Love's Betrayal by DiAnn Mills

Love's Betrayal by DiAnn Mills & Faithful Traitor by Jill Stengl ISBN-13: 9781634097796 Paperback: 320 pages Publisher: Barbour Books Released: August 1, 2016

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
Love's Betrayal: Boston, 1776. Delight Butler is a passionate defender of the American patriots. When redcoats bring an injured Henry O’Neil to the Butler home for care and lodging, Delight despises the man. Though she comes to admire the man, Delight struggles to trust that he could desert the British army and risk his life for the patriot cause.

Faithful Traitor: New York, 1775. Georgette's parents have arranged for her to marry an aloof man with a reputation for dallying with married women. Yet she desires a husband that will be true only to her. Then she's tempted by a dashing, cloaked man who rescues her from danger and says he adores her. Still, she agrees to marry her parent's choice--who is admittedly handsome and rich--and prays that she can love him, and he love her. But her few, brief meetings with the dashing patriot spy may cause her troubles she didn't foresee.


My Review:
Love's Betrayal is a Christian historical romance set in 1776-1777 in Boston and Chesterfield. I got hung up on the scenario of British troops taking a wounded comrade specifically to a known patriot household, threatening to harm them if they don't nurse him, then abandoning him there. Why didn't they just take him to a British infirmary, or at least one of the known British supporters in the town?

Anyway, Delight and the soldier quarrel until Delight feels bad that her Christian witness is so poor. He falls in love with her beauty and spirit and no longer wants to fight. Delight's father says he thinks the British soldier would be a good husband for her even though he's the enemy. And suddenly she's attracted to the hero, though I don't quite understand why.

I was disappointed that the (potentially) most interesting scenes were skipped and summarized later. The story just dragged for me. There was a strong Christian element: the family prayed and tried to put the Christian virtues into practice. There was no sex or bad language.

Faithful Traitor is a Christian historical romance set in 1775 in New York. It has hints of Jane Austen (misjudgements, romantic imaginings, and match-making mothers) and vaguely follows the plot of the Scarlet Pimpernel (but set during the American Revolution). I'd call this "high romance" as there was much blushing and trembling at a man's touch. That's not my favorite genre, so I was surprised by just how fun this story was. Lots of action and dialogue, and the hero and heroine were better people for having met each other.

Georgette genuinely desired to be a woman of virtue when dealing with temptation. The hero struggled with his need for God's forgiveness, and the heroine struggled with trusting God with an uncertain future. There were no sex scenes. Bad language was indicated with "he cussed" rather than the actual words. Overall, I'd highly recommend this delightful tale.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


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