Love's Fortune by Laura Frantz

With two very different horizons stretched out before her, one young woman stands on the edge of an unknown future

Sheltered since birth at her Kentucky home, Rowena "Wren" Ballantyne has heard only whispered rumours of her grandfather Silas' vast fortune and grand manor in Pennsylvania. When her father receives a rare letter summoning him to New Hope, Wren makes the journey with him and quickly finds herself in a whole new world - family members she's never met, dances she's never learned, and a new side to the father she thought she knew.

As she struggles to fit in during their extended stay, she finds a friend in James Sackett, the most valued steamship pilot of the Ballantynes' shipping line. Even with his help, Wren feels she may never be comfortable in high society. Will she go her own way… to her peril?

Review: Love's Fortune is a wonderful addition to The Ballantyne Legacy series! Each book of this series covers a generations of this amazing family, starting with Silas and Eden, then their beautiful daughter and her wild suitor, and now Wren - their granddaughter - and her choice between a handsome pilot and a wealthy railroad owner. 

Love's Fortune brought back memories of the first book in this series, Love's Reckoning. Eden, in Love's Reckoning, has similar humble beginning as her fairy-like granddaughter, Wren. After complications with the abolitionist movement to help free black slaves, Wren's father flees with his wife and infant daughter to the wilds of Kentucky. Twenty five years later, a summons from her grandmother Eden has Wren and her father abruptly packing their bags and sailing downriver to meet the unknown Ballantynes. Wren has heard rumour that she's related to the wealthy and powerful Silas Ballantyne, but she's never met any of her Philadelphia relatives. Used to running barefoot in the wilderness and carving violins with her father, Wren is a far cry from the sophisticated socialite her relatives are expecting. Thrust into a glittering and dangerous world she knows nothing about, Wren is faced with some of the hardest decisions and experiences of her life. 

Laura Frantz really does have a grace about her writing and a quality that sets her apart from many of her fellow authors. Her novels are so passionate, so elegantly written, so entertaining yet gripped with a realism and a deeper meaning that you can't help but feel improved after reading one of her books, and her characters are so real. I hate it when her books end because I can't stand saying goodbye to her beautifully created characters - oh to write like her! I honestly have immensely enjoyed every one of her books I've read. She is in my top five of favourite authors.

I would certainly recommend reading this entire series.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Revell and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from BakerBooks, a division of Baker Publishing Group"