title: The Preacher's Bride
author:  Jody Hedlund 
description: Hedlund's debut novel is no light-hearted romp through history. Instead, this double finalist in the 2009 ACFW Genesis Contest for unpublished writers takes on 1650s England during the final days of Cromwell's reign. The Puritans had enjoyed years of freedom, but as Royalists begin to regain power, preachers like John Costin face danger. Costin's wife dies, leaving four children behind, one of them blind and another, newborn. Elizabeth Whitbread, who sees children in need, volunteers to become Costin's housekeeper. She comes to love the children and, eventually, John, yet she is bound by strict Puritan standards and her promise to marry another. Elizabeth faces the threats of a Royalist, the rebukes of powerful Puritans, and the turmoil of her feelings as political events threaten all she holds dear. Hedlund, who based her tale on the life of John Bunyan, writes well of life in Puritan England, though the middle drags and readers will become annoyed with the stubbornness of Costin. Yet this is a fine beginning for a writer we'll hear from again. <BR>(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
zlib_text: Books by Jody Hedlund
  The Preacher’s Bride
  The Doctor’s Lady
  Unending Devotion
  A Noble Groom
  Rebellious Heart
  Captured by Love
  BEACONS OF HOPE
  Out of the Storm: A BEACONS OF HOPE Novella
  Love Unexpected
  Hearts Made Whole
  Undaunted Hope
  ORPHAN TRAIN
  An Awakened Heart: An ORPHAN TRAIN Novella
  With You Always
  Together Forever
  Searching for You
  THE BRIDE SHIPS
  A Reluctant Bride
  The Runaway Bride
  A Bride of Convenience
  COLORADO COWBOYS
  A Cowboy for Keeps
  
  © 2021 by Jody Hedlund
  Published by Bethany House Publishers
  11400 Hampshire Avenue South
  Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
  www.bethanyhouse.com
  Bethany House Publishers is a division of
  Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan
  www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
  Ebook edition created 2021
  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
  means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception