The Liberty Bride by MaryLu Tyndall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Liberty Bride is set in 1812 as America and England battle each other in the War of 1812 and it is a story of spies, deceit, and suspected traitors. Emeline Baratt is a young American woman returning home from England on one of her father's privateer ships and she becomes a prisoner after the ship is overtaken by the Royal Navy. Fearing for her life, she claims to be a British spy and she soon encounters Owen Masters, a First Lieutenant on the HMS Marauder. Owen truly is a spy but he is spying for America and he is very leery of this young woman who admits to being a British spy. Their initial mistrust of each other evolves into something more but Emeline had long ago proclaimed that she would remain single. She also struggles with a belief that she isn't worthy of love from God or any man because one has to be good to be loved and blessed by God and she certainly hasn't been good with all of her recent lies and deceit!

This is the first book that I have read by Mary Lu Tydall and I was impressed with her multi-faceted characters and her attention to historical detail. I also appreciated that she shared a message of faith as she showed both Owen's and Emeline's growth as believers. At first Emeline is unable to understand why a God of love would allow bad things to happen. "Was this another punishment from God for stepping outside His boundaries? Yes, she had lied. Yes, she had deceived. Yes, she had done things that no proper lady should. But this was war. Certainly the Almighty would make concessions." And then, as she struggles with not following and obeying rules, we witness Emeline as her faith and her trust in God deepen. "Have I been wrong all of these years?" she cried out loud. "Is being a proper Christian more about following Jesus, having a relationship with Him, rather than obeying a lot of rules and requirements?" And after being in extreme danger, Owen's faith also increases and he tells Emeline that he knows that God was with them. "Let's just say God and I have made our peace, and I'm discovering that He's quite different than I imagined Him to be".

This is the 6th book in The Daughters of the Mayflower series but it isn't necessary to read the other books first. The Liberty Bride is filled with danger and adventure but there are also scenes that made me laugh out loud. I enjoyed this book and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and Christian romance.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.


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