Rating: 
Summary: A Powerful Story!
Review: DOVE'S WAY is a wonderful book! It captured my heart from the first page. I couldn't put it down! I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A beautiful & moving love story
Review: Dove's Way is the story of two very wounded people who find healing in each others arms. If you're in the mood for a moving romance (and a good cry) this book is a great choice. Finnea Winslet grew up wild and free in Africa under the loving guidance of her father. When her dad dies Finnea is left all alone and must travel to Boston to meet the mother who deserted her nineteen years earlier. She is told that a fellow American named Matthew Hawthorne will accompany her safely home while she rides the dangerous African railway. When Finnea first meets Matthew he is rude, threatening and does his best to scare her senseless but fails. Matthew only wanted to be left alone and is amazed that Finnea doesn't flinch when she glances at his facial scar. Finnea sees it as "character" and isn't bothered at all by his blustery attitude. When the train derails Matthew spends a harried night watching over Finnea until help arrives. When Finnea wakes Matthew is gone before she can thank him and she believes she'll never see him again. A few months later Finnea is in Boston trying hard to fit in and learn all of the ridiculously stifling rules that a proper lady must follow when she meets up with Matthew again. He saves her from embarrassment during a dinner party and she decides then and there that he will teach her how to become a proper Boston lady. She does not care that he craves solitude. She is relentless and he soon caves in. What follows is a very satisfying romance between two tortured souls. And I do mean tortured. Both Finnea and Matthew have deep emotional wounds and many trials to overcome before they find their happy ever after. This is an angst filled read but it never became overwhelmingly depressing because of the gentle humor interwoven into the story. This book would have received five stars but I did feel a bit cheated because a pivotal scene that occurred in Africa was not included in the book - only alluded to throughout the story. This was very disappointing in an otherwise perfect book. Or maybe I'm just being greedy!
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful & moving love story
Review: Dove's Way is the story of two very wounded people who find healing in each others arms. If you're in the mood for a moving romance (and a good cry) this book is a great choice. Finnea Winslet grew up wild and free in Africa under the loving guidance of her father. When her dad dies Finnea is left all alone and must travel to Boston to meet the mother who deserted her nineteen years earlier. She is told that a fellow American named Matthew Hawthorne will accompany her safely home while she rides the dangerous African railway. When Finnea first meets Matthew he is rude, threatening and does his best to scare her senseless but fails. Matthew only wanted to be left alone and is amazed that Finnea doesn't flinch when she glances at his facial scar. Finnea sees it as "character" and isn't bothered at all by his blustery attitude. When the train derails Matthew spends a harried night watching over Finnea until help arrives. When Finnea wakes Matthew is gone before she can thank him and she believes she'll never see him again. A few months later Finnea is in Boston trying hard to fit in and learn all of the ridiculously stifling rules that a proper lady must follow when she meets up with Matthew again. He saves her from embarrassment during a dinner party and she decides then and there that he will teach her how to become a proper Boston lady. She does not care that he craves solitude. She is relentless and he soon caves in. What follows is a very satisfying romance between two tortured souls. And I do mean tortured. Both Finnea and Matthew have deep emotional wounds and many trials to overcome before they find their happy ever after. This is an angst filled read but it never became overwhelmingly depressing because of the gentle humor interwoven into the story. This book would have received five stars but I did feel a bit cheated because a pivotal scene that occurred in Africa was not included in the book - only alluded to throughout the story. This was very disappointing in an otherwise perfect book. Or maybe I'm just being greedy!
Rating:
Summary: War and Peace in the Soul
Review: DOVE'S WAY, named after Matthew Hawthorne's Boston home, is a story about the price one pays in order to try to belong, and the soothing and transforming power of love in human relationships. Matthew and Finnea are social misfits for their time, thrown together in a piece of hopeful matchmaking by an African man of power and wisdom, then abruptly torn apart in a moment of unexpected violence. Both are physically and mentally scarred, both have secrets, and both are made for each other - but only Janji, the matchmaker, and Matthew's mother can see it right away. The story begins in Africa as Finnea prepares to return to late-19th century Boston to rejoin her mother and her brother, who long ago left Finnea and her father to the seductive wildness of Africa, for more civilized surroundings. We follow both Finnea and Matthew to proper Boston, where each tries mightily, and fails, to win the acceptance of a parent. The story unfolds as they struggle with how different they are from the rest of Bostonian society, how alike they are to each other, and their unwanted need and love for each other. Finnea manages to hold on to her secrets longer than does Matthew, and only with the unwitting help of their old African matchmaker, does she let go, making room in her life and her heart for Matthew - and his daughter Mary. I liked the way this story was told alternately from the male and female point of view. Scraps of Matthew's journal introduce the major parts of the book, giving a nice glimpse into his mind, but the narrative also gives him equal treatment. His daughter Mary is brilliantly written. This is a sweet, sensual novel, reported to be the first of a trilogy about the Hawthorne brothers of Boston. We see only glimpses of the other two brothers in this story, so there's plenty of unexplored territory to look forward to. This book reads easily, and my only regret is that now I'll have to wait a while until I can revisit the Hawthorne family again. Enjoy it!
Rating:
Summary: A powerful, compelling read
Review: Finnea Winslet was born in Boston, but it's only a faint memories and the stuff of her father's stories, as she's spent most of her life with him in the Congo. When her father passes away, she realizes it's time to go back to Boston and find the mother's love that she's missed all these years. On the train she meets Matthew Hawthorne, who the Africans call The Wild White Man with the Scar. Their meeting eventful but brief. When their paths unexpectedly cross again, it's at a dinner party where Finnea is at a loss for how to act--she knows none of the rules of Boston society, like which cutlery to use, how to greet people, how to eat certain foods, how to sit, how to walk, how to dress... Matthew feels something for Finnea, tho he doesn't know what or why. When she later badgers him to help her learn the how to be a lady he finally gives in--but he wonders if it can even be done and why she would want to change from who she is. DOVE'S WAY is the story of two wounded--both physically and emotionally--people drawn to each other but unwilling to suffer again the pain of loving. As Ms. Lee says in her the short interview at the back of the book (and how I love hearing tidbits like this from an author!) this novel is "part MY FAIR LADY, part OUT OF AFRICA." I did have problems with this book, especially early on. I sometimes had difficulty believing people could be *so* cruel; both Boston society's reaction to Matthew and his scar (tho he was foul-tempered and scowled frequently) and Finnea's family in not trying to help her fit in and learn the manners and mores of Boston. I also would have liked to spend more time in Africa, but I know how publishers are afraid of romances not set in either America or Great Britain. However, DOVE'S WAY is a great choice when one is in the mood for a powerful, darkly compelling read. Kimberly Borrowdale, Under the Covers Book Reviews
Rating:
Summary: Captivating from beginning to end!
Review: From page one to the end, Dove's Way is a wonderful story. The book is captivating with its many triumphs and emotions which draw you in. I couldn't put the book down because I had to know what happened next. This is a MUST read book! You will love it.
Rating:
Summary: AN EXTRAORDINARY BOOK
Review: From the extraordinary first page of DOVE'S WAY to the satisfying last, Linda Francis Lee pulls the reader into a lush world of scandal, Boston society and two unforgetable lovers. This book is richly written and highly sensual. With the use of exemplary descriptions, the opening scene with Finnea in Africa had me transported in time to 1890s Congo. The inverview with Ms. Lee in the back of a book gave me insight into this author's life. A very clever idea on the publisher's part. I've never seen this done before. DOVE'S WAY is going on my keeper shelf, and I can't wait to read SWAN'S GRACE.
Rating:
Summary: I haven't even finished it yet . . .
Review: I am only 1/2 way through and I am completely captivated. It is a wonderful and unique story that is beautifully written. This is L.F. Lee's best so far, but really they have all been excellent.
Rating:
Summary: Lots of strong emotion
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It is dark, moody and uplifting at the same time. The plot has lost of twists and turns, and the characters are all well developed and best of all truly believable.
Rating:
Summary: Lots of strong emotion
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It is dark, moody and uplifting at the same time. The plot has lost of twists and turns, and the characters are all well developed and best of all truly believable.
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