Heart Adrift

'Her fervent prayers went the way of her hopes and became floating wreckage. As the years passed, it hardly seemed to matter.'

Laura Frantz is a very particular favorite of mine and her books occupy serious real estate on my shelves. I love history and her historicals are the absolute best. Her research is impeccable, and she always gives me at least two words to research their meanings. I love it!

Reading one of Frantz's books is like sitting down to a full, rich banquet. You love everything you see and you just can't stop at the bounty before you. Her words flow over the page like water over a waterfall, so beautiful and refreshing. Her vivid descriptions take the reader far away into the story and we leave the world behind as we linger there indefinitely, saddened at the ending of such a treasure. She leaves me so enchanted that I want to meander the roads and forest in her magnificent tales. Reality fades away into the background as I read. Bravo! I can without reservation highly recommend not only this book, but this author.

My thanks to Revell Publishing for a copy of this book via Net Galley. The opinion in this review is expressly my own.

Laura Frantz’s A HEART ADRIFT just released in the midst of winter storms. Though the winds shook our windows and rain battered our roof, I spent the day relaxing into a warm Virginia breeze and Esmée Shaw’s life in colonial, coastal Virginia. And like the kite in the opening scene, I was tugged constantly onward from the first page.

As a single woman in colonial Virginia, Esmée Shaw’s options are limited, and even ten years after her love left her behind for the sea, her heart hasn’t healed and she desperately wants to do something meaningful with her life. Until she figures that out, she takes comfort burying herself in the work of Shaw’s Chocolate shop. But when she hears talk of Captain Henri Lennox’s possible return after years at sea, her heart, mind, and spirit are aflutter.

Frantz’s characters are as clear and real as my next-door neighbors. She gives succinct yet strong hints of their desires, values, etc, such as when Esmée’s father observes, “You were in love once.” Frantz reveals how this seemingly mild observation impacts Esmée: “His low words rolled across the empty shop like a rogue wave, swamping and nearly upending her.”

Frantz creates varied and interesting situations for her characters to display their struggles, feelings, secrets … And while colonial era standards limit choices for women, a rich interior life that Frantz shares with readers provides a wide landscape to learn about them. An example is when a customer specifically asks for Esmée to wait on her rather than “the help.”

“The widow was fond of reminding Esmée she was not among York’s founding families but an outsider, an easterner. Still Esmée tried to be cordial.”

Another example when Esmée and her father discuss the possible war and secret meetings he has with the governor. Esmée questions and probes but cannot find out how Capt. Lennox is involved. “The coach lurched to a stop…. Feeling like a kettle left too long at the fire, Esmée gathered her hat and gloves….Would she ever have answers?”

Esmée Shaw is a noble character with nary a bad word to say about anyone as she straddles the classes in colonial Virginia, This highlights another of Frantz’s skills. I appreciate how she imbues characters from all classes, politics, races with dignity. ‘Tis a rare skill that accurately shows how some characters are looked down upon and treated meanly in a particular era, yet infuses them with the dignity and value they have in God’s eyes. Frantz always accomplishes this subtly, such that it doesn’t even register. It slips between the lines of text like a gentle wave rolling over the sand, barely visible until I stop, look back, and analyze. When you read this story, observe the behavior of girls from the almshouse, a rejected suitor, a “black jack,” and of course those Esmée loves.

Readers can rely on Frantz to create an historic story world that is so accurate and vivid in detail that it comes alive. One thing I especially admire: Frantz excels at creating a plot anchored in the colonial setting that reveals exactly how precarious life in that era was. Readers could easily view dangers through a 21st century veil of risk mitigated by a governmental or cultural safety net, through expectations we have in a constitutional democracy. But life in Colonial times had no such reliable buffers. Frantz displays great skill in showing that her characters live on a razor’s edge.

“Just shy of his sixteenth birthday, he’d been working late in his father’s dockyard when a press-gang overtook him, the certificate of exemption he carried in his pocket of no consequence … the gang pummeled him ,,, tore up his paper, then took him aboard the HMS Victory. Fueled by fury as well as ambition, he’d worked his way up from cabin boy to midshipman to officer till he’d used the Royal Navy to gain his own vessel and his own captaincy.”

Everything about this tale of love lost, love gained, self-sacrifice, faith, and heroism fits together like an intricate jig-saw puzzle. It flows rich and lustrous like the smooth, aromatic chocolate Esmée works on her marble chocolate stone. I highly recommend this to readers who enjoy historical and inspirational romantic fiction.

(Thank you to Baker Publishing Group for a copy of the book. I was not required to write a positive review in return.)

A Heart Adrift, at first glance, seems remarkably like Persuasion: two characters, after a ten-year separation following a broken relationship, meet once again. Henri Lennox is even a captain, much like Wentworth in Austen’s novel. However, it is nothing like Persuasion in depth or content beyond these similarities. The slight tension between the two characters due to their separation is resolved too swiftly, and disruptions to their future happiness that are introduced are almost as swiftly done away with. There is no mystery here about whether or not Esmee and Henri will get back together; it is hardly a mystery about when they will do it. And when they do, finally, declare their renewed (delayed?) feelings, there is still half the book left.

Much more interesting than Henri and Esmee was Eliza, Esmee’s sister, but her character arc was rushed at the end and not very well resolved. I expect that Frantz is simply leaving a sequel open, which is why so many things about Eliza were finished so dissatisfactorily (even her triumphant moment at the end seemed a bit too on-the-nose and cheesy). I also had some qualms about historical accuracy—Eliza, who spends most of the book pregnant, seemed to be doing far too much—there was no “lying-in” or “confinement” period that normally pregnant women would have; however, perhaps that was to illustrate Eliza’s character, and perhaps I am simply mistaken about what that period entailed.

The romance is sappy-sweet and predictable and is resolved too quickly; I wanted the characters to have it just slightly less easy. Instead, I spent most of the second half of the book just waiting for it to finally end, as there was almost no conflict and all the obstacles were for other characters, not for Henri and Esmee. From the description, I was led to believe, and then simply wanted, Persuasion, but instead I got normal conventional tropes and an entirely boring plot.

Disclaimer: Book received by publisher. All opinions are my own.

I've been spending time with Esmée and Henri this week.
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Love lost, love regained. Faith challenged, faith renewed. Dreams forgotten, dreams renewed. Battles of the heart, battles at sea.This story put me through the full range of emotions in such a good way! I fell in love with Esmée. Her heart and character is who I aim to be! She sees the absolute good in people and has a heart of gold and seeks out those forgotten. We have all felt forgotten in life at some time, in some way....how good it feels to have someone come along even when we aren't at our best yet they say I see the best in you! I loved seeing Eliza's character develop as well! She was a character that grew on me more and more as the story unfolded. By the end of the book I wanted her to have her own story! And oh Henri! Who doesn't want a Henri!? Read the book and you will see!
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I love how Laura's books challenge me to be better, do better, and lean just a little harder into Jesus! She is a master storyteller in my eyes!

I’ve been thinking so hard how to describe how much I truly enjoyed this story. It was one I couldn’t put down but also wanted to read slow and savor it as I enjoyed the journey. Sometimes I would close it after a chapter and just take a deep breath then immediately open it to read another. Warning you will want some chocolate and hot cocoa on hand when you start this wonderful book. I love the lighthouse part of the story as I fell in love with lighthouses last year reading Jody Hedlunds Beacon of Hope Series. The strong reminder that God is steadfast and in control is throughout this whole story. There is heartache and loss of great sorrow mixed with such joy and happiness as we find our joy and peace in God.

Esmee toyed absently with the lace trim on her sleeve. “I do remember how we met.” Was he recalling finding her shelling on the beach? And later at the supper party? Her lowered gaze caught the slow fisting of his hand where it rested on the sofa, the Jerusalem cross plain.
“Mayhap the end of a matter is more important than the beginning.” The gravity in his voice held her, much like the inked tattoo.

This story was such a beautiful and tender second chance romance set in colonial America. I loved the characters, the dual POV, the setting, and breathtaking way Laura Frantz captured the moments between Henri and Esmée.
It was heartbreaking at times, but oh so good. I loved the way that Esmée and Henri never really stopped loving each other and the moment Esmée rows out to Henri's island was so bold and sweet! An excellent historical romance, I definitely recommend this book and am glad I read it.
I purchased this book from my local bookstore.

Rich and sweet and deep. Like slow-melting chocolate with a spray of sea salt and second chances. A beautiful story! ❤️

Also, I loved the character growth of some of the side characters. Wow! ❤️

What a beautiful story this is! A tender reunion romance set amid the lush historical setting of Colonial Williamsburg and York, with threats of war on the horizon. I loved having a bit older heroine (30-ish)—who isn’t afraid to admit to being slightly plumper than she used to be!—yet still beautiful inside and out, and Esmée’s compassionate heart for others and willingness to stand against the social conventions of her time. Sea captain Henri Lennox is such a dashing hero as well, wiser than he used to be. He holds firm to his principles rather than going with the tide, as seen in his staunch loyalty for his crew and valuing of African sailors as some of his most trusted officers, in a time when the slave trade ran rampant on other ships. As always, I love Laura Frantz’s exquisite weaving of words and hearts while also sensitively touching on deeper issues still relevant today. Throw in 18th century chocolate-making and an island lighthouse cottage, and you’ve an overall enchanting read—bravo!

“How did one let go of the past and risk love again?”

Laura Frantz never fails to deliver an emotional, profound historical tale fortified with unique characters, as her latest novel, “A Heart Adrift,” attests. Colonial life in York, Virginia at the beginning of the French and Indian War proves to be a seminal time period, with many apt parallels to current events. Frantz deftly captures the social climate of the time and how multiple factors contributed to both public sentiment and political strategy, without ever sounding like a textbook. Because it seems that the vast majority of Colonial American fiction is set during or after the Revolutionary War, it is an interesting variation for the colonies to still belong to Britain and to be fighting against the French. This offers a new perspective, as well as insight into how the War for Independence came about.

Unconventional women are a hallmark of Laura Frantz’s fiction, and “A Heart Adrift” features Esmée Shaw, a chocolatier who has resigned herself to a life of spinsterhood after the man she loved walked out of her life a decade ago. A successful businesswoman, she seeks out the less fortunate to offer what she can rather than joining in the high society that her sister Eliza so enjoys, but both prove to be more intrepid than they seem. Eliza, in particular, demonstrates fascinating character development. Captain Henri Lennox, a privateer who may be the colonial government’s greatest asset, is a steadfast character whose role is more traditional, but he and the other main male figures in the story demonstrate the results of the social structure.

With a somber tone throughout much of the narrative, “A Heart Adrift” underscores the fact that no one is shielded from life’s hardships and heartaches, regardless of status. While fiction often provides an escape from the less pleasant aspects of life, there is so much value in works such as this one that address the suffering and those who have been blessed with the gifts to help. The Lord will always show up and put the right people in our lives at the right time. As Esmée reflects, “The only certainty about life was its uncertainty. Only God stayed steadfast. Only the Almighty could walk her through life’s many changes. And when she felt overwhelmed, like now, she simply had to look back to see how faithful God had been, did she not? The heartaches and closed doors of the past had made the present more beloved.” None of the trials that we face today are new. The smallpox outbreak, the glimpses into the inhumanity yet widespread acceptance of the slave trade, and the encroaching war in “A Heart Adrift” all have their direct parallels to today’s headlines. The lighthouse in the novel seems to serve as a beacon for not only Chesapeake Bay and colonial Virginia, but also for contemporary readers who may feel as if their own hearts are adrift. Coming home to the One who loves us, the true Light of the World, is the only way that we can truly live with our hearts firmly anchored amidst life’s storms.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell and was under no obligation to post a review. All opinions are my own.

I wanted to love this book. I really did. The romance was clean, it has great reviews, and the cover's gorgeous.

Maybe I just don't like the time period, though I did learn quite a bit about it from this story.

For me, there just wasn't enough going on. I love suspense. I love action. There didn't seem to be a lot of either going on; it seemed to be mostly romance. Which is fine, if you like that to be the main theme. It just isn't my preference.

Read it, though. Tell me your thoughts. Maybe I'm just not in the right frame of mind for this style of writing right now.