Thank you to Bethany House for the free review copy. All opinions are my own.

This was a sweet historical romance, but it also had a main character that had a lot of grit and grace. Mellie has a lot of hardship throughout this novel, but it was great to see a character persevere in the way that she did.

I also think that the setting was perfect. I liked getting a glimpse into the female mill worker's life in this book. I also think that the paper cutting was super unique, and it was something that I enjoyed reading about. 

This book deals a lot with issues of trust, forgiveness, and living in the way of God. I think that the topics handled were broad, but they all worked together in the novel to create a complex plot.

I do think some of the conflicts were resolved rather quickly. I also would've liked to have more on Mellie's sister included in the ending.

A Perfect Silhouette by Judith Miller takes place in Manchester, New Hampshire, a mill town in the 1850s. Mellicent "Mellie" Blanchard seeks work at a mill to provide for her family who have fallen unexpectedly on financial difficulties. Meanwhile, Morgan Stark, the mill owner's son, seeks to stand on his own by working undercover as a mechanic in the mill and help develop a new technology. Drawn together, can Mellie and Morgan find love and keep it as the world conspires to keep them apart? Miller returns to mill towns (see her Bells of Lowell series with Tracie Peterson) to create a tender love story while depicting what life was life in a mill town.

While quite predictable, A Perfect Silhouette is a sweet romance with a dash of intrigue. Most of the characters are likable, at least by the end of the story. Multiple problems are presented, but are fairly easily solved. Nevertheless, the story is a pleasant read and you won't regret the time spent with it.

I am grateful to have received a copy of A Perfect Silhouette from Bethany House in exchange for my honest opinion. I was under no obligation to provide a positive review and received no monetary compensation.

I really enjoyed this book, and although I thought I figured out the ending early on. While there is a bit of romance here, there are so many subplots going on, like real life, you will never get bored, and it will keep you page turning.
We get an up-close look at the mills that were an important part of the economy on the East Coast, and also see how unpleasant it was to work there. Wonder anyone had hearing left, or lungs, and the humidity and heat!
We get a glimpse of life as the workers living in a boarding house, gulping their meals and trudging back to work to do it again.
This is a story to get lost in, a great clean summer read!

I received this book through Net Galley and Bethany House Publishers, and was not required to give a positive review

The hardships of working in a mill in the 1850s are portrayed in this heartwarming story. Mellie in such a sweet and kind character that readers will fall in love with her. I loved that Morgan had a heart for improving conditions in the mill. Redemption from wrongdoing was a strong point throughout. I loved learning about the art of papercutting (scherenscnitte) and creating silhouettes. I hope there will be more books to follow about the mill town and Mellie's sister. Very sweet story! Highly recommended!

It's been a while since I picked up a title by Judith Miller. I have always enjoyed her writing and I was not disappointed with A Perfect Silhouette!







One of the things I enjoy about Judith Miller's storytelling is the constant theme of redemption. No one is ever beyond forgiveness or repentance and this is beautifully represented in her novels.



The main character, Mellie, is a sweetly innocent girl thrown into the necessity of working in a mill town. She's used to living a comfortable life, but she finds must help her sister meet financial needs because of her brother-in-laws misdeeds. Morgan, the hero, is not who he presents himself to be. Things become quite complicated faster than Morgan is able to deal with them, especially as the two begin to realize their feelings for one another.



I love how their innocence and honorable behavior is portrayed. We need more pure love stories that stir the emotions without leaving the reader blushing. Judith Miller does a wonderful job of this in a way I would be completely comfortable allowing my daughters to read her writing when in middle or high school.



I also admire the progression of her characters. Even though both begin with high moral standards even in the beginning, they grow in their faith and maturity throughout the chapters.



*Slight spoiler...but not too much!*

My favorite part of this books is as I mentioned before, no one is beyond forgiveness or repentance. Two characters in particular show this played out. One is Mellie's roommate. I love how forgiveness leads to a repentant heart. I know it doesn't always work out this way, but seeing this gives hope for a real-life answer to prayer such as is given in the story.



The second character who shows this example is Morgan's mother. I honestly was surprised at the turn of events at the end of the novel and it was nice to be surprised in a pleasant way! It is lovely to read a story where there not true villains in the sense of most literature, merely souls who need to be reminded of the love of the God most high.



This is again and excellent read and I highly recommend it for anyone looking for something to capture your heart and give a happy ending. This is one I would love to see created into a television series or movie!

A sweet, lovely little story about a working class girl. It showcases the history and hardships that people living through this time would have gone through. Great attention to the historic details. Plus a sweet little romance on the side. There were a few time the character's seemed a little too sweet and kind almost to the point of becoming unrealistic, but overall a good story.

I enjoyed A Perfect Silhouette. I could not help to think about my grandparents while reading this. The conditions they had to endure to live and to even make a living to live. I loved Mellie in this book. I give her story four stars.

Judith Miller's A Perfect Silhouette hooked me from the first page. I enjoy historical fiction, especially when it comes alive with believable characters. When I read this book I could see the shoddy boarding house, hear the looms in the factory and see how lives are changed. The simpler times we long for were built on hard work and determination. Life wasn't all work and the author has woven a wonderful story.


Our heroine, Mellie, was just one of hundreds of workers recruited for the booming textile industry. The promise of steady wages to send home to her struggling family enticed her to leave everything behind and work at the mill. Once she arrived, she learned that her housing was little more than a shared bed and the promise of a long day working in a loud textile mill. Her determination, like that of so many, developed an industry that played an integral role in our country's future. I heartily recommend this book for the story line, the well developed characters and impeccable research.

The Perfect Silhouette
By Judith Miller
Have you read or watched North and South? As I read about the cotton mills and owners verses the workers, I could not help but relate and compare stories. I will say as many similarities as there may seem to be this story was different and quite enjoyable.
Mellies life circumstances have changed and rather then feel stuck in the past she dutifully joins the working class to provide for herself and sisters family. Her soft hands and leisure life did not prepare her for the long hard days of the weaver’s room where she now works. Mellie is positive and has put Gods Word in her heart and lives it. Although things started off difficult the relationships, she makes with her fellow workers encourages and changes her. As Mellie adjusts to her changing life, she discovers she can use a skill from her past to make some added income. While working Mellie attracts the attention of a fellow mill worker. Soon Mellie finds herself walking home with Morgan Stark and forging a friendship. Relationships are never simple however and there is more to both Mellie and Morgan’s life that could change everything. Mellie and Morgan learn that God uses regular people to carry out his will. If we are only willing to step forward and live out Gods Word.
I really enjoyed this book and found it easy to devour on my recent vacation. Family vacations are not always relaxing but being able to open a good book and be swept away in someone else’s stories made my trip a bit less crazy.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion which I’ve shared here. For more book reviews check out: https://simplyannehere.wordpress.com

Judith Miller is one of my favorite authors and I will grab her books to read, especially when I need some down-time. But when I read A Perfect Silhouette, I was thoroughly disappointed. There was so much Judith left unfinished. Maybe she was leaving room for a sequel to this book, or to make a series, but there were unresolved issues in the plot and I cannot give this book more than three stars.

Mellie has moved to Manchester, NH, to work in the textile mills so that she can help support her sister. As part of her job at the mill, she has to live in a boarding house run by someone employed by the mill to offer a bed to sleep in and three or four meals a day. There are a strict curfew and rules about church attendance and general conduct. That much doesn't bother Mellie so much, but she knows she needs to make more money than just her wages at the mill.

Shopping with the girls one night, Mellie sees a photography studio and goes into the store to see if the owner would like to have her do scherenschnitte silhouettes for customers who cannot afford photographic portraits. As a demonstration of her skill, she does a silhouette of the owner in just a few moments. They come to an agreement where she pays him two cents out of every silhouette she sells. It is absolutely a great boon for his business.

While working one night, she meets Morgan Stark, the son of the owner of the mill where Mellie works. He is working under an assumed name at the mill so that he can get a feel for the conditions the employees are working under. Because he is an engineer, he is included on a project for a circular loom that makes seamless fabric for feed bags.

Even though Morgan is falling in love with Mellie, he still has to keep his identity protected but his guilt over not telling Mellie the whole truth is eating him inside out. When she does find out, it is in the most awkward way possible and Morgan has a long row to hoe to win her back.

Like I said before, the book has an abrupt ending. Throughout the book, I got the feeling that something was wrong with Mellie's sister, but there is no resolution there. There are several other girls who have some unresolved issues as well, and the reuniting of Mellie and Morgan isn't as satisfying as it could have been. It is almost as if the author got to the point where she had enough pages and just tied a bow on it. I am hoping that there will be more novels to come out to make this a series and fill in some of the gaps.

My thanks go to Bethany House and NetGalley.com for allowing me to read and review this book. Three stars

JUST OK – DID NOT ENJOY
Manchester, New Hampshire 1850
This book was not my cup of tea. I generally read a book in 1 or 2 days. I read this one over 5 days because I was not into it. The story is told in third person. It took 9 or 10 chapters before I could even begin to somewhat enjoy the story. I read A LOT of historical fiction and this author’s writing style feels unpolished to me in comparison. She uses the word bucolic often, so it stands out. Her antagonists do a 180 turn very quickly. Simply point out their flaws and WHAM they are new people, apologizing and ready to behave. That seemed unrealistic. We are told repeatedly how Mellie’s sister is doing worse and worse through her letters, yet in the end there is no resolution to that problem. That was disappointing to me. It’s a nice love story between the 2 main characters, centered around the hardships of a cotton mill factory and the mandatory boarding houses (with strict rules) that the workers must live in; sharing quarters (beds) with other workers. Sadly, I was actually glad when it was over and I had met my obligation to finish the book.

Thank you to Bethany House and NetGalley for a digital edition. My opinion is my own and given freely.
3 Stars

This is a story that I would qualify as a very sweet, wholesome story. It reminded me of the essence of Grace Livingston Hill books in which everyone is just good. There are characters who aren’t so perfect, but once Mellie shows them where they have gone wrong, they are quick to find their true path.

Mellie has moved to town to become a mill girl for one of three mills in this town. She finds herself in a boarding house sharing the attic room with several girls. One of the girls on the first day discovered Mellie’s secrets in her journal and threatened to tell all, unless Mellie met her demands.

For me, the book was just too sweet. I used to read Grace Livingston books religiously, owning quite a few from her collection. There were some books I have held on to over the years, but they all held the same wholesome theme. I enjoyed learning about the silhouette’s, although the way she would describe them to Morgan and anyone else, it just felt like it was a bit of prissyness. So while the story and plot overall was good, there just wasn’t enough to keep me interested. The story just seemed too pat. Easily solved and finished.

Would I read this book again? Probably not. I know many will love it, but I just felt it lacked some depth of character and issues. I do appreciate the end of the story, but just felt like it ended just a bit too soon.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. These are my honest thoughts and opinions.

This interesting book has its historical roots in the U.S. industrial revolution and the integral part the "mill girls" played, at the expense of their health, unfair wages, long hours, no benefits, overmanaged and under constant scrutiny. The reader follows the life of Mellie, who has left a steady but low-paid job to seek higher wages by working in the mills, to help her family. I believe Miller's description of mill life is, sadly, accurate. Yet romance blooms there, and Mellie finds herself drawn to another mill worker...one who has a secret. Mellie's hobby of portrait silhouette cutting was another interesting thread that was woven throughout the book. This is also historically accurate as photography eclipsed silhouette portraits, but was too expensive for the budgets of many in its beginning. Themes in this book include family, trust, honor, and the inequity between hard work and prosperity. The book is wholesome and concludes as expected, although I felt some of the plot was a bit contrived. For example, it was hard for me to accept that one character who had caused such a ruckus, and who seemed to have little or no relationship with God, would immediately change and become a model mother after a prayer session with her pastor. I would like to have seen some "becoming" in her transformation. Likewise, the misunderstanding between Mellie and the millworker she grows to care about was drawn out over such a long time that I wanted to shake both characters. And that leads to my final observation about A Perfect Silhouette — as with all of Miller's writing, the reader becomes involved and invested and that's a hallmark of fine writing indeed. Four well-deserved stars from me.

A PERFECT SILHOUETTE by JUDITH MILLER is a beautifully told love story that takes place in the cotton mills in Manchester, New Hampshire in 1850. There is some intrigue, as things are not always as they seem, a good Christian message, mostly about trust, forgiveness and treating people right, and some really delightful characters.
Mellie Blanchard has come to work at the mill in order to be able to help her sister, who is having a hard time providing for herself and her children due to a scandal involving her late husband. She makes really good friends at the boarding house where the mill workers live, and works really hard in unpleasant conditions. She is well educated, and also has an unusual gift, that of cutting paper to make silhouettes.
Morgan Stark is the son of the mill owner who goes "undercover" to work as a mechanic at the mill in order to learn first hand how working conditions can be improved. He has studied engineering and is soon involved in a top secret invention that will greatly benefit the mill.
His parents are an interesting couple, and I like the way his mother is led to change her ways and make right with the Lord and her family.
The author has described what life was like for the cotton mill workers during that time of history, with the long hours, strict rules and sometimes suffocating heat.
It is an historical romance with good Christian content, and a really good read.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Bethany House Publishers. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

(4.5 stars) - a cotton mill cinderella story

Those familiar with Elizabeth Gaskell's description of England's developing cotton industry in "North and South" will find this book particularly interesting. In this book, we get to see some of the similarities and differences of the industry as compared to America. And we get to see it from the perspective of characters who are working there.

It's a little surprising to see how the workers lived then. Their lives were essentially owned & controlled by the company even on their time off to an extent. So patronizing.

Like "North and South", this story also has a swoony romance, though our hero and heroine are not conflicted towards each other, nor are they as class conscious as Gaskell's characters. However, they do each have some secrets to deal with.

I loved the idea of the heroine's being gifted at paper cutting. I have seen some of it done by a master & it's truly amazing, as well as beautiful.

I was bothered just a bit by how quickly, easily & patly their problems were solved. It's not that I want "real life" where mean girls stay mean & interfering mothers alienate their son & his intended, etc, but at times it made the story a little too much fairytale & a little less believable that things were resolved with relatively little resistance or complication.

Then again, sometimes that's exactly what we want in our escapist fare.

The happily-ever-after was quite sweet. I actually read it twice, lol.


Clean romance level: sweet kisses
Religion: overtly Christian, some will find it preachy

A good, clean, easy to read story of a working class girl that meets what she thinks is a working class young man, that turns out to be the son of the mill owner. Great story! I enjoyed reading it and it has an good ending.