Faith Lytton Jackson is a Patriot at heart.  She fervently supports the cause championed by her childhood neighbor and hero, George Washington, who became her guardian after she was orphaned. She leads a group of Bostonian ladies whose efforts mostly involve prayer and domestic contributions befitting local leading ladies.  When an opportunity arises to add daring deeds to darning socks, though, Faith leaps at the chance.  An opportunistic would-be suitor, however, seems determined to derail her efforts.  

Matthew Weber is also eager to act in the colonies' best interests, but his contribution requires great sacrifice: he must set aside all Patriot connections, including his friendship with Ben Franklin.  He forsakes public affiliation with his former friends and takes on the role of spy, infiltrating the Loyalists and claiming allegiance to king and crown.  Matthew's covert connections to the Patriots bring him into contact with a delightful fellow operative who may steal his heart.  

The Patriot Bride is the fourth book in Barbour Books' series, Daughters of the Mayflower, and Kimberley Woodhouse's second contribution to the series.  I had never read any of Ms. Woodhouse's books prior to this novel.  While I moderately enjoyed the third book in the series, The Captured Bride by Michelle Griep, this one fell rather flat for me.  The characters lacked sparkle and depth, and the plot tended to traipse along a rather expected trajectory. 

I'm always reluctant to leave "meh" reviews.  I understand that author and editorial teams work hard to produce a tale which they hope will inspire readers to turn pages late into the night.  While I enjoy Christian historical fiction, was interested in the premise of the series, and liked the other book I have read, this novel didn't excite me.  I hope that future installments in the series will reignite my interest.

I received a copy from NetGalley; this is my honest review. #TheMayflowerBride #NetGalley
-The author starts with an extravagant dedication to her son, lasting about 2 pages long. That kind of admiration could have been left to a more intimate setting, not in a book for all to see.
-There was not enough interaction between Matthew & Faith for us to see the friendship to love feelings taking place.
-Most of the actions were centered on the coming of the war, how they prepared for it and who was engaged to participate, the coded letters and the spies' responsibilities.
-Here again, like her last book in this series, she wasted many, many pages writing whole passages from the Bible or whole prayers instead of just breathing them. I have my own Bible, I can check those portions myself. I calculated about a dozen pages or more lost to quotes, prayers, sermons and a detailed God's salvation plan.
-Then another 8 pages wasted for the copy of the Declaration of Independence including the (56) signatures. Such a misuse of page count! Did you know? Google exists now. Or easily put on the series' website.
-There were a few paragraph that came up, word-to-word, 2-3 times. For ex. "we are both mature adults who know our own minds", "the marriage lasted only a week", etc.
-The book, deemed an historical romance, felt more like an historical literature & fiction.
-I'm still not impressed with this author, but at least I gave her one star more than the last time because even though I don't think it was a romance I love a good history book.

I believe I have found my new favorite book from this series! Both of my favorites happen to be the ones written by Kimberly Woodhouse. The Daughters of the Mayflower series is unique in that the different books in the series are not only different time periods, but different authors. While the characters are related going back to the first book, there is enough of a gap (along with only a few references), that enable the stories to be read as stand-alone.

The Patriot Bride takes place in the year leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It is while working as spies that Faith and Matthew come to know each other and grow in their affections for one another. In my opinion the relationship flowed more naturally than the other books in the series. Being a spy during the time was dangerous business, but how much more to fall in love with one too!

As with many other historical fiction books, I strongly encourage reading the author's notes at the end. Kimberly Woodhouse does a lot of research when writing her stories and shares both what is accurate and what has been altered. I always manage to learn something new from the notes and I find them extremely valuable.

I highly recommend this book (and series) to historical fiction fans! It will stretch you to read about time periods you may not have otherwise, and/or may even spark your interest to learn about those times. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and I hope you will too!

*I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley and the author in hopes of an honest review. I was not obligated to leave a positive review. Thoughts and opinions expressed are mine alone.

Yet again Barbour publishing brings another hit in this series! I really love this story line that's been progressing with each new installment. In this installment it follows the story of Matthew and Faith both spies in the middle of the Revolutionary War. Both of whom are trying to do what they feel is right among this out break of war. Can their sense of duty out weigh their ever building love in tension? Also can they submit to God's will? 

This book was well written! I found that the author did their homework in bringing us a factual representation of that era and what it was like to live in it during such a major point in history. The writing was flawless. I loved the character building in this book as you see each grow spiritually and as a person in general. 

I would definitely give this book 5 stars. It is not necessary to read the other books in this series before this one but i do highly suggest it as each one will leave your heart full! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this historical series by Barbour Publishing. This book, The Patriot Bride is about a young widow spying during the Revolutinary War. She falls in love with a fellow spy during the course of the book. It is filled with historical facts. The author definitely did her home work. I give this book three and a half stars.

I never want to downplay how much work goes into a novel, and in that vein of thought I hate giving a book such a low rating when there is nothing inherently "wrong" or "bad" about a book, but The Patriot Bride just really wasn't my jam. I felt like the characters had potential, but there weren't experiences that made them really come alive for me. The plot felt like it was a bit too much along the lines of a history lecture than a novel at times, and while I know it wasn't marketed as suspense, the plot pacing was just too slow for my tastes. Add to that characters that had potential but didn't "pop" to me, and you have a novel that just didn't hit it off with this reader. But to each their own.

I've read all of the books in this series so far, but this was my favorite. The characters are lovable, yet mysterious. The danger is real...the secondary characters are all drawn from history...and it brings up issues about the Revolutionary War era that I'd never considered. Scripture and faith take a central roll as the women, and particularly the three main characters, cope with the world around them and carry out noble, often dangerous, acts in faith.

I have read all the books so far in the Daughters of the Mayflower series and all have been great. The Patriot Bride was an easy read that hooked me from the start. I thought the characters and plot were exciting and well written. I liked the main character, Faith, and enjoyed her spunk. I also liked reading about the relationship between Faith and her butler.

There is a lot of history and the romance is tame. I also liked the ladies prayer group that met in Faith's home.

Overall, I recommend anyone to read this book.