Customer Reviews

To Love Anew (Sydney Cove Series #1)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Let me preface this by saying that, despite the 3 stars, this was a very good book and, while I wouldn't rave about it, I would tell my friends it was worth reading. It seemed well researched and I learned alot while reading it. I loved the plot.

The basic premise is this: After her mother dies, Hannah is left to fend for herself... alone. She is hire as a housekeeper where she is raped by the master of the house (the judge). She flees and later gives in to hunger and steals. She is caught and who presides over her trial? Her angry ex-boss. She is sentenced to work in Australia. Meanwhile, John kills a man in self defense WHILE defending his cousin (who steals his money and flees with Johns wife while John in prison). He is also sentenced to Australia.

Alright, so... I don't know how it happened but John fell in love with Hannah at first sight while aboard the prison ship. While in Australia, John falls deeper in love and Hannah also gains feelings for John.

The biggest flaw with this book is that I DON'T KNOW HOW ANY OF THIS HAPPENED!!! When did this love-falling happen? They never spent any TIME together in the book!!

I really liked Hannah. Her character was developed very nicely and you knew her feelings (excepting how she managed to fall in love with a man I thought she had contact with a mere handful of times!). You knew why she felt her guilt and why she couldn't overcome it.

John seemed likeable enough. It's just... well, I really didn't gain any insight into his character. I felt bad for him. I understood his rage. I didn't understand how he fell in love... and I don't know his feelings.

So, to sum up: I loved the plot. I loved the history. I liked Hannah and the secondary characters. I didn't DISLIKE John... I liked him the way I like the smiling cashier at the grocery store- for a stranger-- seems nice enough but beyond the nametag I don't know a whole lot more. I would have given this 5 stars had I just understood or believed the love connection.

To Love Anew is a heartwarming story of a life renewed from ashes. Hannah's circumstances spiral downward after her mother's death. When she's sent on a prison ship to Australia, she faces dreadful conditions. As a reader, I loved how Bonnie Leon showed so many details of life aboard convict ships, and what faced the survivors when they reached Australia. The book is filled with memorable characters and situations. I can't wait to read the next book in the series.

As an author, I've never reviewed one of my own books, but I feel a need to defend this story. I'm certainly no Tolstoy or Steinbeck, but I am committed to creating stories about real people with their flaws as well as their strengths. When I started my research and went to work on the Sydney Cove series, I was astounded at the harsh world of 1804 London and the treatment of prisoners, including those who were transported to New South Wales. I was inspired by stories of prisoners (most of them found guilty and transported over trivial crimes) who helped to found the continent of Australia. I wanted to tell their story . . . the way it really was. They faced horrendous circumstances with courage and determination.

One reviewer said it was just too much--that one bad thing after another happened to the characters in To Love Anew. That is true because that is how it was in 1804. But God was in the midst of the harsh conditions and was, as he still is today, in the business of redemption.

To Love Anew is also a love story. Hannah and John meet on a prison ship bound for New South Wales. During the crossing I record only a few of their encounters, but it was a six month journey, and it is assumed that they had several encounters. And once they arrive in New South Wales they are housed in the same prison for some time. Prisoners were not kept locked away from each other all the time. And they worked off the premises, so their paths would sometimes cross.

This book isn't for everyone. I did my best to display a true-to-life tale, which means some scenes are a bit gritty. It is also about discovering a greater love than mankind is capable of possessing. Even when we feel we're unworthy of God's mercy, His love is big enough to cover every sin.

If you like history, true to life tales and a love story, you might want to give To Love Anew a chance.

I had never read anything by Bonnie Leon before. But the book looked like it had a great plotline so I decided to read it. I loved Hannah!! She was a great main character and I felt you did get to know her throughout the book. To be honest though, I don't know if I liked John. He was not talked about nearly enough, and I don't exactly get how the two of them fell in love. He saved her life, and then they had a few meaningless conversations. Then all of a sudden they both are thinking about their love for each other. All around, the plot was excellent. But if you are going to add romance into a book, it has to be talked about and expanded on much more!!

I was a bit dubious prior to reading this novel - as it seems that the author is American? What The???? An American writing about our Australian History. But I did read it and it was moderately enjoyable. The huge downside for me was that there wasn't as much 'romance' as I expected, and to be honest, I have read Aussie authors who do the 'history' side of this story better - If you want a dose of our history you can't go past: Mary's Guardian and Charlotte's Angel by Carol Preston - (Both Australian Historical Romance novels well worth paying for and reading).

I grabbed this book because I was intrigued by the setting and premise. How many romances are in New South Wales with both characters convicts? I enjoyed the unusual settings, the well-done and harrowing accounts of the journey from England to Australia, and the incredible yet believable resilience of main characters John and Hannah and their fellow convicts (many innocent of any crime, others like John and Hannah guilty of something, but also victims of the British legal system).

I did not enjoy the way the "Christian" elements were integrated into the plot or rather weren't. I knew this was a Christian romance when I picked up and I expected the characters' faith or coming to faith to figure in the storyline. It seemed awkward and heavy-handed, though, with almost every conversation or internal monologue coming around to talking about God's plan, forgiveness, etc., whether it made sense at that moment or not. I'm not the usual audience for this genre--just a sucker for romances in unusual time periods and settings--so maybe it struck me more than it would a regular reader of the genre. But I've read novels that incorporate elements of religion and spiritual growth far more gracefully than this one did, without so much sense of being beaten over the head with THIS IS A CHRISTIAN ROMANCE!!!!

And really, I think even an innocent, religious girl in the late 18th century would figure out sooner than Hannah did that being raped is not a sin!

To Love Anew is an amazing journey you won't want to miss. There are some pretty edgy scenes in this book, which of course worked well for me. However, someone else may find a few things a bit hard to read because they were SO realistically done. I felt like I was Hannah suffering through the majority of the book. The stench, the pain, the heartache were all vividly portrayed. I doubt I would have survived what Hannah went through and may have given up hope long before. But Hannah was a survivor despite her low opinion of herself and the guilt that nearly consumed her.

I loved how the author took people that Hannah would not normally associate with, but given her circumstances, she is then forced to look at her own heart and prejudices. The unspeakable evils done to the prisoners amazed me in that anyone survived at all. The story reminded me of the movie Amistad, but the prisoners on the ship were white. The forced labor for the prisoners and lack of freedom was just like slavery.

John was the ultimate hero and just about made me swoon whenever he spoke to Hannah. He had plenty of reasons to be bitter, but still managed to keep his honor despite his harsh living situation. His devotion to Hannah was also commendable. I loved the tension between the two of them. Their connection felt realistic and deep. And the emotional tension between them is what excellent romance writing is all about. I loved their relationship and rooted for them to the end--as John never gave up hope.

The best part of this book (besides the delectable romance) was probably the spiritual portion. Hannah had every reason to believe God had abandoned her. She responded like any human would in a similar situation. Of course God never left her, but the journey she took toward that realization was awesome. I loved this story!

Hannah has been sent to Australia as a convict. She's been accused of stealing and has also been raped by her former employee. John has lost everything because of a bar fight that makes him lose his wife and fortune to his cousin. The two have plenty of reasons to turn their back on God as they are transported to a world far away from the life they are accustomed to. Treated like dirt and forced to live in the most despicable positions, Hannah and John must learn to find faith again and learn to trust each other in this new world.

I thought this was Bonnie Leon's best book to date. The characters were dimensional, the writing in depth, and the historical information very well researched. This book reminded me of Patricia Hickman's Land of the Far Horizon series also set in the early stages of Australia's history. I really like reading historical novels set during this time period. I really felt bad for Hannah. It seemed at first that everything that could possibly go wrong happened to her. I don't blame her for not trusting God in the beginning. If I had suffered like she did, I probably would think the same. It chilled me to read about how they disposed of the baby and the prison conditions were equally appalling. I felt for the women who had no choice when the sailors would approach them. I didn't really feel that we go to know as much about John as we did Hannah. However I sympathized with his character too. You go to jail for self defense, your wife runs off with your cousin, he steals all your money, and then you get shipped to the other side of the world for your punishment. I tell you, Britain treated their prisoners real harsh! I really liked the Athertons. They were good people, who had no ulterior motives, and truly wanted to help out the convicts. I really thought first that Mr. Athertorn was going to side with the overseer instead of John but goodness prevailed! I also did appreciate that, at least in this book, the newcomers to the country do not tread the Aborigines with disdain or prejudice. While there is not much contact, as least what is said and down is not disrespectful or degrading. I just hope that in the future, Hannah will be able to tell John the truth about her past. Looking forward to the next books in the series.

This book was terrible. I thought I was getting a nice romance story, because this came up under a search for romance. Instead, I get an awfully depressing read where the characters go from bad to worse! Seriously - this book may be free, but it isn't worth the time it takes to read it. It's not at all what I was expecting. I didn't even bother to finish it - it just went from bad to worse. Don't waste your time.

The treacherous journey and story about the unjust prisons made for a heart wrenching build up to one of the most unsatisfying endings I have ever read. I re-read the last chapter just to make sure that the book really had ended- it was just that abrupt and quickly hashed together.

This novel was too unrealistic and having everything wrap up perfectly for the ending left a bad feeling in my mouth. The constant Christianity and having the lady's despair about how she was unworthy because she wished her baby to die was too much.

To summarize: This was an immature romance novel that was unbelievable, boring, awkward, and had too much gospel about faith.