Midnight's Budding Morrow - by Carolyn Miller (Paperback)

'He was injured, and had been traveling for days, only to arrive home and discover his unwanted wife had an unexpected child. No wonder his first reaction had been one of anger and confusion.' The fact that Sarah Drayton Langley can feel sympathy for her uncaring husband shows just how special she is. Sarah has been trapped in a loveless, arranged marriage and she's often treated with disrespect because she's from a lower class, but she still manages to maintain a positive attitude most of the time. Can this be because Sarah considers herself as being loved by God? If only her husband James could have that same assurance! Midnight's Budding Morrow is the touching story of two very different people who find love despite their social class issues. Author Carolyn Miller poignantly shows a journey that is plagued by grief and depression, and 'forged by fire', but she also shares the dramatic change that can come from believing in a Higher Power. Hope, joy, and grace are all major themes and I highly recommend this book to fans of Christian Regency romance. I received a copy of this book from Kregel Publications via I Read with Audra Blog Tours. There was no obligation for a positive review and I am voluntarily sharing my thoughts.

Midnight’s Budding Morrow by Carolyn Miller is the second book in her Regency Wallflowers series. Sarah Drayton goes to spend some time with her best friend and ends up in a marriage of convenience with her friend’s brother. Sarah doubted her self worth. She longed to be loved. It sounded like such a good book, but it was so unrealistic. The characters went from sweet to mean in one page and did a complete about face on the last page. I would give this book three stars. I received this book from Reading with Audra for my honest review.

3.5 stars " . . . . on the shores of darkness there is light . . . There is a budding morrow in midnight . . . "- Thomas Keats It is terribly difficult to anticipate the light of dawn when your life has been turned upside down and inside out to the point of utter despair. Such was Sarah's Drayton's existence. She had naively imagined that leaving a rather drab existence as a quasi-housekeeper for an ungrateful aunt and uncle would be an adventure. Instead she had been misled into signing a contract of marriage to the local rogue, James Langley, whose own woes had succumbed to the trickery of his father. Scorned by members of the household staff and snubbed by the local peerage, Sarah tries to make the best of her situation by reaching out to the poor and needy in the local community. After all, her new husband had conveniently returned to the battlefront, spending only one drunken night in Sarah's presence following their nuptials. But it's when James returns home in an entirely different state of mind that the challenges truly begin. "'Bless the Lord, O my soul, forget not all His benefits. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities . . . Who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness' . . . How she longed to know she was loved. To know she was wanted. To know she belonged." And if she was? . . . . maybe their story could be re-written. Perhaps, like me, you will find these characters a bit off-putting in the early stages of this story, but as that changes(and it does!), dare to embrace the message of hope and forgiveness they proclaim, for we serve a God who is "mighty to save", Who flings our iniquities as "far as the east is from the west", and Who assures us that "His mercies are new every morning". The angst that Sarah and James bear in the beginning of this engaging story is definitely worth the ending.