What I’m Reading Wednesday: A Hope Remembered

Guess what day it is? It’s What I’m Reading Wednesday!

This week I’m talking about A Hope Remembered, the third book in Stacy Henrie’s “Of Love and War” series. I loved this book so I’m thrilled to be participating in her release week blitz – and not just because it means I had the chance to do a Q&A with her!  But first, the book:

The final chapter in the “of Love and War” trilogy, A Hope Remembered is the story of Nora Lewis. Heartbroken over the loss of her fiancé in the Great War and the death of her parents, the inheritance of a sheep farm in England seems like the opportunity a new start. She sells her family farm and most of her belongings and moves, sight unseen, to the Lake District and her great-uncle’s dusty and tired cottage.

On her first night there she meets Colin Ashby, son of the local Baronet. Colin has returned home from a war that took his older brother, the favored son who was expected to inherit the title and the responsibility of their ancestral home.  He is lost and struggles under the weight of his father’s disappointment; the hopelessness increases as he learns that the family is in jeopardy of losing their estate and that the way to this is by marrying a wealthy heiress.

In Colin, Nora finds a friend and kindred spirit.  Life is complicated by threats from an unknown person wishing to scare her off the farm, the confusion and mystery of why everyone thinks she looks like an aunt she has never met and the sense that something is being kept from her, and by her growing attraction to Colin, who is expected to marry higher than a simple sheep farmer.

Henrie gives us yet another powerful female character in Nora, feisty and strong and a story that draws you in…and once again she has succeeded in leaving me with a book hangover as I wander listlessly, not wanting the story to be over and not quite ready to leave the world she has created.

Q: What made you choose the Lake District for its setting?  Did you visit England’s Lake District in your research for the novel?

Stacie: I’ve had the chance to visit the Lake District twice, and loved it both times, but this last time I went there specifically to do research for the book. What I love about this part of England is its amazing beauty and unique culture. I knew I wanted to set one of the books in this series in Britain, but I didn’t want to pick a typical location, especially when one thinks of the English upper class. So drawing on my memories from the first time I’d been there, I chose the Lake District as the setting for A HOPE REMEMBERED.

Q: Where do you write?

(I also asked one non-A Hope Remembered question, since I had the chance – cheeky me.)

Q: I loved the characters of Nurse Thornton and Private Dennis from Hope Rising – will we see them again?

Well, I’m excited that the story isn’t officially over yet!

More info on Stacie can be found on her website www.staciehenrie.com and you can find her books here:

Disclosure: I was provided an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in exchange for my honest review. All opinions and typos are entirely my own. Many thanks to both Net Galley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC.