Review: A Passion Most Pure (Daughters of Boston #1) by Julie Lessman

Print Length: 481 pages

Publisher: Revell (January 1, 2008)

From Goodreads.com: She's found the love of her life.

Unfortunately, he loves her sister.

As World War I rages across the Atlantic in 1916, a smaller war is brewing in Boston. Faith O'Connor finds herself drawn to an Irish rogue who is anything but right for her. Collin McGuire is brash, cocky, and from the wrong side of the tracks, not to mention forbidden by her father. And then there's the small matter that he is secretly courting her younger sister. But when Collin's affections shift, it threatens to tear her proper Boston family apart.

Book 1 of the Daughters of Boston series, A Passion Most Pure will carry your heart from the sophisticated streets of Boston to the green hills of Ireland as men go off to war and women long for their return. Full of passion, romance, rivalry, and betrayal, it will captivate you from the first page.

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 My Rating: 2 stars out of 5

This was a free offering on Amazon that instantly drew my attention. The cover caught my eye, the synopsis grabbed my interest, and when I was hooked after the first page, I believed that I had found the makings of a 5 star novel.

Unfortunately that was diminished as I read on. 

What I did not know when I first began reading was that this novel is considered a "Christian" novel, and while those do not bother me (I have in fact read my fair share of 5 stars), this one came across much too hypocritical and, for lack of a better word, "bible thumping". To begin with Faith has harbored a secret affection for Collin for much of her life, so she is understandably upset when she finds him kissing her younger sister. The pair have words, and she allows him to kiss her. Then unintentionally rats her sister out to their parents getting her in trouble. The story moves on, Faith delves deeper into her faith, praying every day for the Lord to help heal her hurt from her affections for Collin. Then Collin becomes engaged to her sister, and she faints, giving away her feelings for him. 

Time goes on, Faith's parents send her on "errands" or "out with friends" hoping that time will heal her heart. And it seems to work... until Collin shows up at the house one night drunk, and Faith allows him to kiss her repeatedly, and passionately, until her sister catches them at it. 

That was a lot of the plot summed up right there. This sinful rogue being passed back and forth between two "Christian" sisters. One who uses her "feminine charms" to tempt him again and again, and the other who berates him for his "lust" and tries to turn him to God moments before (or sometimes after) allowing him to plunder her mouth and neck. This to me, does not set a good example for a Christian novel. 

Interwoven throughout the entire story are random bible passages, which instead of coming across as "comforting" or "teaching" for the characters, it seemed more a point for the reader, to turn someone's opinion on religion, or to entice them to read more Christian romances if this was their first. 

The characters were .... alright at best. Most were true to form and age appropriate (if not always what I would consider "godly"), however Charity is a vile little wench who deliberately sabotages Faith's happiness, and who is often downright mean to her sister above and beyond what one would consider "normal" for siblings. In fact, even if I had loved this novel, I would not want to read  the next novel in this series as it centers not only on Charity, but on her feelings for Mitch - the "considered too old for her sister" man that she met while the family was living in Ireland. 

Overall, I'm sure there are people who will thoroughly enjoy this novel, but I am not one of them. 

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 A Passion Most Pure (Daughters of Boston #1)  is available from Amazon.com