No man can resist her charms. Or so she thought.
Charity O'Connor is a woman who gets what she wants. Her stunning beauty and flirtatious ways have always succeeded with men. Until Mitch Dennehy, that is. Brilliant and dangerously handsome, Mitch is a no-nonsense newspaperman who wants nothing to do with her. Charity burned him once, destroying his engagement to the only woman he ever truly loved. He won't play with matches again. But Charity has a plan to turn up the heat, hoping to ignite the heart of the man she loves. And she always gets what she wants--one way or another.
Or does she? Will her best-laid schemes win his love? Or will her seductive ways drive him away forever?
My Thoughts
When I read this for the first time I was very wary. Charity was, to put it plainly, awful in A Passion Most Pure and I was a little scared that I would hate this book since she was the main character. But I shouldn't have been worried, this is after all a Julie Lessman novel and I ended up loving it!
Charity was still a little hard to like at the beginning but we were also given the chance to see what made her act the way she did. I loved watching as she grew into a wonderful heroine that you can't help falling love with! She goes from a snotty little brat to a woman of God and it was a beautiful thing to watch!
Mitch was once again amazing. His had been a hard road of rejection and my heart truly broke for him. But I loved how he let God change his life and lived as He would have wanted. I also loved how despite how he felt about Charity he didn't give in to her and instead helped draw her closer to God even if at first it was more to get him rather than truly let God transform her (that came later)! He was always trying his dead level best to do the right thing no matter how hard it was and that was what made him so great!
The other side characters were fantastic too! Mrs. Lynch with her mothering of Mitch and her no nonsense ways, and Charity's grandmother and great-grandmother with their love and guidance. I also loved Emma with her gentle ways, and her love for God and Charity. And Bridie and Kathleen from the Irish Times! Bridie with her teasing of Mitch and the way she would talk to him, and Kathleen with her sweet ways! Ooh and I can't forget John Brady! We got to see a little of him in APMP but we got a lot more in this one and he is awesome! I love how close his walk with God is! And of course I can't forget all the other O'Conners and the McGuires!
There were lots of hard times in this book where you wanted to either smack characters or give them a hug! And then there was the character that you wanted to strangle for all the evil things he did! I laughed, I almost cried, and all in all thoroughly enjoyed this second book!
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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