Book Review:: A Hope Undaunted by Julie Lessman

As I read the first pages of A Hope Undaunted, I realized that Katie O’Connor and I would never get along.  Despite her “change of heart” in the middle of the book, I could not relate to the character, and as such, reading this book was a painful process for me.  Part of the new Winds of Change series by Julie Lessman, A Hope Undaunted is set in the late 1920’s after women have earned the right to vote–and Katie seems to think she has earned the right to treat men like dirt.

Katie is the youngest daughter of the O’Connor clan and she is spoiled rotten.  She knows how to wrap men around her little finger and has her life all figured out–down to a picture perfect husband with all the right characteristics.  Instead of a husband, Katie could always get a poodle to train.  Everything changes when she meets Luke McGee who refuses to bow to Katie’s demands, much to Katie’s chagrin.  Naturally, a love triangle emerges as Katie tries to choose between her dashing fiancé, Jack or down-to-earth Luke?  If you can make it through all 500 pages of A Hope Undaunted, you too, can find out what happens.  Then again, don’t we all know how these books turn out?

Julie Lessman may be a good writer, but it certainly doesn’t show in this book, which is disappointingly shallow, dull, and contains cheesy dialogue.  I understand Lessman is attempting to insert 1920’s lingo into the plot, but it just does not work.  I was sorely disappointed in A Hope Undaunted.

Amy’s Grade: D

*Thanks to Winsome Media Communications for a review copy of this book!*