Customer Reviews

A Passion Redeemed (The Daughters of Boston, Book 2) (Bk. 2)

5 star:		(77)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Julie Lessman is a wonderful author. She picks up right where she left off, with Charity living in Ireland with her grandma & Mima. She has successfully driven her sister away from Mitch and now has her eye set on him! She also has decided that she won't waste any opportunity to make him fall in love with her. Unfortunately, her ways are not the Lord's ways and she has very little success. One of her ways to lure Mitch, is by using another man, Rigan, who is a willing participant. This can't bode well for any of them.

Mitch meanwhile tries everything he can to keep his distance from Charity. He, as well, is not successful, most of the time. He goes back and forth between desiring Charity and wanting sweet Kathleen. This is one messed up guy. He wants to follow the Lord, but many times his body has other ideas.

We also catch up with Faith and Collin from "A Passion Most Pure". They are preparing for their wedding, and for Charity to return. That causes all kinds of tension. Patrick, Marcy and the rest of their brood all make appearances throughout the story. I hope to read Katie's story someday. She is definitely a firecracker! It'd be fun reading about her passion. Lord help the guy she sets her eye on (or maybe doesn't)!

Julie is fantastic at balancing passion and God's precepts. She knows that God created passion and that it is good, within the confines of marriage. I know some people feel that passion on any level shouldn't be seen in Christian fiction, but the truth is, we are a passionate creation. Don't we want to be married to someone we're passionate about? We should all want to know there are sparks and a stirring inside when we're with the person we love. That is what Julie has done successfully in both of her books. Personally, I don't believe she's "edgy" at all, just realistic.

I have fully enjoyed reading Julie's books and can NOT wait for book 3, although I know there are no options. You will really be drawn into this story. I would highly suggest reading book 1 in The Daughter's of Boston series. It will give you background into the interpersonal relationships going on. This should be on everyone's "must read" list to finish off 2008!

When I finished the first book in this series, A Passion Most Pure, I hated Charity. Honestly, I wanted to slap the sense out of that girl. I honestly haven't really hated a character so much in my life. I guess it was mainly because she reminded me of girls I knew in school, who got away with everything especially the guys that you happened to like. I was told that with this book however that my feelings for her would change because Charity would get what's coming to her and a change of heart as well.

Sadly, after finishing this story I am STILL not a fan of Charity. I will admit I am more sympathetic of her after finding out what happened in the past. Also there are scenes that happen in the book that even I felt extremely sorry and hurt for her. No matter what she could have done, she definitely did not deserve to be treated in that way. However, even that does not totally excuse her behavior. I swear that girl just does not learn from her mistakes or anything that happens in her life. She gets by and rewarded because of her looks which she uses to her advantage. I also got really mad that Mitch somehow became the bad guy at the end of the book when it was ENTIRELY Charity's fault! In fact, the one instance where Charity seems to have any sort of heart would have to be how she acts with her co-worker Emma. Due to the situation with Emma's abusive husband, this is the one time where Charity seems to care more about another person's well being than herself. She even uses the negative situation she finds herself in to help Emma finally see the light and get out of that relationship.

There are some conservative readers who find these books to be really racy and practically pornographic. Honestly, I really scoff at this. Sorry, but I find these books to be extremely refreshing and true to life. To say that just because someone is a Christian and does not feel passion or any other romantic feelings is lying to yourself. I sound harsh but it really does get on my nerves about this. Pretty much if you don't read Christian fiction and you pick up this book, you will find it really tame compared to the general market books that are out there. If you are the type of person who blushes at the thought of holding hands with a guy, this book is probably not for you.

Overall, I did enjoy reading this book. As I said, I still am annoyed by Charity but the story itself is very engaging and I was glad to revisit with the O'Connor family again. Another wonderful thing about this book is that it's really long and thick, which makes a for a splendid way to pass an entire day by reading this tome. I'll be looking forward to picking up the final book in the series, both to read Lizzie's story and perhaps to see if I end up liking Charity a bit more!

I thought that this book gave the majority of it's story to the utter spiritual lostness of Charity and her constant manipulations. What I had hoped to see was the development of her redeemed life after that pivotal moment that came between her and Rigan. I'm not saying specifically as to not spoil it for others. I also didn't like how almost everyone throughout the book exalted Faith (from the first book) as completely pure, faultless and as the 'perfect' sister. I did like this book - the reason for a 3 star and not lower - but it just didn't seem to meet the high expectations that I had for it.

A Passion Redeemed by Julie Lessman is the second book in the Daughters of Boston series. Charity O'Connor is still living in Ireland with her grandmother and great-grandmother, despite the rest of her family's return to Boston at the end of the previous book. She has set her sights on Mitch, her older sister's former fiance, but he wants nothing to do with the woman who destroyed his engagement and lied to him. Charity's not going to let a little thing like Mitch's feelings get in the way of what she wants, and she's willing to do anything to make him hers. Lessman had a bit of a challenge when writing this sequel that revolves around Charity, Faith's younger sister. Charity abused Faith horribly in the first book and did so without any compunctions whatsoever, so I had no sympathy for Charity, and honestly, I didn't like her at all. Charity lies and manipulates those who love her, without ever considering the consequences. I wanted to smack her more than once. It is to Lessman's credit that by the end of the book, I empathized with Charity and was glad to see her get her happy ending. Lessman writes deep drama and romance without being melodramatic, but her greatest strength is in her victory in reclaiming sex as a gift from God. Sex has gotten a bad rap, and society tends to think that Christians don't like it or approve of it. But sex, within marriage, is a wonderful gift from the Lord, and the passion between the elder O'Connors, as well as Faith and her husband, is fiery and absolutely wonderful. I can't wait to see what will happen in the next book!

I'm glad to say that Charity redeemed herself. I really didn't like her in the first book, A Passion Most Pure. This one, though, is her story. Charity has always been the difficult O'Connor daughter: headstrong and tarty, with a deep disdain for her older sister Faith. As Charity's story unfolds, we learn about the past and the misguided reasons for Charity's hatred towards Faith.

At the end of World War 1, when her family returns to Boston, Charity stays behind in Ireland. Her reason is to help care for her ailing great-grandmother, but her ulterior motive is to catch Mitch Dennehy, her sister's former fiance. Although her efforts to hurt Faith drove Mitch and Faith apart, Charity realizes that she loves Mitch, and she sets her cap to catch him. Charity's attempts at seduction only serve to endanger her life, and after being attacked by a dangerous suitor, Charity is sent home to America. Against his better judgment, Mitch accompanies her. When her lies again come between them, Mitch returns to Ireland, determined to find another girl worthy of his love and passion.

As Charity finally comes to terms with her life and accepts God, her faith is tested when she fears Mitch will never love her again.

I love how Julie Lessman has created such real characters. I think that there is a fine line in romance novels of how detailed are an author's descriptions of those relationships, etc. In mainstream romance novels, I think there is often far too much detail and description of passion and passionate encounters. In Christian romance novels, the passion and romance is often only lightly hinted at or glossed over completely. People in love, regardless of their faith, feel passion and attraction to their spouse or suitor. For those who strive to live a chaste life and not indulge those passions prematurely, there is tension and struggle. Julie Lessman has brought that tension to her books. Her characters are real, her story compelling.

I'm looking forward to book three.

Lessman has a knack for drama and angst with a heavy dose of passion. This story is no exception. And like a soap opera, you never quite know who will end up with whom and what will happen next. There is not a boring page in this entire novel. The tension rocks. There is a lot of pain and anger, as well as joy and deep sorrow. But the longing is what gets to me.

Don't we all long for love? And poor Charity was operating from a faulty point of view from the get-go. I found that quite profound, and well done. Charity had reasons for being sensual, complex, needy, and rejecting. She had deep-seated reasons for being manipulative as well. I've known so many girls and women like Charity, whose issues caused them to do insane things at times to try to get their way. But their behavior always stemmed from a profound fear of abandonment. I loved how the author portrayed this with such emotion.

I also loved how the romance between Charity's parents continued and enjoyed some of the profound talks--and interruptions--they had at night. In regards to the male point of view, Lessman does this well. They say the average man thinks about sex at least once every few minutes. If that is true (and I wouldn't know as I'm not a man) then she has that nailed as well.

While this story seemed more heavy on the physical attraction than a Passion Most Pure, it made sense given Charity's extreme beauty and seductive behavior that men would feel somewhat tortured around her. And like most women who've been hurt at a very young age, she blames herself for what happened with Rigan. While I didn't like it, that is so like real life situations.

Toward the end I was really hoping another relationship would work out, but I've discovered that with Lessman's Passion series, things don't usually change course and stay there, but the diversion still plays a large part in the healing. So even though I was a tad disappointed at the end, I know that means the third book will resolve that for me. I grew to care so much about one character that I wanted to see him happy. Not gonna happen in this book, but there is always potential in the next novel in the series. So I was still satisfied. But unfortunately, whenever I finish one of Lessman's books I am tortured by having to wait for the next installment.

Oh, and when it comes to sensual tension, this author does it better than anyone in the Christian fiction world today. And she has definitely extended the boundaries of what is "allowed" in the CBA, giving hope to other authors like myself, who see passion as being the spice of life and a true gift from God. :) Encore!

Julie Lessman's second book, A Passion Redeemed, is just as great as the first: captivating characters, an excellent plot and a wonderful family saga that pulls you in and makes you part of the family. I couldn't put it down as I laughed and cried along with the O'Connor family. Buy it, read it and spread the word!

Daughters of Boston series- book 2- A Passion Redeemed
I truly enjoyed this book! I LOVED watching Charity transform from the villain in A Passion Most Pure into the heroine in this book. This book was well- written and flowed beautifully. Great job, Julie!!

"A Heart Revealed", by my FAVORITE author, Julie Lessman! If you are a hopeless romantic and love seeing God work in peoples lives to bring them to a personal relationship with Himself and to each other, you MUST check out her books! She knows how to hook, and reel you into the books, so you develop a sense of belonging with the characters.

Amazingly, Julie managed to make me love a character that I hadn't been fond of in the first book, and even cheer her on! I found myself identifying with Charity O'Connor, and loved that she continued Faith and Collin's love story through bits and pieces of this book as well. I find the more I get to know the O'Connor family, the more I love them. Another book headed straight to my keeper shelf.