Book Review Monday: Elusive Hope by MaryLu Tyndall!

Eeeeeeeep!

Guys, I just finished reading Elusive Hope by MaryLu Tyndall. I'm so happy that I got to read it early, but soooo sad it's over already. :(

If you don't know already, Elusive Hope is the sequel to Forsaken Dreams, an equally great book. To know what I thought of Forsaken Dreams, click this link to see my review.


Anyway, on to my review of Elusive Hope.

First of all, here is a little bit about the book, taken from amazon: "Embark on an exotic adventure in Book 2 of the Escape to Paradise series from bestselling author MaryLu Tyndall. In the fledgling colony of New Hope, their friends struggle to create a Southern utopia in Brazil soon after the Civil War. But Hayden is seeking revenge—relentlessly. And Magnolia is seeking a way out—desperately. They both seek to use the other for their own purposes—deceptively. Falling in love was never part of their plans. . . ."

Now, here is what I thought.

It took me about two weeks to read Elusive Hope, and I can assure that it was not because I did not enjoy reading it. No, I wanted it to last as long as I could possibly make it last. Which was still not long enough.

I am pretty sure that Elusive Hope was better than the book before it in the Escape to Destiny trilogy, Forsaken Dreams, if that is even possible. Every single word was masterfully written, and I loved every second of this novel.

Magnolia hates life in the fledgling Southern Utopia in Brazil her family forced her to move to. So, she sets her mind to running away, and going home, back where she hopes her fiance is still waiting for her. It turns out, Hayden, the charming man she regularly refers to as a toad, seems to be her ticket out. She braves the task of a multiple-day journey through the jungles of Brazil with Hayden to get to Rio in order to catch a ship back to the United States.

Trouble is, Hayden doesn't plan on returning her to America. Hayden plans on doing what he, the confidence man, does best--swindle Magnolia out of her money.

The toiling trek to the jungle brings these two unlikely people together in ways they never would have suspected.

On the side, there are reoccurring creepy things happening in this creepy jungle including mysterious black mist, an abandoned cannibal's dwelling, reoccurring visions of people from all the character's pasts, and some dark forces that have been unleashed. Some of the scenes were written so well they actually had me kind of scared, as if I were right there with the characters.

Oh, by the way, there are pirates in this book! So I obviously loved that part. :)

The characters are wonderfully developed. I felt like I knew them personally! And, to top that, I felt Magnolia's pain in trekking through the blisteringly hot jungle in all of her underskirts and hoops and high heels.
I loved how Magnolia's character grew and changed throughout the novel, and I loved Hayden from the beginning and even more by the time I was finished reading.


All together, this is an absolutely lovely piece of writing and I think it has something in it to entertain everyone. I recommend it to all of my friends!


I suggest you pre-order Elusive Hope here.

I hope you found my review helpful! Have you read Forsaken Dreams, or anything else by MaryLu Tyndall?

Have you read anything about the US reconstructing after the Civil War?

Thanks for stopping by!