A Love Surrendered (Winds of Change)

Just finished this book and I was disappointed. I sometimes come back to a book if I don't think it lived up to its overall rating so I can give my own review and try to balance the ratings. While I don't feel as strongly as Carol felt (boy did she set off a firestorm!), I do agree w/ some of her thoughts. As I reflected on the book when I finished, I kept thinking, "these men almost seemed bipolar or something." They go from one extreme to another, and are therefore sometimes hard to like. I do think Patrick seems especially bad. I did not care for him in Kate and Luke's book either. I listed a review on that book as well, which is how I can remember. He seemed completely lacking in mercy and grace a lot of times when dealing w/ his family. I thought he was horrible at times to Gabe, their foster daughter. I also felt frustrated that almost every woman in this book seems to have to lie or try to manipulate her husband to get what she wants because of her fear of his reaction. I can not imagine not being able to go to my husband and openly talk about the desires of my heart. Yes, we argue on occasions, but I never feel I have to manipulate him or lie to get my way. I realize that maybe it was just the times. If so, I'm glad I live now! Maybe my husband has me completely fooled, but we also don't keep big secrets from each other which seems to be the norm for this whole group. Maybe an outfit that I shouldn't have bought, but really, a four or five month pregnancy, adoption papers where you forged your husband's signature, secret tutoring w/ an ex-fiancé for months, miscarriages, dating your sister's ex-boyfriend w/o telling her, dating your sister's ex-boyfriend w/o telling him who you are, constantly working late w/ a good looking single woman that on some level you are attracted to, and if I recall in one of the other books, Collin even kept his illegitimate son a secret from Faith after he hired the child's mother, an ex-girlfriend, and only told when he had to. These are all huge secrets/deceptions for so-called Christians to be keeping from the people they supposedly "love". I do think these are bad examples of Christian marriages. In general, the whole family was just annoying in this book for some reason. I also hated that we had to have another love triangle that involved two sisters like the first book about Faith, Charity, & Collin. Maybe this happens in life more than I realize, I don't know! In this case, I know I would not want to spend my life married to a man who had been sexually intimate w/ my sister for what seemed like years!!!!! Would make for some very awkward holidays! Honestly, in the end, I didn't even like Steven for Annie. This is a guy who describes himself over and over as not being able to get enough of Annie's sister, Maggie, and a lot of that was about sex. And spoiler alert, when Steven finally decides that Annie is the one for him, and Maggie shows back up, he ends up making out w/ her in the car briefly before he comes to his senses. I decided Steven was not a husband I would want for myself. So I had a hard time wanting him for Annie! My thoughts are layoff Carol all of you who have blasted her in your comments. I don't think she was that far off the mark in how these couples interacted! The one thing Mrs Lessman has going for her is that at least her characters don't seem too good to be true like some Christian authors!!! That's for sure!!! However, i think Ms Lessman's books are way too frustrating for me!

I can not believe I read this book!!! A Passion Most Pure was alright. A Passion Redeemed was a great improvement over A Passion Most Pure. And then, there is this book. I was very disturbed that the whole thing never resolved in a true and real Christ-like manner. The men are all abusers. None of the couples in this book really trust each other. They are worried sick about cheating spouses, rejection, God not really having them with the people they are suppose to be with, having children, not having children, and the possibilities of their spouse or significant other leaving them for someone or something else! The Mother of most of the "clan" has a really rocky icky marriage. Her situation was heartbreaking. Because of that it is not shocking that her children have followed in this pattern. However, it is really sad and super depressing to read! I kept waiting for it to turn around. It never did turn around, it just got worse and worse.
Most of the boys in this book do not want to, and thus do not, use self control in several areas, particularly in the "going all the way" area. Then they throw it all onto the woman to keep them in line. How horribly horribly wrong! These are men with out honor. This is NOT Christ-like men we are reading about here, but instead self-centered boys who have no idea how to be good husbands or follow God with all their hearts. No wonder everyone in this book is suffering in some form or another. Lust is running a muck but they never seem to figure out what REAL love and REAL attraction would be like.
There was plenty of praying, but with out the folks praying knowing who or what they were in Christ. The females in particular were having to pray for God to grant them favor with their husbands. They were walking on egg-shells constantly and utilizing every tool possible to be unafraid enough to approach their husband with what is on their heart. I really thought one of the husbands was going to haul off and physically beat his wife, instead he just manipulated her into "submitting", crushing her spirit using his "husband" status to do so. Please hear me --- this is NOT how a marriage is suppose to work and I am speaking with a deeper knowledge than I ever thought I would have!!!
All the women in this book but one are living in Domestic Abuse! They don't know it, they just hurt, bleed and suffer because of it. I was just so horribly sad and heart broken to actually read a book that portrayed this kind of life as "normal" or even "Godly". Males in this book use their male privilege as their supposed God given right to be abusive to their family and wives or fiances. Some of them use God as a way to manipulate their wives and true Christ like love is just horribly absent.
The long twisted verse where wives are to submit - only the first half got used again, and I will add in that it is suppose to be a team - a mutual submitting and agreement to God and to each other. It is not just the wife bowing down to appease the husband and praying it works out right! If boys, or men, expect to have a marriage that is Christ like, then the rest of the verse is vital. Ephesians 5:25 "Husbands LOVE YOUR WIVES like Christ loves the church, so much so that he DIED for her." This is a daily death to self, a daily choice to listen to her heart, to treat her like the Bride of Christ, to honor her, cherish her, and become like Christ in order to show the world that this is a different kind of life...on that is Christ filled.
I would have expected this, or been braced for this from a secular novel. From a Christian novel, I did NOT expect for these people to never get their lives right. To never have their hearts change and find out how to have a real Christ like marriage or relationships. The ending was un-redeeming as well. This is NOT the kind of book our friends, daughters or wives need to read. It was depressing. I felt like I had wasted my time, and the only thing I can think of is that maybe by my reading this and telling about it on my blog that I can keep someone else from reading it, where there would be a risk of damage to lives already in the balance and in the grips of Domestic Abuse. *If* Mrs. Lessman's husband is really like the oldest husband in this book, then she needs a great deal of prayer and help - so add her and her marriage to your prayer list!

UPDATE: I want to make something very clear because I am learning how many people do NOT know this. Domestic Abuse does not necessarily mean physical violence. There are those among us who have been abused, yet never been physically hit, struck, or attacked. I know this first hand. I am unable to recommend this book to any woman who has been dealing with Domestic Abuse or Physical Violence. If you are in a relationship where you are suffering as is shown in this book please know you can get out. You can get help, and this is not the kind of life God has in mind for you.I will give you some of what is involved in this and shown in this book. There is much more to domestic abuse than just this in my review. I am covering what is shown in this book, but there is enough to upset me and others. These things listed below are patterns of manipulation and control to get your way, it is abuse, and it is ungodly.
Flying into a rage because you didn't get your way. That is abuse.
Making others cringe at the sound of your voice because you will get your way or else.. that is abuse.
Having no say Having no say-so in your "marriage" is abuse.
Having to coercer others to make your spouse happy so you can deal with issues - is because of abuse. You fear the reaction on his part so badly that you will do what it takes to make him or her happy.
Being forced to give up the deep desires of your heart because of your spouse's opposition, this is abuse.
Being emotionally yanked around, with ups and downs, and then having to have sex with your spouse because they demand it - this is abuse.
Verbal threats are abuse.
The Biblical pattern of a marriage is one where you can share your heart with your spouse, and he (or she) doesn't blow up. You are partners - equal with like minded goals, in a safe and loving environment free of manipulation and control. It is not one where one spouse rules and lords over the other spouse. This review needs to be here for each and every heart-broken woman who has dealt with these areas and more. Right now I have one friend who has escaped after 10 years in this kind of abuse. I have 5 more that are all close personal friends who are in marriages or relationships with this kind of treatment occurring weekly. I do not wish to cause them any farther pain. Sadly, this book would do that. My quarrel is not with the Author. It is with the way this lifestyle was portrayed as Godly when it is not Christian nor Godly. The time period is irrelevant. Jesus did not manipulate and control people and then condone those actions as like the Father's.

Wowza, what a completion to the series!! Actually, I should say both series, to be exact. :-o The Daughters of Boston series and Winds of Change series both follow the O'Connor crew through countless years of their lives and half a dozen marriages :-) It's hard to believe that there won't be any other books on this awesome family--after 6 books, a bookworm like myself can't help but grow attached to them!

For the final book in the Winds of Change series, it focused on Steven O'Connor and Annie, the younger sister of Steven's former girlfriend. While this book tells their story (and a very sweet story at that!), in typical Julie Lessman style, there are several side stories interwoven into A Love Surrendered that visits just about each of the O'Connor siblings. From Emma's struggle to give Sean children, to Katie and Luke butting heads over who they should and should not hang out with. I really loved getting to take a peek inside each of their marriages--it even made me want to go back and reread their books! Especially Sean and Emma's--their story had to be my favorite...though after reading A Love Surrendered, Sean and Emma just might have to share the "favorite" spot with Steven and Annie!

As in all of Lessman's books, there are several "bedroom scenes" in A Love Surrendered. None are overtly explicit, but all are still very intimate and, in my opinion, for a mature reader's eye only. Lessman knows how to heat up the pages, that's for sure, and older readers will no doubt enjoy the tender love scenes, but I wouldn't recommend this book to younger, teen readers.

There was one point in A Love Surrendered (about 2/3 of the way through) that I wasn't sure how Lessman was going to keep the story going. I mean, it seemed as if everything was going perfectly and everyone would get their happily ever after. Well, I should have known better, since this book is written by Julie Lessman--THE Drama Queen! ;-) It wasn't two chapters later that something big happened and threw a huge curveball into the plot. I couldn't put the book down after that. Awesome, awesome job, Lessman!!

I don't think there's anything more I can say about A Love Surrendered except that it was a wonderful read with some realistic, endearing characters. I did get a little tired of all the ladies in this family that seem to have a thing for hiding things from their husbands...but then it creates all the drama, so what can I say? Haha! But, really, if you at all love drama, the stubborn Irish, and a love story that will get your blood pumping...check out Julie Lessman's A Love Surrendered today!!

I reviewed this book for Revell. It was not required that I give a positive review, but solely to express my own thoughts and opinions of this book, which I have done.

Steven O' Connor has long been one of my favorites of the six O' Connor children and when I heard there would be a book about him, I couldn't wait to read it! Once I began the novel, I couldn't put it down. I don't lose sleep over many novels, but I stayed up until midnight to finish this one! Julie Lessman delivers a breathtaking story of loves surrendered and trusts regained that kept me turning pages! I finished the story with a sigh of both delight and sadness, as the O' Connors have long been like family. Thankfully, I can read their stories over and over again!

I can't recommend this book highly enough!!!!

A Love Surrendered was a wonderful novel full of everything I've come to love and expect from a Julie Lessman novel! I have to say that my favorite scenes in the book were the ones that had Charity in them. She is by far my favorite female character and I hate that this may be the last time I will read about her.

There were some very surprising twists in this story. As soon as I was sure that something was going to go one way, a twist would come along and completely change my opinion. Let me know tell you, this made the book a real page-turner!

The ending was terrific! It was everything an ending should be and so much more - an absolutely wonderful conclusion to this beloved series.

My only complaints with the book are:

1) It was SO much shorter than all the other books about the O'Connor family. All the other ones are closer to 500 pages, while this one is barely 400! I heard after I finished the book that several scenes were cut. One of them was a scene between Lizzie and her husband, and I really missed them being in here - by themselves, that is. I remember while reading thinking "where is their scene", because usually there are separate scenes with all the married couples. Even though I missed not having a scene with each of them, the book is still fantastic. I don't understand why the publisher had to cut down the length of the book, especially when I see books out there that are much longer than this one.

2) I like the covers for all the books in the Winds of Change series, but I would have LOVED them had they been more like the ones in the Daughters of Boston series. Those have a picture of both leads, not just the woman, and with the last two books in this series being about the O'Connor sons, I hated that I didn't have a visual of them.

However, these two points are just me being picky and they really had very little impact on my enjoyment of the book. Just thought I'd mention them for those who love this family as much as I do :D

If you have read all the other books in the O'Connor family saga, I definitely think you should read A Love Surrendered - though I doubt you needed my recommendation! If you've never read one of Julie Lessman's books be sure to read them in order - I can't stress this enough! Her books are a continual story and if you were to read this one first you would know ALL the major points of the other books and that would greatly spoil your enjoyment of them! I have reread some of them and still love them, but there is nothing like the first time when you don't know what is going to happen. Also, if you read them out of order you wouldn't get the full impact of some of the scenes with Steven's siblings - which are some of my favorite ones!

***I received a complimentary copy of this book to review. I was asked to give my honest opinion of the book - which I have done.***

Annie Kennedy is ready to grow up. Just about to turn eighteen, Annie gives herself a new name and a new beginning. But her new friends at Ocean Pier may be a little more than she is ready for. During a time of prohibition, they play to fast and free for Annie's conscience. It doesn't help that she is quickly falling for Steven O'Conner who is insistant on protecting her innocence, yet runs with the same mischievous crowd. To top it all off, if Steven ever finds out the truth about who she really is, it could break her heart, and his!

I can't really decide what I think about this book. While it's theme about staying pure and obeying God in physical relationships is admirable, it is pretty graphic in describing the struggles the characters go through. I'm not sure I would want my daughter to read it before she was married. I also have such a hard time with the relationship between a barely turned eighteen year old and an older man, even though that was totally normal back then. Still, I like the O' Conner family and their human-ness. I especially loved seeing how things turned out for some of the characters from the other books in the series.

Thank you to Revell Publishers for a free copy of this book to review.

Normally I like to read series in order, but unfortunately I wasn't able to with A Love Surrendered. Even though I haven't read the first two books in the Winds of Change series (A Hope Undaunted and A Heart Revealed), I was still able to follow along pretty well (probably because I knew most of the characters from the Daughter's of Boston series). Although I now know who ended up with whom from the previous two books, so I recommend reading this series in order.

I didn't know much about Steven O'Connor before reading A Love Surrendered, so it was great to read his story and find out more about his life. Of course I also loved getting updates about the rest of the O'Connor family and, let me just say, Charity made me laugh so much during this book!! She is definitely still one of my favorite characters!

A Love Surrendered kept me entertained throughout and more than once on the edge of my seat - a few times I just didn't know what was going to happen! There were a lot of twists in this book (a few I saw coming) and it was just overall a great read! I'm hoping for future books with the O'Connors! ;)

Same as with the previous Julie Lessman books I've read, I only recommend this book for mature readers because there is a lot of "passion" in it. So, if you enjoy historical books with romance, than I think you might like A Love Surrendered (I know I did!). I do, however, think you might want to read the Daughter's of Boston series first, because it's connected to the Winds of Change series.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book for my review. I was not required to give a positive review, only my honest opinion - which I've done. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.*

"Available October 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group."

In A Love Surrendered, a tale of unrequited love, regrets, forbidden passions, and spiritual awakening, Julie Lessman concludes her two series of the unforgettable O'Connor family.

Annie Kennedy has moved to Boston, Massachusetts, with her little sister Glory, to stay with her aunt after the death of her parents. With the advent of her eighteenth birthday, Annie begins to feel a restlessness, and begins sneaking out at night to hang out with the wrong crowd at Ocean Pier, Boston's hot spot, and meets Steven O'Connor, a prohibition agent.

Steven immediately steps into the role of protector to the lovely and innocent Annie, unaware that she is the younger sister of Maggie Kennedy, a woman he had fallen in love with several years before. Guilt surrounds Steven like a cloak, as he remembers the illicit relationship he had had with Annie's sister, and is determined to protect her innocence from men such as himself.

As Annie finds herself falling in love with and receiving mixed signals from Steven, will she find her way back to the Lord, and be able to maintain her integrity? And what will happen to the budding romance should Steven find out she is Maggie's sister? As someone unexpectedly appears in all of their lives, what secrets erupt that threaten to destroy Steven, Annie's, and even Glory's newfound happiness?...and will he ever be able to surrender his guilt of the past to God?

Julie Lessman has done it again! This was a beautiful tale of family and unconditional love; with heart stirring, raw emotions, twists and turns, and interlaced with the splashes of humor that Ms. Lessman is so well known for. A surprise twist at the end made for a perfect conclusion to this fabulous series, as I tearfully said goodbye to the beloved O'Connor family. With a strong spiritual thread of God's love and redemption throughout, you don't want to miss out on this one-possibly my favorite of all of Julie Lessman's books.

Nicely done, Julie!

I received a copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

A Julie Lessman novel=drama. And this latest tale is no different. This is the last novel in the O'Connor series (at least for a while, if you don't count the prequel coming out in November) and I thought it was a very good conclusion. It may even be one of my favorites in the series. You have Annie who is a small town girl come to the big city with a big secret and you have Steven who struggles with guilt even as he plays with fire. I think I liked Steven's character the most because of all the men in the O'Connor family, there were a couple of scenes in the novel that just made him stand out. Although, there were times when I was like really Steven? You can't read about one O'Connor without reading about the others and so you get some updated info on several siblings' marriages. Spiritually, Annie gets a swift reminder to trust God and I love how much she falls in love with God and is willing to put him first in everything. This is what makes her character unique. Steven has to learn to forgive himself and to give his life to God. Good Book. You must read this series in order to make sense. Highly Recommended!

I like the development of Annie's faith and character. After the death of her father and having to move to Boston to live with an aunt, Annie is at a crossroads with her faith. Aunt Eleanor is not easy to love with her very strict ways and her hard demeanor, so different from her loving father. But, after a few bad decisions and an incident with Stephen, Annie chooses to live her life the way God intended and makes prayer and restraint a part of her life. In doing so, she touches the lives of those around her for good. Aunt Eleanor also has a change of heart and becomes the loving and guiding parent-figure Annie and Glory both need. Stephen, convinced at first that Annie was still just a little girl wanting to play at being a woman, realizes God has changed her heart and it's the real deal. When faced with some very difficult decisions, Annie holds strong to prayer and God's Word, trusting that He would lift her up, and walking the high road.

This is the third book in the Winds of Change series and the sixth book about the O'Connor family but it stands well on it's own. Julie's novels are called Passion with a Purpose with good reason. Though she doesn't go into detail about the intimate relationships of her characters, the author does show what a biblical marriage can look like and the struggles single people have with the feelings and impulses that are intended for marriage.

This book was provided by Revell for review without compensation.