The Element of Love by Mary Connealy

 

Three sisters are on the run. Laura, Jilly, and Michelle are all running away from their step-father. They thought he was a good man before their mother married him, then they found out he was a cruel man. He also planned to marry the girls off to other cruel men. 

In The Element of Love by Mary Connealy, Laura and her sisters leave with an elaborate plan to get away as fast as they can and go as far away as they can. The goal was for each of them to get married and then come back to claim their inheritance in part of the lumber empire their father left them. The Element of Love mainly tells Laura's story. 

I enjoyed the sisters and the adventures throughout The Element of Love. I also enjoyed how they each took so much time to reflect on their next move and also to pray about each step they took. It was a different book than I usually read but I have not read a Marry Connealy book before. This is clearly Christian fiction as the girls connect with a group of missionaries headed out west to join a mission led by a pastor. Pastor Caleb was also enjoyable to get to know. I liked the unconventional education the women all had. It was fun to see them put their education to use and it was fun to see them when they didn't know what to do with some basic tasks that they would have known if they were the servants that they pretended to be. The whole story was a fun read. However, I would mention that there are some parts with violence towards women, which could be triggering to some people. Otherwise it was a good clean story with plenty of spiritual insights throughout the book. I look forward to reading Jilly and Michelle's stories too through the rest of The Lumber Baron's Daughters series.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions within this review are my own.