Noela Reviews A BEAUTY SO RARE by Tamera Alexander

A Beauty So Rare

A Beauty So Rare
by Tamera Alexander
Bethany House Publishers (March 24, 2014)

Reviewed by Noela Nancarrow
~5 Stars~ *****

A Rare Beauty!

To read Tamera Alexander’s novel ‘A Beauty So Rare’ is to step back into the pages of history to visit the luxurious Belmont Mansion in Nashville, Tennessee during the year of 1868... just a few years after the brutal civil war had officially ceased. The dreadful war images almost fade away as you take in the grandeur of the exquisite estate with its expansive lavish gardens and magnificent palatial home. It is there we meet the lady of Belmont Mansion, the beautiful although demanding and intimidating Adelicia Cheathum, known by many as the richest woman in America.

Eleanor Braddock, niece of Adelicia, is financially devastated due to the failing health of her father. After committing her father to an asylum, she arrives as arranged to her Aunt’s grand estate to stay until she gets back on her feet. Eleanor comes with a pre-determined practical and hardworking plan to support herself and to pay for her father’s care. But Adelicia has plans of her own for her niece. They include an engagement to a wealthy suitor and a more leisurely high society lifestyle in keeping with Adelicia’s social circles. Personality and ideals clash, because Eleanor is unable to shake the images of Nashville's destitute war widows whilst living in such luxury. But when Eleanor finds her own plans falling into pieces, she begins to seriously consider the wealthy acquaintance of her aunt.

Archduke Marcus Gottfriend aka Marcus Geoffrey, second in line to the throne in Austria, has come to Nashville anonymously to spend time living his life catering to his interests for a change, while also longing to leave his mark in America with his combined passions of nature and architecture. But he has responsibilities to his fiancé, family, and country, and knows he will soon have to return. Working in the enormous glass-walled conservatory in the Belmont grounds, he meets Eleanor and discovers her to be a breath of fresh air, a woman without pretences, and with a generous heart like none other. With all that binds them, they know the growing affection between them cannot be allowed to bloom. Will love find a way in the impossible? I loved seeing Proverbs 16:9 being played out… ‘A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.”

There was so much to love about this book: The fascinating history and impeccable research that has gone into this story; the multi-layered characters that invoke in you an intense longing for; and the smiles and chuckles the clever dialogue prompts to name just a few. Spiritually, I departed with the reminder of how intimately God cares for each of us, and that He will guide us to a better place than imagined when our trust is placed in Him. Tamera Alexander is an outstanding storyteller and has created a rare beauty with an excellence that should definitely be savoured!

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This book may be purchased through Amazon, CBD, BAM, or your local bookstore.

GIVEAWAYS: This week we are giving away a paperback and e-book copy of A Beauty So Rare, a Starbucks $10 Card, a pink surprise giveaway, AND Tamera is offering a signed copy, too!!

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