A Mother for His Family (2018)

A Mother for His Family (2018) is a fantastic Regency-era novel by Susanne Dietze. This novel is set to be released on January 2, 2018 through Harlequin Books. This novel will come in all forms including eBook, and is roughly 250 pages in length. With a full-time job and a very busy five-year old, this novel took me two days to devour! I received a free copy of this book from Susanne Dietze. In no way has this influenced my opinion of the story. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. I give this novel 5+++ STARS. This story is a Regency-era Christian Romance.

Disclaimer: There is a rape scene referred to in this story. It is a pivotal moment in the main character’s life that sets up the motivation for her entering into a marriage of convenience. The author deals with this horrible moment in a very respectful manner.

About the Author

Susanne Dietze began writing love stories in high school, casting her friends in the starring roles. Today, she’s the author of several historical romances who’s seen her work on the ECPA and Publisher’s Weekly Bestseller Lists for Inspirational Fiction. Married to a pastor and the mom of two, Susanne lives in California and loves fancy-schmancy tea parties, the beach, and curling up on the couch with a costume drama and a plate of nachos. You can visit her on her website, www.susannedietze.com.

My Thoughts

This is the very first novel that I have read by Susanne Dietze, but it absolutely will not be the last. This story is so well written and gives the reader everything he or she is looking for in a Regency novel. There is a damaged hero and heroine who, for various reasons, have shut down their hearts and enter into a “convenient” marriage. There is blackmail, betrayal, and a very evil villain. There are innocent plots to foil the bad guy and save the day. There are beautiful moments where the main characters realize they need to trust in God’s plan, and reassurances that God loves us as we are — bumps and bruises included. And, there is a fantastic love story complete with a couple of swoon-worthy moments.

I love Helena Stanhope, the heroine of this story, so much. I found myself relating to her on so many levels! Helena has been viciously, evilly hurt at the start of this story. Her emotional well being is shattered. She believes a marriage of convenience in Scotland, miles and miles away from London and the evil done to her there, is the best solution to her problem. Helena feels so broken and used and unlovable. I felt so badly for her. To Helena, the concept of a loving, caring, protecting, personal God is a foreign idea to her. Her family raised her to care about what society dictates rather than what God wants. I loved watching Helena grow in her relationship with God over the course of this novel. In fact, this may be the best part of the book for me. Helena, in the safety of her new home, begins to read God’s Word. Slowly, and with the help of her new husband, Helena realizes that God does love her exactly as she is. Moments would start to get Helena down and all her feelings of doubt, insecurity, and impurity would threaten to overtake her, but she would remind herself that God is always with her and loves her and has a perfect plan for her. I loved the constant reminders Helena would give herself. She would stop her negative thoughts right in their tracks and say, “No! I am not alone. God is with me.” Or, she would remind herself that her worth comes from God, not what her parents or society say. I was SO encouraged by this that I’ve found myself changing the mental thoughts in my head the last couple of days, too! Instead of my anxious, negative thoughts, I’ve changed the ticker tape feed in my head to, “I can do anything with God by my side!”

The hero in this novel, Lord John, is a pretty wonderful leading man. If there is one word to describe him, I would say that word is “honorable.” He is a genuinely good man. It was refreshing to read his character. He always wants to do right by God, by his new wife, by his family, by his friends, and by his country. He, too, constantly reminds himself to trust in God’s plan, to pray, and to seek God’s will. At the start of this story, John has been widowed for the past three years and he needs a wife to properly take care of his four children. Love for himself is not in his plan. He merely needs a good woman who will love and care for his children as a mother should. He gets that out of Helena, and then some! Watching John morph from a rigid, tedious rule-follower into a more relaxed, loving husband and father was a lot of fun. Sometimes I would shake my head and chuckle because his stringent ways of doing things seemed like so much extra work!

I cannot stress enough how good a story this book is. I laughed, I teared up a little, I cheered, I raged…it was great! I was engaged from page one, and was really sad when it ended. Ms. Dietze is a tremendously gifted writer, and I am honored to be able to review this book. I hope God blesses us readers with many, many more stories by Ms. Dietze in the future! If you are looking for an excellent Regency-era novel to add to your TBR list, I cannot recommend this book enough. When it comes out in January, run to the store to buy this book! You will not be disappointed that you did.