Honor (Quaker Brides, #1) by Lyn Cote

When unexpected circumstances leave Honor Penworthy destitute after the death of her grandfather, she is forced to leave her Maryland plantation--and the slaves she hoped to free--and seek refuge with a distant relative. With no marketable skills, her survival hinges on a marriage arranged through the Quaker community to local glass artisan Samuel Cathwell. Samuel is drawn to Honor, but he has been unwilling to open his heart to anyone since scarlet fever took his hearing as a child.A move west brings the promise of a fresh start, but nothing in Honor's genteel upbringing has prepared her for the rigors of frontier life with Samuel. Nevertheless, her tenacity and passion sweep her into important winds of change, and she becomes increasingly--though secretly--involved in the Underground Railroad. Samuel suspects Honor is hiding something, but will uncovering the truth confirm his worst fears or truly bring them together as man and wife?Set against the backdrop of dramatic and pivotal moments in American history, the Quaker Brides series chronicles the lives of three brave heroines, fighting to uphold their principles of freedom while navigating the terrain of faith, family, and the heart.


About The Author: 

Lyn grew up loving books. Her favorite night of the week was Friday night, when the Bookmobile came to her neighborhood in Illinois. She’d spend those two hours chatting with the driver of the Bookmobile and the librarian and making the big decision of the week — which books to check out! In those distant days, children were limited in how many books they could check out. Lyn could only take home six a week — and there were so many to choose from. Her favorites were Cotton in my Sack by Lois Lenski, The Little House series and the One of a Kind Family series. Later, she discovered Georgette Heyer’s Regency romances!
This love of books led to a desire to write. Lyn won prizes in high school and college for her poetry and, not surprisingly, Lyn became a history and English teacher. When she became a mother, she gave up teaching, and while raising a son and a daughter, she began working on her first novel. Then she wrote her second and third. Long years of rejection followed — as it does for most writers. Finally in 1997, Lyn got "the call." Her first book, Never Alone, was chosen to appear in the first year of the new Love Inspired line. Lyn has written many articles on writing and the emerging Christian Booksellers Assoc. (CBA) fiction market. In 2006, Lyn's book, Chloe, is a finalist for the RWA's RITA, the highest award in the romance genre in the inspirational category.
Now, Lyn spends her days writing books that show the power of divine as well as human love. Her nest is empty and she and her real life hero, her husband, have more and more time to spend together in their home on a lake in the lovely northwoods. And books are still dear to her heart.



My Review:

Honor the name of the book and main character was a story I never wanted to end, and became absorbed in the time before the Civil War. Being a woman during this time, was really not having an identity, and being black was being subhuman.
We observe Christians interpreting the bible to fit their needs and owning slaves, the cruelty they displayed towards their fellow man was atrocious. Of course, not all Christians felt this way, thank God, and thus we have Honor, and her Quaker religion, as she personally fights the injustices of slavery.
She is forced to give up everything, and end up penny less, but could hold her head high by maintaining her beliefs. We learn about some very deep and dark secrets, and I felt she was better off leaving Maryland, but she was raised to do nothing but be a lady, a not marketable skill.
We travel with her to the Quaker community in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, and it takes weeks to get there, of course we are in the early 1800’s. Loved the family who takes her and her maid Royale in, and felt it was not by chance, but by God’s hand. A life changing stop for her, she meets her future husband. What you think, just met and gets married, life has strange twists and turns.
We find both Samuel with his deafness, and Honor with her loss of all she knew, fighting their demons. Will they both be able to accept their marriage as more than a convenience? Will they be able to make a difference in the world as far as slavery and the brutality that came with it? As I said I didn’t want this book to end and cannot wait for the next book in this series. A must read!

I received this book through Edelweiss and the Publisher Tyndale House, and was not required to give a positive review.