This is Cheryl St. John's second Harlequin novel, but it is an interesting look into her future, as it contains both a sensual love story (of which she's written several for HQN Historicals) and a story heavy in religion (she has since switched over to writing HQN Love Inspired, the inspirational line). There's probably too much sex for the Christian set to like this, and too much religion for those who dislike heavy doses of God in their romance novels.

I thought it struck an interesting balance, because the religious aspect comes in the form of the Rappite colony, a radical sect that broke away from German Lutheranism, rather similiar, I think, to the way the Swiss-based Mennonites broke away from the Anabaptists. The Rappites were definitely a strange bunch, though, because they believed that any sort of pleasure was sinful, and the purest path to God was through celibacy. The Rappites literally died out because of this belief. Crazy, no??

Our heroine, Lydia, is from the Rappite colony, and she finds herself attracted to a German Lutheran, Jakob, aka an Outsider. She leaves the colony to begin her life with this man, and it is fairly rough going. They are both young and inexperienced (Lydia is outright ignorant in ways that are rather unbelievable), and they don't know how to use their words to sort out their differences. A jealous sister in law, Peine, doesn't help matters: she's in love with Jakob herself and is willing to do anything to drive Lydia away from the homestead so that she can have him for herself.

The story rolls along in a conventional way, but I found the last 1/3 highly irritating. Just because Jakob hadn't said three little words, Lydia immediately believed the worst of him in spite of all actions and deeds to the contrary. I hate this particular trope. I am a firm believer in actions being louder than words, so I have little patience for characters who get hung up on a singular phrase.

The ending was unnecessary, too. No need for drama, especially when its in the form of bloodthirsty melodrama.

These are things that St. John grows out of as her books continue, though, so at least there's hope - but I am unlikely to ever hunt down her debut because of them. ( )