The Sound of Silver BIRTHDAY BLOG TOUR + Review + Giveaway: ALL DA CUTENESS THOUGH

Hey all, it’s Alexa! So you might remember that about six months ago, I did a review for an inspirational historical romance entitled The Sound of Diamonds and kinda sorta admitted that I kinda sorta might be a romantic. 😉 Well, today I am returning to that series, this time to celebrate the second book’s birthday, that of The Sound of Silver. 

(Also, don’t forget to check out the wicked giveaway below. It’s wicked 🙂 )

About The Sound of Silver

The stalwart saint and the redeemed rebel. One fights for faith, the other for honor…

After Dirk rescues Gwyneth from the Iconoclastic Fury, she discovers that faith is sometimes fragile—and hope is not as easy as it may seem. Gwyneth continues her quest to learn more about the love of God preached by Protestants she once distrusted.

Meanwhile, Dirk’s quest is to prevent his sullied name from staining hers. Will his choice to protect her prove the undoing of her first faltering steps toward a Father God?  Once separated, will Dirk and Gwyneth’s searching hearts ever sing the same song?

Plot:

The Sound of Silver starts just before Diamonds ended, and from the very first page, the beauty of it all pulled me right back into their story. The cuteness is strong with this one, lol, and I was already writing my review notes in all caps before I had even finished the first chapter.

It is different than the first installment though: Silver’s not as adventurous and the beginning especially is much slower paced; but still, the characters along with their personal goals and obstacles pulled my little reader’s heart even more so than the faster pace of the first book. There was also more romantic conflict in this one, but I was able to understand the reasons behind it; plus there were other issues and other problems coming in to play, helping to keep the plot going apart from and along with the romance. Altogether, the storylines worked in tandem to bring about a lovely and inspirational tale. I was truly enchanted by it, romance and all.

Plot: 4 stars out of 5.

Characters:

OKAY SO THESE TWO THOUGH. THESE. TWO.

I promise I am going to do this semi-coherently.

Ahem.

Gwyn really grew a lot in this one. She has so many problems—literally all of her family is dead, she’s homeless in a world where women inherit nothing, her boyfriend done left because he thinks he’s protecting her, plus some of her friends aren’t pleased with her conversion to protestantism and they’re not afraid to make their displeasure known—so rightfully, she has all the angst. But still, she, one, got up everyday, two, clung to her baby belief in God, and three, fought to fix Dirk’s reputation. He left her, but she kept fighting for him, striving to ensure that, even if she never saw him again, through her efforts, he would be able to live well and live free.

That’s some kind of love right there.

On the Dirk side, he changes a lot more in this book than he did in Diamonds. He wasn’t perfect by any means, but he was a lot more… set in the first installment. It just wasn’t his time to grow the way it was in this book. He makes some poor decisions with the best of intentions, and he too comes to a breaking point where he has to redefine what he believes about love and God and God’s will. And then he has to act on the beliefs and figure out how to fix his mistakes, both recent and far past.

Yet through all of these characters’ soul searching, there was not an iota of preachiness. The Sound of Silver is raw, straightforward honesty, simply these two characters baring their souls as they wrestle with the issues of their hearts and their circumstances. I shipped them, I yelled at them, I was inspired by them. I rooted for them to find the truth and felt for their journey until they did.

Characters: 5 stars out of 5.

Writing Style/Setting:

Ah, she does it again. 😀 I remember my favorite thing about the last book was the writing, and because of how much I loved the characters in this one, they might’ve bumped it to second, lol, but the writing is definitely as softly spectacular as ever. It’s gorgeous, every scene perfectly and precisely painted. The period language cements you in the story, the beautiful scenery wows your mind’s eye, and the characters’ emotions will touch your soul.

Writing Style/Setting: 5 stars out of 5.

And so we come in at 4 1/2 stars out of 5. The Sound of Silver is definitely my favorite in this series and is up there as one of my favorite historical romances of all time. If you’d like to check it out for yourself, you can find it on Amazon Paperback, Kindle, Barnes & Noble, and Books a Million.

So read any historicals lately? How about romance? (hint: check this one out if you’re looking for an inspirational. 😉 ) Don’t forget to wish Rachelle’s book a happy birthday in the comments and check out the other spots on the tour!

~ Love, Alexa <3

About the Author of The Steadfast Love series

Times gone by snatch Rachelle Rea Cobb close, so she reads and writes about years long ago–her passions include the Reformation, Revolutions, and romance. Rachelle wrote the Steadfast Love series during college. Five months after she graduated, she signed a three-book deal with her dream publisher, WhiteFire. She’s a homeschool grad, Oreo addict, and plots her novels while driving around her dream car, a pick-up truck. In June 2016, she married a man with the same name as her fictional hero, and they live happily ever after in Small Town, South.

You can find her on her website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Amazon, Goodreads, and on Instagram: @RachelleReaCobb.

GIVEAWAY

Enter using the Rafflecopter form below to win a beautiful necklace created by Baubles, Beads, and Stuff and your choice of any one of Rachelle’s three books.

International friends, the paperback & necklace giveaway is open to continental U.S. addresses only (sorry!). But do still enter, because one international winner will also be chosen to receive an e-book.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Note: I received a free ecopy from the author in exchange for an honest review.