“Together Forever” ~ Book Review

Jun 25, 2018 by Rachel

Welcome back to Rachel’s Back Talk! I’m so glad you could join me again. Today I am reviewing Jody Hedlund’s newest release, Together Forever, book 2 of her Orphan Train series.

As is my custom, if I could ask Jody one question about Together Forever it would be — “Was it difficult to write about the bond between Marianne and the orphans, knowing that they would be placed with different families?” And if you want to know why I asked that question, I guess you’ll just have to read the book to find out!

And without further ado, onto Rachel’s Back Talk!

                                                                    

From the Back Cover:

Marianne Neumann has one goal in life: to find her lost younger sister, Sophie. When Marianne takes a job as a placing agent with the Children’s Aid Society in 1858 New York, she not only hopes to give children a better life but seeks to discover whether Sophie ended up leaving the city on an orphan train.

Andrew Brady, her fellow agent on her first placing trip, is a former schoolteacher who has an easy way with the children–firm but tender and funny. Underneath his handsome charm, though, seems to linger a grief that won’t go away–and a secret from his past that he keeps hidden. As the two team up placing orphans amid small railroad towns in Illinois, they find themselves growing ever closer . . . until a shocking tragedy threatens to upend all their work and change one of their lives forever.

 

Rachel’s Back Talk: 

5 – award winning covers

                    

Another fabulous book by Jody! One reason that I am always drawn to her books is because of the way she makes history come alive. This story shared about the reality of the orphan train and what it must have been like for orphans living in New York City and their journey west to hopefully find their forever families.

I also loved this book because it continued on with Marianne’s story. The first book in the series, With You Always, (read my review here), left Marianne in a difficult situation. Being an orphan herself, Marianne knows part of what these children are going through, however she is also doing some of her own personal searching while feeling guilty over past mistakes. It was Marianne’s compassion and caring nature that drew me to her character. Towards the end of the book, she also learns how to forgive herself and open herself up to let others in.

And with every great heroine, you need a great hero. Andrew, or Drew, was definitely that. Maybe I’m just partial to the name (LOL) but I really did love his character! Drew had that free-spiritedness about him, yet he could be serious and a reliable leader when the situation called for it. Even though Drew had a way of always taking the blame which tended to get him in to trouble, I loved the way that he always sought to put the ones he loved before himself.

I do not know how I will be able to wait for Sophie’s story — but it’s been such fun to be able to travel with the Neumann sisters in this series. If you haven’t already, I would strongly encourage you to pick up the series as well!

I received a free copy from the author. No review, positive or otherwise, was required — all opinions are my own.