Summary of This Book:By virtue of her profession as a midwife,
Tabitha Eckles is the keeper of many secrets:
the names of fathers of illegitimate children, the
level of love and harmony within many a marriage,
and now the identity of a man who may have caused his
wife's death. Dominick Cherrett is a man with his own
secret to keep: namely, what he, a British nobleman,
is doing on American soil working as a bondsman
in the home of Mayor Kendall, a Southern gentleman
with his eye on a higher office. By chance one morning
before the dawn has broken, Tabitha and Dominick
cross paths on a misty beachhead, leading them on a
twisted path through kidnappings, death threats,
public disgrace, and . . . love? Can Tabitha trust
Dominick? What might he be hiding? And can either of
them find true love in a world that seems set against
them?
This book caught my notice first cause it's about a midwife. Seeing how that's what I'm working on becoming, I am intrigued by anything dealing with midwives... Also, it's a Christian book. And it's a romance! Also it's a historical, and I am a HUGE history junkie! As I started reading the book, I caught on that it's a mystery too! It had all the things I like in a book! So yeah I was going to read it!
I LOVED Tabitha's character. She's very giving, and cares for others before she cares for herself. She learned the trade of being a midwife from her mother who learned it from Tabitha's grandmother and so on. Needless to say the trade of midwifery has been in their family for generations. And they always pass down the skills as soon as their daughter turns sixteen.
She's had a very tragic life. First her father dies when she was sixteen, then her mother dies when she's twenty. Right after her mother dies her fiance gets kidnapped and taken aboard a British naval ship. Then her grandmother dies shortly after that. So she takes on the role as midwife for her town. She also takes care of any medical need the town has because she's the only one in the town who knows medical stuff. So she has her plate full.
Then comes in Dominick Cherrett. He's British, and is a redemptioner in the town of Seabourne. A redemptioner is someone who has disgraced their family and needs to pay it back by working. Dominick is working off his as butler for the mayor of Seabourne.
I LOVE the scene when they first meet. Tabitha has just come back from a birth, and is walking home. The way she goes is on the shoreline of the ocean. She's deep in thought and does not notice Dominick standing there.
"What do we have here?" The quiet voice was real and male, deep and unmistakably English. "Are you all right?" He sounded friendly even warm, and not threatening. "Let me help you." Still speaking in an undertone, he stooped before her. She saw no more than a shadowy outline and dark hair tumbling around features pale in the misty gloom.
"No, thank you. I can manage myself." She tugged at her skirt and nearly toppled sideways.
"You don't look to be doing a very good job of it." Laughter tinged his words. The hand that clasped hers was masculine, strong and too smooth to belong to a fisherman of sailor. "Perhaps you can get to your feet if I help? Do you have feet? There does seem to be something trailing behind you. Perhaps it's a tail. Are you a mermaid?"
Tabitha snorted and tried to wrench her hand away. Flirtation would get the stranger nowhere with her. The instant she regained her feet, she would run back to town and warn the sheriff.
If the man let her go. At that moment, he gripped her hand with a firmness suggesting he would not.
"I'm not certain whether or not that noise you made was human." He closed his other handover hers. "But this lovely hand hasn't any scales on it, which argues on the side of silk." He rubbed the tip of a finger across her knuckles, and the skin along her arms felt as though lightning were about to strike. "What's a human female doing out for early?"
"Going home. What's an Englishman doing in Virginia?"
"President Madison hasn't managed to rid these shores of all of us yet."
"A pity."
"Ah, a hostile mermaid."
"I'm not hostile. I'm cautious and worn to a thread." Her voice broke.
"You must have been swimming against the tide. " Speaking with a tenderness that drew all-to-ready tears to her eyes, despite her contrary efforts, he rose, drawing her to her feet with him. "No, not a swim. Alas, a fatigued female human. That's a cloak, I see, not a tail. Forgive the mistaken identity. But I'd expect to see a mermaid out here before I'd think to fins a... lady."
"An understandable error. I wouldn't be out here if I weren't a midwife."
"Indeed?" His hand lingered on hers, that errant fingertip tracing the third finger on her left hand.
"Indeed."
"Then that's the last proof you're a human, since surely mermaids are hatched in the bottom of the ocean." He curved his hand over her forearm. "Then allow me to walk you home, Madam Midwife.".... "Have a care, Madam Mermaid Midwife."
I LOVED that scene. It shows the readers first off that Dominick is a 1800's Don Juan. He flirts openly with every woman. Though he does not do anything else besides flirt. He's a charmer, and knows how to use his charms on the women. Until he gets to know Tabitha, does he find that he really liked Tabitha, and when he flirts he means every word he says!
On another note, my reviews will be a little slower. I have started my Birthing Doula classes, and will be spending most of my time on the course. I will still do my reviews but they will be less frequent.
Emily's Rating Of This Book:
My next book will be Shades Of Earl Grey by Laura Childs.
God bless!
