Book Review: Persuaded by Misty Dawn Pulsipher

Persuaded, by Misty Dawn Pulsipher
2014, 337p, Clean Contemporary Romance
My Rating=4 Stars
Source: Received a copy for an honest review



What's worse than never getting over your first love?
How about watching him fall for someone else...

Hanna Elliot had worn the ring faithfully at first. Some part of her still clung to the hope that all was not lost. As the days turned into weeks, she finally took it off and set it atop her dresser. When weeks gave way to months, the ring finally went back into its box, where it gathered dust until it was moved to Hanna’s unmentionables drawer. For the first few years, she had taken it out on the anniversary of the day she’d received it, allowing herself to wallow in what might have been.

She had been all but stamped out of Derick Wentworth’s mind.
 
Sure, he thought about her occasionally, especially on cloudless nights when he lay on the bow of the Laconia looking up at the stars. But as time went on, Derick began to feel grateful that it hadn’t worked out, for one thing was certain: if he ever did settle down, it would be with someone who knew her own mind. Someone who went after the thing she wanted without hesitation. Someone who would never allow herself to be persuaded otherwise.

Persuaded, a modern adaptation of Jane Austen's Persuasion.

I actually have not read Persuasion by Jane Austen so I'm not sure how this book compares to the original. On its own, I really enjoyed it! Hanna and Derick had been in love ten years earlier. Derick was a sailor who proposed to Hanna and wanted to elope but then suddenly left town without a trace. Hanna was heartbroken but moved on. Derick did, too. Fast forward ten years when they meet up again. They each have unresolved feelings and, to make matters worse, now Derick's falling for someone else.

I liked Hanna from the beginning and wanted her to stand up for herself more. She tends to let everyone walk all over her, especially her sister. There is a turning point for her when she showed how tough she really was and I liked her even more. That's also when the story got even better to me. 

Derick was harder for me to like. I wanted Derick and Hanna to talk way before they finally did. I didn't like that he was all over another girl right in front of Hanna, especially since it was someone Hanna knew. It did cause lots of drama later on, though!

As the story went on and we learned more about Derick and Hanna, Derick grew on me and I liked him much better by the end. There was plenty of drama and some twists and turns which made this book hard for me to put down. I look forward to reading more books by this author in the future!

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Misty Dawn Pulsipher was born and raised in Utah. She attended Snow College where she developed a love for writing. Misty served as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Washington, D.C. area. She and her husband now reside in Maryland with their three children, two dogs, and the colony of squirrels that lives in their back yard. When she's not writing or procrastinating an edit, Misty is reading, baking, sewing, playing the piano, or bribing her family to play Monopoly with her.

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