The Gentle Wind's Caress - Anne Brear (book review)

5 Stars!!!!

ABOUT THE BOOK -

Halifax, 1876. On the death of her mother and sister, Isabelle Gibson is left to fend for herself and her brother in a privately-run workhouse. After the matron's son attempts to rape her, Isabelle decides to escape him and a life of drudgery by agreeing to marry a moorland farmer she has never met. But this man, Farrell, is a drunkard and a bully in constant feud with his landlord, Ethan Harrington. When Farrell bungles a robbery and deserts her, Isabelle and Ethan are thrown together as she struggles to save the farm. Both are married and must hide their growing love. But despite the secrecy, Isabelle draws strength from Ethan as faces from the past return to haunt her and a tragedy is set to strike that will change all of their lives forever.  

ABOUT THE AUTHOR -

Anne Brear has been a life-long reader and started writing in 1997 when her children were small. She has a love of history, of grand old English houses and a fascination of what might have happened beyond their walls. Her interests include reading, genealogy, watching movies, spending time with family and eating chocolate - not always in that order!

MY REVIEW -
Loved loved loved this book!!!!! What a powerful strong story this is. I fell in love with this book, I think on the 2nd or 3rd page and I didn't want to stop reading till I got to the end. But I forced myself to go slow and read and enjoy every word. This story almost had a fairytale quality about it, it was fun, sad, exciting, and had you rooting for the woman! Not only is this a great Historical romance - it has such a powerful message to women, about not giving up, staying strong and standing up for themselves!
OH JOY!!! I have a new favorite character! A new favorite heroine! I loved Isabelle "Belle" right from the beginning. I knew she would be a strong character. Now here is a woman that you would want your daughters to model themselves after. She stayed strong even in the darkest of times, in the face of danger. She stood up to others and fought for her and her brother's lives. She endured pain for their future.

"He inclined his head in acknowledgment of her words. 'I just don't want you to be hurt'
"You don't want me to be hurt? She mocked him with a humorless laugh. 'You mean hurt like when you walked out on us? Hurt when Grandfather dies? Hurt when we were forced to enter a private workhouse? When mother stopped eating and died of a broken heart? Hurt when Sally no longer cared enough to fight a common cold and allowed it to weaken her lungs? Is that what you mean?"
"Belle..."
"Don't call me that!' she yelled. "You have no right!" Pain and disappointment ate at her."

Belle reminded me of another favorite character I had - Jenny of "Jenny's Mountain" by Elaine Long - one of my all-time favorite books!
There were so many great qualities about this book - great descriptions, interesting storyline, on the edge of your seat writing, but I think for me what really sold me was the great character development! I really love stories with strong female characters and this certainly had that!

This was the first book by Anne Brear that I have read, infact I have to admit I had never even heard of her. Well I am not stopping here... I will be looking forward to reading more by her. What a wonderful new Author for me.
My only regret is that I do not have a book to giveaway to you all.

Thank you  Knox Robinson Publishing for sending me this wonderful book to review!

You can buy her book from B&N - HERE
and from Amazon - HERE