Skip to main content

For Love and Honor by Jody Hedlund: A Book Review

For Love and Honor
Author: Jody Hedlund
Genre: YA, Historical Fiction, Christian, Romance 
Publisher: Zondervan
Release Date: March 7, 2017
Pages: 324
Source: My State Public Library
Synopsis: Lady Sabine is harboring a skin blemish, one, that if revealed, could cause her to be branded as a witch, put her life in danger, and damage her chances of making a good marriage. After all, what nobleman would want to marry a woman so flawed?

     Sir Bennet is returning home to protect his family from an imminent attack by neighboring lords who seek repayment of debts. Without fortune or means to pay those debts, Sir Bennet realizes his only option is to make a marriage match with a wealthy noblewoman. As a man of honor, he loathes the idea of courting a woman for her money, but with time running out for his family’s safety, what other choice does he have?

     As Lady Sabine and Sir Bennet are thrust together under dangerous circumstances, will they both be able to learn to trust each other enough to share their deepest secrets? Or will those secrets ultimately lead to their demise?

     My Review: Sir Bennet returns home to find his family in debt and is forced to marry for money. He decides to enter into an arranged marriage to a wealthy noblewoman. Sabine is very wealthy, but she hides a secret. She has a blemish on her arm that many people think brands her as a witch. Because of her birthmark, she has very little chance of making a good marriage. She and her grandmother go to Sir Bennet’s castle to be wooed by the knight himself. Sabine finds herself falling in love with him. What happens when his family’s debtors decide to attack his castle, and what happens if Sabine’s birthmark is exposed? Will they be able to look past the other’s imperfections and love the other for who they truly are?

  Sabine is  a fun character. She has a dry sense of humor that draws Sir Bennet to him. She also has an appreciation for art. She is very clever and wants to help him out even if he marries her for her money. She is also very insecure, not only because of her birthmark, but also because she is plain. She doesn’t believe that anyone can love her. Throughout the novel, she gradually comes to accept her flaws and love herself. Thus, Sabine was a very relateable character because she embarks on a journey to be confident in herself and gradually changes throughout the novel.

    As for Sir Bennet, he didn’t really change much in this novel. I found him hard to like. He is very judgemental at times, and I didn’t like his actions in the beginning of using Sabine for her money. When he realizes that this is wrong, he makes a vow to not marry for her money. Thus, he seemed very honorable the whole time, and was more of a flat character. He was described as an all-around perfect hero. I wanted there to be more character development and felt that he was not really worthy of Sabine.

      Overall, this book is about choices, love, and redemption. The message of this book is to love yourself and to look past a person’s outward appearance. I thought Sabine’s storyline of people thinking she was a witch was more interesting than Sir Bennet’s storyline where his family are in debt. The story was very action-packed and fast-paced. I thought that there needed to be more development from the side characters. The one that I really adored was the grandmother, who did everything in her power to get Sabine and Sir Bennet together. I was glad to see the returning characters of Sir Derrick and Sir Collin, but I wanted the series previous leading ladies to make an appearance, which sadly they didn’t. Still, this was a sweet love story and a strong conclusion to the Uncertain Choice series. I recommend this story to anyone who likes unconventional love stories and those who want to see someone with inner beauty succeed in finding happiness.


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Potiphar's Wife (The Egyptian Chronicles #1) by Mesu Andrews: A Book Review

  Potiphar’s Wife (The Egyptian Chronicles #1) Author: Mesu Andrews Genre: Historical Fiction, Christian, Biblical Fiction Publisher: WaterBrook Release Date: May 24, 2022 Pages: 453 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: One of the Bible’s most notorious women longs for a love she cannot have in this captivating novel from the award-winning author of Isaiah’s Legacy .       Before she is Potiphar’s wife, Zuleika is the daughter of a king and the wife of a prince. She rules the isle of Crete alongside her mother in the absence of their seafaring husbands. But when tragedy nearly destroys Crete, Zuleika must sacrifice her future to save the Minoan people she loves.       Zuleika’s father believes his robust trade with Egypt will ensure Pharaoh’s obligation to marry his daughter, including a bride price hefty enough to save Crete. But Pharaoh refuses and gives her instead to Potiphar, the captain...

The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts: The True Story of The Bondwoman's Narrative by Gregg Hecimovich: A Book Review

  The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts: The True Story of the Bondwoman’s Narrative Author: Gregg Hecimovich Genre: History, Nonfiction, Biography  Publisher: Ecco Release Date: 2023 Pages: 430 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: A groundbreaking study of the first Black female novelist and her life as an enslaved woman, from the biographer who solved the mystery of her identity, with a foreword by Henry Louis Gates Jr.       In 1857, a woman escaped enslavement on a North Carolina plantation and fled to a farm in New York. In hiding, she worked on a manuscript that would make her famous long after her death. The novel, The Bondwoman’s Narrative, was first published in 2002 to great acclaim, but the author’s identity remained unknown. Over a decade later, Professor Gregg Hecimovich unraveled the mystery of the author’s name and, in The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts, hefinally tells her story.   ...

The King's Jewel by Elizabeth Chadwick: A Book Review

The King’s Jewel Author: Elizabeth Chadwick Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance Publisher: Sphere Release Date: 2023 Pages: 456 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Wales, 1093.      The warm, comfortable family life of young Nesta, daughter of Prince Rhys of Deheubarth, is destroyed when her father is killed and she is taken hostage. Her honour is further tarnished when she is taken as an unwilling concubine by King William's ruthless younger brother Henry, who later ascends the throne under suspicious circumstances.      But it is Nesta's marriage that will really change the course of her life. Gerald FitzWalter, an ambitious young knight, is rewarded for his unwavering loyalty to his new King with Nesta's hand. He is delighted, having always admired her from afar, but Nesta's only comfort is her return to her beloved Wales. There, she cannot help but be tempted by the handsome, charismatic and danger...