Julie Klassen: The Bride of Ivy Green

By Kelly Bridgewater

Much has happened in idyllic Ivy Hill in recent months, and while several villagers have found new love and purpose, questions remain--and a few dearly held dreams have yet to be fulfilled.

Jane Bell is torn. Gabriel Locke is back and has made his intentions clear. But Jane is reluctant to give up her inn and destine another man to a childless marriage. Then someone she never expected to see again returns to Ivy Hill. . . .

Mercy Grove has lost her school and is resigned to life as a spinster, especially as the man she admires seems out of reach. Should she uproot herself from Ivy Cottage to become a governess for a former pupil? Her decision will change more lives than her own.

A secretive new dressmaker arrives in the village, but the ladies soon suspect she isn't who she claims to be. Will they oust the imposter, or help rescue her from a dangerous predicament?

In the meantime, everyone expects Miss Brockwell to marry a titled gentleman, even though her heart is drawn to another. While the people of Ivy Hill anticipate one wedding, an unexpected bride may surprise them all.

From Amazon

My Thoughts:

With Julie Klassen's final book in her Tales from Ivy Hill series, The Bride of Ivy Green, the reader is taken back to the familiar roads, homes, and citizens of this little town outside London. With enduring characters and a lovely storyline, the plot enraptured my attention and kept me glued to the page. Klassen knows how to capture an audience with her attention to detail. Familiar characters from the first two books return, and readers should be excited to see how they have been since the previous two books. With the romances all tying up by the end of this novel, this makes for an unforgettable conclusion to the series.

I received a complimentary copy of The Bride of Ivy Green by Julie Klassen from Bethany House Publishers, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

From Amazon

About the Author:

Julie Klassen loves all things Jane--Jane Eyre and Jane Austen. She worked in publishing for sixteen years and now writes full time. Three of her novels have won the Christy Award for Historical Romance. She has also won the Minnesota Book Award, the Midwest Book Award, and Christian Retailing's BEST Award. Julie is a graduate of the University of Illinois. She and her husband have two sons and live in St. Paul, Minnesota. Visit www.julieklassen.com and talesfromivyhill.com for more information. (Taken from Amazon.)

Julie Klassen: The Ladies of Ivy Cottage

By Kelly Bridgewater

Return to Ivy Hill in The Ladies of Ivy Cottage as friendships deepen, romances blossom, and mysteries unfold.

Living with the two Miss Groves in Ivy Cottage, impoverished gentlewoman Rachel Ashford is determined to earn her own livelihood . . . somehow. When the village women encourage her to open a subscription library with the many books she has inherited or acquired through donations, Rachel discovers two mysteries hidden among them. A man who once broke her heart helps her search for clues, but will both find more than they bargained for?

Rachel's friend and hostess, Mercy Grove, has given up thoughts of suitors and fills her days managing her girls' school. So when several men take an interest in Ivy Cottage, she assumes pretty Miss Ashford is the cause. Exactly what--or who--has captured each man's attention? The truth may surprise them all.

Meanwhile, life has improved at the coaching inn and Jane Bell is ready to put grief behind her. Now if only the man she misses would return--but where is he?

As the women of Ivy Hill search for answers about the past and hope for the future, might they find love along the way?

From Amazon

My Thoughts:

When I think of Regency romance, I think Julie Klassen and Sarah E. Ladd. Both authors capture the essence of Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters when they compose a novel. I was introduced to Klassen's writing with The Secret of Pembroke Hall, which I enjoyed. I loved the mystery surrounding the house. As for her newest addition to her first series, The Ladies of Ivy Hall, the story lagged in the beginning, but then picked up pace as the novel moved along.

The top aspect of Klassen's writing is her ability to create the world for her characters. She does a great job at describing and staying true to her settings. I have no problem visualizing the settings with her characters and traveling with them as they move around. I can see the houses and the inn. The story becomes alive with her setting.

The characters shine in their different settings. I really liked seeing more of Rachel in this edition. She became front and center as one of the main characters, and it was nice seeing develop a library that would give her a way to provide for herself. Mercy was a character that shined in this story too. We learned more about her family and her situation that Klassen made hard for her to survive. Again, we return to the story of Jane, but Klassen draws her closer to a happy ending, but rips the rug right out from under her. I really don't see any transformation of the three main women. A couple of the men change, but the women don't really.

The plot lagged in the beginning. I thought that I would be giving a bad review because I couldn't stay focused on the plot. The story is just the characters moving around and doing things, but no real conflict. Then the story picks up around sixty percent where the conflict comes one after another. Once majority of the conflict is solved, than Klassen throws in hopeful resolutions for each woman. I wanted more with the plot.

The spiritual element isn't really there either. I didn't know what the novel's theme was. The characters attended church, but nothing really spiritual about any of them.

Overall, The Ladies of Ivy Hill by Julie Klassen features a wonderful world brought to life with vibrant characters who begged me to stay and learn more about them, but the plot of their story didn't really capture my attention until almost the end.

I received a complimentary copy of The Ladies of Ivy Hill by Julie Klassen, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Julie Klassen: The Innkeeper at Ivy Hill

By Kelly Bridgewater

The lifeblood of the Wiltshire village of Ivy Hill is its coaching inn, The Bell. But when the innkeeper dies suddenly, his genteel wife, Jane Bell, becomes the reluctant owner. Jane has no notion of how to run a business. However, with the town's livelihood at stake and a large loan due, she must find a way to bring new life to the inn.
 
Despite their strained relationship, Jane turns to her resentful mother-in-law, Thora, for help. Formerly mistress of The Bell, Thora is struggling to find her place in the world. As she and Jane work together, they form a measure of trust, and Thora's wounded heart begins to heal. When she encounters two men from her past, she sees them--and her future--in a different light.
With pressure mounting from the bank, Jane employs innovative methods to turn the inn around, and puzzles over the intentions of several men who seem to have a vested interest in the place. Will her efforts be enough to save The Bell? And will Thora embrace the possibility of a second chance at love?

From Amazon

My Review:

Regency Romance is not my go-to genre of choice, but Julie Klassen has written some great books like The Secret of Pembrooke Hall, so I give her a chance every time a new book comes out. I prefer a story with non-stop action and a lot of movement. Characters that move in and out of the story but don't take over the whole story. I like "plot-driven" stories. A Regency Romance is pretty much a "character-driven" novel where the entire story centers around the lives of the different characters. With Julie Klassen introduction to her first series, The Innkeeper at Ivy Hill, Klassen focuses on the lives of three different women and the historical period at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

Klassen is a master at bringing the world of the Regency era to come to life. With her descriptive words, I feel like I am sitting in the Bell Inn in Ivy Hill, England. I see the stables, the Inn, and the characters that roam around the property. Klassen does a good job with her writing. It is concise and moves around between each character's perspective.

Speaking of characters, Klassen has created the story with three different point of views: Jane Bell, Thora Bell, and Rachel. Jane is the Innkeeper at Ivy Hill, which she inherits with the passing of her late husband, John. When Jane married John, her job was to look pretty and be a woman of society. But unfortunately, after he died, she had to step up and take care of the Inn. It takes over a year for Jane to fulfill the role that has fallen onto her. At first, I really didn't like Jane because she was being walked on, but then she stepped up and saw her Inn as something to save. I began to like Jane. Next, Thora, the matriarch of the Bell family appears with the idea of taking control of the Inn, but instead, she watches as he daughter-in-law grows into a leader. Finally, Rachel learns the hard truth of what Jane had gone through by going through the same path of losing her family home and being humbled into a normal working woman. I really don't understand what Rachel had to do with the story.

The plot was slow-moving. I know this is what the genre asks for. A character-driven story with little to no interaction that puts Jane or Thora's life at stake. It is a story that centers on the daily life of the characters. Fans of Klassen, Jane Austen, or Sarah Ladd's work will enjoy this novel and probably eat it up. But for me, it was pretty long and not enough action to satisfy me. Whereas the plot moved slower than I enjoy, Klassen's research into the postal system and how to run an inn intertwine well with the story. I really liked learning some part of history when I read a story, and Klassen does a great job at doing just that.

The Innkeeper at Ivy Hill is not an original story with a predictable ending. The spiritual elements are not mentioned that often. I honestly can't remember where God is mentioned in the text. Maybe it got lost in all the stories of Jane and Thora's life.

In conclusion, The Innkeeper at Ivy Hill by Julie Klassen features three different heroines who work to overcome the conventions of woman in the early nineteenth century. While the story is lengthy, I had a hard time staying focused. I couldn't wait for the novel to be done. BUT . . . this novel is exactly a perfect fit for the Regency genre where the characters rule the action.

I received a complimentary copy of The Innkeeper at Ivy Hill from Bethany House Publishers and the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars