In the case of Undaunted Hope, I almost had to go grab another blanket to battle the harsh Michigan winter. In a matter of words, she immerses her readers in the world of her story – the sights, the sounds, the smells, the sensations. )īesides the characters, one of the things I adore most about Jody Hedlund’s books is her mastery of the setting. And then at other times, I almost had to put myself there. I almost had to put the book in the freezer at one point. But then there was Michael and his kids … and oh my heart.

Tessa’s sass + Alex’s Alex-ness = romance reader heaven.

She’s fierce when she needs to be, tender in the meantime, and as Jamie over at BooksandBeverages said, “she’s been keeping things sassy since 1871, so she’s what we call… MY PEOPLE.” Yes. Ok, so that was four words but one general idea. Tessa was – in a word – all kinds of awesome. Right from chapter one, as a matter of fact, when my romantic heart swooned over something as simple as Alex acting like he was merely fishing when in fact he was aware of everything going on with Tessa in the background. In fact, even before all the flirtatious goodness started, I knew Alex had a solid chance of toppling Carl from his first place ranking. I cannot resist an incorrigible flirt, especially one who is so great with kids. But now … I don’t know, y’all… Alex is giving him some serious competition. Up until I began Undaunted Hope, my favorite romantic hero of Jody’s has been Carl from A Noble Groom. Including her latest release, Undaunted Hope. I know whenever I pick up one of her books that I will be swept away by the writing, the history, the characters, the romance (blissful sigh!!), and the message of faith.

Jody Hedlund is one of those authors who is just consistently GOOD.

Undaunted Hope by Jody Hedlund