke up and realized what he needed to change! He became of favorite of mine too. I haven't gotten to LAAC yet but I really am looking forward to it!
I love Faith so much! And yes her struggle was very realistic but I loved how she stayed true to God!
Bonnie-Thank you! Yeah I just kinda gushed and hoped it sounded good!
I agree and I would say that all of her books are my favorite through there are a couple that I like just a smidge more than others! Oh yes, you can really get a feel for Julie's heart both for God and others through her books!
Such a great book, and I agree that Faith is an amazing heroine(plus there's Colin....*sigh*) I'm thinking I had better get to more in this series soon- if only my "to read/own" book stack wasn't so huge!
Read this one a couple of months ago....the plot is so intricate! Sometime I think I'll re-read it :)
Grace-Haha yeah they are pretty awesome! I was the same way, I read APMP then didn't read the others because of my large reading list. I was so glad I didn't put it off for too long!
Micaela-It is a very intricate plot and I definitely recommend rereading!
This was a good one - though me and Charity were fixing to go rounds!
Melody-I completely agree!
Just read A Light In The Window and am really looking forward to reading this one! Thanks for the review and the giveaway! :)
rssmiles-ALITW is amazing and so is this one! I hope you enjoy it when you read it!
I loved this one, too. Faith was so sweet and Charity made me so mad! Thanks, Ms. Lessman, for drawing us in!
Serena-I second your comment!
I love your review. I have had this book sitting on my kindle entirely too long but with review commitments I haven't had a chance to read it. I am really looking forward to it!
Wanda-I did the same thing with this book and then A Passion Redeemed, I kept having other books to read and I just didn't pick them up but after APR I read them really fast! I hope you enjoy it when you get the chance!
I completely agree with what you said, Abbi! I've been trying to write a review for this book, but I don't think I could have said it any better than you did! :)
Sarah-Thank you!
Since I read the series kind of backwards I was introduced to the O'Connor family in A Hope Undaunted. So I read the Winds of Change series first and then started The Daughters of Boston series. I don't know how I managed that, but I loved being able to start A Passion Most Pure and know exactly what happens to all of the family! I have told Julie Lessman that the angst and drama of her books can give me too many heart palpitations! Sometimes I even had to read the end of the story first!! Anyway, as I have said before after every book of Julie's that I read I say "now that one is my favorite" they are all so good!
Julie-I think it would be so weird and hard to read them out of order and I don't know how you managed to do that! It definitely makes much more sense read from the beginning! Julie's books do tend to give heart palpitations though it's never caused me to read the end first (I'm a stickler for doing things in order!) They are all amazing!
This book was the first book I read by Julie Lessman and I fell in love with this book. It became one of my forever favorites!!! I reread this book time and time again. Every time I read it I fall more in love with the life like characters, the true passion for God displayed on every page and the story line that constantly keeps you guessing!! Thank you Abbi for writing this amazing review!!!
Thea-This was my first too! I love it so much and it is also one of my "forever favorites" (btw love that term and I'm going to start using it!). I've reread it once and I can definitely see myself doing it more in the future! Thank you!
I have this one on my kindle. Now that I see how much you love it, I just might have to read it sometime soon!
Great review, Abbi! :D
Caitlyn-You definitely should! Thanks!
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