My Bookshelf: Too Deep for Words by Andrea Boeshaar

Carrie Ann Collier has been a newlywed for nineteen blissful days—as blissful as life can be in the midst of war, that is. Soon that war will take a toll she never expected. When her new husband, Peyton, goes missing during battle, she refuses to believe he is dead, and must find a way to move forward with everyday life in the face of fear.

As Carrie struggles with how to welcome her estranged sister, Margaret, back into her life, another new arrival appears on her doorstep—her husband’s best friend, and rebel officer, Eli. Wounded and bitter, Eli is nonetheless committed to keeping his promise to Peyton: take care of the Collier women, no matter what. But to Carrie, he’s a painful reminder of her lost love.

Then unexpected news makes Carrie wonder if miracles do happen. If Carrie infiltrates the enemy once again, she might find out what really happened to the love of her life. Will Eli be able to keep his promise to keep her safe? Can they forgive each other if promises are broken?

Too Deep for Words is the second book in Andrea Boeshaar’s Shenandoah Valley series, coming after A Thousand Shall Fall. I really enjoyed the first book in this series, so I purchased Too Deep for Words back when it first came out, I’ve just been so far behind on all my reading that I just now got around to reading it. Needless to say, reading needs to be near the top of my summer to-do list. Anyway, this story is the continuation of the story of the Civil War and Carrie Ann Collier’s “part” in it, though this novel focused quite a bit more on her sister Margaret as well, unlike the previous installment. However, I really enjoyed getting to know Margaret’s story, as she had faced even more than Carrie Ann in their old home before Peyton saved her. Besides that, she gave such a different perspective from Carrie Ann, since she had a personality all her own, which added more layers to the story.

One thing I do feel that I need to get out of the way, however, is the couple of not-so-great aspects that I noticed. Now, don’t get me wrong, all in all I really enjoyed this novel. There were just a few things about it that bothered me. For starters—now it’s been a long time since I read A Thousand Shall Fall so I might not be remembering correctly, but I felt like the first novel was considerably well written. Too Deep for Words didn’t seem to be as well done. I could also be feeling like that because I have been fortunate to read so many wonderful novels since I first read A Thousand Shall Fall over two years ago, so it might just be that I have just seen so many more examples of fantastic writing since then. Either way, I felt like the dialogue was a little stiff and forced, which can be hard to keep from happening, I know. And I just felt like there weren’t as many unexpected twists and turns as there were in the last novel. That’s also difficult to continuously do, I know, but I just felt like this story was a little too predictable.

Anyway, enough with the not so nice part of this review. Other than what I just mentioned, I really, really did enjoy this book. I really fell in love with Eli, and with Margaret, and I’m really curious what will happen to finish the two of their stories. For Margaret, I am very unsure where her story will go. It was left very unfinished at the end of this novel—which I am completely sure was intentional, as that makes sense in a series—and I am just not sure at all where Andrea will take her next. For Eli, I am completely curious as to what he will do now that he has had two potential loves in his life not turn out, whether by his own choice or not (no, I will not be any more specific than that because I don’t want to spoil anything, but just believe me when I say it is VERY intriguing and leaves you wondering what will come next).

All in all, I really did enjoy this novel, and I am most certainly looking forward to the next one in the series. Andrea is a very talented author, and I’m excited to see where she takes the Collier sisters and the rest of their companions in the rest of their story. Because of this, and everything else that I’ve stated in my review, I can happily give this novel four out of five bookshelves, and I highly recommend it, though I would definitely suggest reading the first novel in the series first!

Happy reading!

To see where I’m linking up, check out my Where I Party page.

All credit for the italicized synopsis goes to Andrea Boeshaar and Kregel Publications.