Judith Miller: The Chapel Car Bride

By Kelly Bridgewater

With her penchant for seeing the best in everyone, Hope Irvine sees a world full of good people in hard places. When her father accepts a position traveling in a chapel car as an on-the-rail missionary, she is determined to join him in his efforts and put her musical skills to good use by serving the mining families of West Virginia, saving their souls, and bettering their lives.

Luke Hughes shares Hope's love of music and her love of God, but as a poor miner he knows he can offer her no future. Still, the notes she sings resonate in his heart. When she begins to travel with a young mine manager to neighboring counties, Luke can hardly suppress his jealousy. It isn't until he begins to suspect these missions of mercy might be the mine manager's cover for illegal purposes, though, that Luke feels justified in speaking up. But how can he discover the truth without hurting Hope or, worse, putting her in danger?

From Amazon

My Thoughts:

With Judith Miller books, some of her books have been awesome, and I devour them instantly, but I have found some of them not to be so great. With her newest book The Chapel Car Bride, I don't think this story captured my attention either. While the characters and plight of Hope Irvine, who is a daughter of a preacher, riding the rails through the American west in 1913. She is a strong woman who isn't afraid to tell the story of Jesus to everyone, especially the little children in town. I admired her humble spirit and her willingness to step out of her comfort zone and share Jesus to people she met. On a parallel note, Miller wrote the hero, Luke Hughes, as a man who grew up in the mining community with a compassionate heart for the mistreated who wants to be a preacher. The romance between Hope and Luke was not one of my top romances. It moved along just like a romance novel should. It was predictable and unoriginal. As for the pace of the novel, it dragged for a long time. It was hard to stay focused for a long time. There is a mystery element surrounding Kirby, the son of the father who owns the mine, but the idea didn't grasp my attention as I originally hoped.

I received a complimentary copy of The Chapel Car Bride by Judith Miller from Bethany House Publishers, and the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars