I am atrociously late to the launch tour (I’m so sorry, everyone) but here is my review at last…
Synopsis
If God asks you to confront a storm, how dare you stay in the harbor?
Lady Mary Cassidy O’Connell has a dream that can be summed up in three connecting a loving husband, adorable children, and a home of her own. Her mother’s lack of care makes life difficult for Cassie, and an escape is necessary. The plan? Marry Aubrey Montgomery, the man her parents have chosen for her, and find the peace she craves.
Unfortunately, Cassie is uneasy about marrying Aubrey. Her apprehension grows as she witnesses her dearest friend’s loving marriage take place. At this wedding, she catches the eye of Patrick Hilton, son of a wealthy American. Like Cassie, he’s also set to marry a woman chosen by his parents—only, Patrick claims, he is content with this choice.
Torn between her desire for happiness and the knowledge that God is leading her in a different direction, Cassie confronts the impossible decision. Is a loveless marriage of obligation better than being alone, or will she set sail on a voyage without a safe harbor?
Like a Ship on the Sea is the first novel in The Hilton Legacy, a stand-alone trilogy featuring characters from the author’s first series, The Chronicles of Alice & Ivy.
My Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐ & ❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎
4 stars. I really wanted to love this book. I adore the Chronicles of Alive & Ivy and I was so excited about this spin-off of Alice’s best friend Cassie, set around the time of A Prayer Unanswered.
Parts of the book fell a bit flat for me though. For starters, I didn’t connect with the characters super well. Cassie was realistic and relatable, but I felt like she didn’t really change throughout the book. She didn’t seem to have any big realizations and huge changes. And I know, that is SO unfair to say, because she DID, and her lesson was really good. But it didn’t FEEL like a big moment to me and she didn’t change enough for me to connect with her arc and enjoy her spiritual journey. Patrick, now, went through a lot more spiritually, which I enjoyed. However, as a romantic interest/hero, he drove me wild for the first 70% of the book. You thought Peter or Jordy were frustrating heroes? Patrick is twice as bad. He’s so blind, so scared, and so rude. He does become very, very nice at the last though.
Secondly, the plot skipped A LOT of time. I know, I know, usually I don’t have issues with that but this time it leaned into my whole issue with arcs not changing. I felt like too much time had passed for Cassie and Patrick NOT to change. It’s a stupid complaint, but for some reason it made me feel really disconnected from the characters and story events.
However, I really liked Patrick’s sisters, and his parents were very interesting. His whole plot was great and I really enjoyed it, minus the parts of him being an absolute idiot. Which, again, I know I shouldn’t complain of because it’s the whole plot and his whole character and the author warned us about this beforehand, but it REALLY bugged me somehow. I don’t know why. I really liked the family he ends up with in the end though.
Anyways, I loved meeting Peter’s family through Cassie, and the domestic life of Peter & Alice seen through Cassie was epic. Those parts were my favourite in the whole book. (But I don’t think my issue was that I was wanting Peter & Alice/the Chronicles of Alice & Ivy books, because I’ve read other Kellyn Roth books that are totally NOT part of this series and I loved them.) I also liked the part of the Irish family and Cassie helping them out, although it also felt to me like they weren’t developed to their full potential. I could have really loved that family and the whole Irish part of the book, but it was barely touched on, and I would have really liked seeing more of the village and U’s family and the racism against Irish and all that stuff.
After all that complaining, here’s what I loved about the book. Cassie’s theme of learning to trust God and move forward in faith even when God’s leading is completely wild and unwanted… it was GOOD. Patrick learning about courage and doing the right thing even if he’s alone? EXCELLENT. There were other mini themes too, and they were all SO good, definitely worth 5 stars alone. As always with a Kellyn Roth book, I needed that message right now in my life.
So, yeah, I’m really sorry I didn’t enjoy the book more. Maybe I was in the wrong mood, or maybe I had the wrong expectations. I could have loved it—I should have loved it—but it just didn’t hit it for me, sadly. However, despite my disappointments, I really did enjoy it, and I do plan to reread it (and hopefully love it more), and I honestly look forwards to the next book in the series VERY much (because y’all, I need more about Patrick’s sisters and also P & C now that they’re an adorable couple)!!
Content: Kellyn has a great content list here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show…. Personally, the only things that stick out to me was the conversation about marital intimacy—It was well-handled/discreet, but definitely adult. Also, the mention of Cassie getting “the talk” from her siblings kinda bothered me. But it’s not a big deal—it’s just definitely for adults.
A Favourite Quote: Yet she heard a whisper again, soft but strong: “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” What was there to fear with a promise like that? She turned her face toward a future open with possibilities that night.
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “I’m sorry for dragging your husband off, Mrs. Strauss. I promise it was for a good reason, but I know we must’ve made you wait.”
“Actually, it was my idea.” Peter slipped onto his seat. “Anyway, I didn’t think you would wait. I left a note.”
Alice raised her eyebrows. “We determined that either you were going for a walk or that you were journeying to the center of the earth. Your handwriting allowed for either interpretation.”
*I received a complimentary copy of this book for promotional purposes. I was not required to write a positive review. These are my honest thoughts and opinions.*
Purchase on Amazon
America | Canada
Add on Goodreads
Tags: 4-of-10-hearts, american-fiction-and-nonfiction, book-reviews-to-be-updated, british-fiction-and-nonfiction, christian-fiction-genre, christian-fiction-with-content, covers-i-love, estranged-mistreating-family-trope, friendship-story-books, hisfic-1800s, historical-fiction-genre, i-want-this-paperback, indie-author-self-published-books, moving-to-new-place-trope-books, new-adult-and-adult-genre, riches-to-rags-trope-books, romance-genre, seaside-and-island-books, series, slice-of-life-books, thought-provoking-books, well-done-message-books, well-done-writing-style-books.
About the Author
Kellyn Roth is a historical romance & women’s fiction author who writes stories to share hope in life’s storms. Her novels include the inspirational Victorian family saga, The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy, and the Kees & Colliers series, which follows a broken family in the tumultuous years of the first half of the 20th century.
Kellyn is a student of the Author Conservatory and a writing coach. When not building her author career or her indie-author-helping business, Wild Blue Wonder Press, she is likely getting lost somewhere in the Pacific Northwest with her friends, watching period dramas and facetious comedies, or spending time with her husband. Find out more on her website.
Links
https://kellynrothauthor.com/newsletter/
https://instagram.com/kellynrothauthor/
https://facebook.com/kellynrothauthor/
https://twitter.com/kellyntheauthor/
THE SCHEDULE
Monday, September 4th
“Why You Should Read Like a Ship on the Sea” by Kellyn Roth
Book Spotlight by Abby Johansen
Author Interview by Naomi Sowell
Tuesday, September 5th (LAUNCH DAY!)
“All the Launch Day Celebrations” by Kellyn Roth
Wednesday, September 6th
“About the Gilded Era” by Kellyn Roth
Thursday, September 7th
“Tackling Tough Topics with Tact” by Kellyn Roth
Friday, September 8th
“A Guest Post by Alice Strauss” by Kellyn Roth
Book Spotlightby Bizwings Book Blog
Saturday, September 9th
“Introducing the Hiltons of Boston” by Kellyn Roth
Monday, September 11th
“How The Hilton Legacy Fits in with The Chronicles of Alice & Ivy” by Kellyn Roth
Author Interview by Amy Ullrich
Review by Pens, Pages, and Pulses
Author Interview by Jane Mouttet
Book Spotlight by Rhys-Marie Whitnell
Tuesday, September 12th
“All About Book Two, Like the Air After Rain” by Kellyn Roth
Old-Fashioned Book Love 
Thank you so much for doing this!
And honestly, I’m with you on a lot of this. 😛 Would I change it? Meh, probably not, if only because I like the way it turned out PERSONALLY, even if I don’t like it OBJECTIVELY. But I ended up deciding to just write the book I wanted even though I knew it was … well, problematic, to say the least. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
For sure! Thank YOU for everything ❤
No, I’m glad you didn’t change it! I really did enjoy it a lot, I just remembered all the stuff I didn’t like… ;P And kudos to you for writing it, because you needed it and that’s enough. And according to reviews, many people needed it too ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve sort of decided now that this series (which I had fully intended to be my first traditional romance series that actually had widespread appeal) is going to be for me, and though I don’t like that, well, I’ll have to trust that God figures out a way to make it work despite the inherent difficulties thereof. And hey, not everything I do has to be profitable or helpful for the average person.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Isn’t it funny how God does that… ;P And yes!!! I think those are the books that end up touching maybe only a few people, but in very, very deep ways…
LikeLiked by 1 person