Recent Reads {Elusive Hope}

Elusive Hope by MaryLu Tyndall - The second book in the "Escape to Paradise" series shifts focus to another potential romance among the colonists introduced in Forsaken Dreams. These folks from the American South hope to establish a new home for themselves in Brazil after the Civil War. Hayden Gale is a con-man who is in Brazil hoping to find his father and take revenge on him, but none of the other colonists know that. Magnolia Scott is spoiled and self-centered, and obsessed with her appearance, and completely under the thumb of her arrogant and controlling father. Like almost all of the other colonists, they have shameful secrets in their past. When Hayden leaves the New Hope colony for Rio de Janeiro, Magnolia impulsively sneaks after him, thinking that she can convince him to take her along to Rio where she can board a ship back to some semblance of her old life in Atlanta. Can either of them trust the other? Will they get past their deceptions and fears and admit their growing feelings for each other?

Meanwhile, back at New Hope, the greedy politician Graves continues his quest for gold and power; and many of the colonists are disturbed by frightening visions from their past. They start to see a possible connection between these visions and the abandoned tribal temple where Graves has been obsessively digging for the gold. By the time Hayden and Magnolia return from their journey to Rio, most of the main characters have admitted to seeing the visions. To make things worse, pirates also show up looking for the gold rumored to be there; and one of the figures from the past shows up in person and stirs up more strife.

Although I didn't find much to like about Magnolia, and indeed I wondered what attracted Hayden to her, I did become much more sympathetic to her character as the story moved along. The themes of inner beauty and forgiveness were interwoven throughout, and both Hayden and Magnolia developed and grew as characters. The introduction of spiritual warfare lends a paranormal twist to the story, one that I found stretched belief in some places. That aspect of the story sets up the anticipated third novel in the series. Once again, Tyndall delivers an enjoyable story filled with action and romance, with believable characters in sometimes unbelievable circumstances.

By the same author: The Ransom, Forsaken Dreams, Veil of Pearls, Surrender the Dawn, Surrender the Night, Surrender the Heart, The Falcon and the Sparrow, Charles Towne Belle Series (The Red Siren, The Blue Enchantress, The Raven Saint), The Legacy of the King's Pirates series (The Redemption, The Reliance, The Restitution)

(Book #25 in the 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge)

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