3 out of 4 stars
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Larkin’s Choice by Eliza Broughton follows Larkin Sims. She is a military veteran who owns several gyms and teaches self-defense. She decided to open them because she was raped as a teenager and wanted to help others learn to defend themselves. Her business is thriving, but her love life is a bit of a mess. She keeps having dreams about a man, Peter, she sees during her daily run. In her dreams, he is perfect. Eventually, she works up the nerve to speak to him in real life. He gives her a proposal, which could bring her dreams into reality. All she must do is pretend to be his girlfriend for a few weeks while he vies for a place as the CEO of a family company. Meanwhile, she makes friends with Jason as she helps his mother with a stalker. Jason, a brilliant scientist, is working on a time machine. He promises her that when it works, he will take her back in time to meet her ancestor William Sims, an American abolitionist.
My favorite part of this book was the insight into early United States history. It gave a vivid picture of abolitionists after the American Revolutionary War. It taught me a lot about how they worked to smuggle slaves out of the south. It also described how slave hunters would do anything to bring back runaways, even bringing back the wrong person to get the reward. This was my favorite part of the novel.
There were a decent number of grammatical issues, though. They were mostly missing commas and didn’t negatively impact my reading experience. However, because they were rather frequent, I will have to take away a star from the rating. Besides these issues, there was nothing I disliked about this book.
Ignoring the grammatical issues, this was a well-written novel. The language was precise, and the imagery was on point. I think Broughton spent a great deal of time working with the prose. The flow was natural and compelling. I also think the pacing was excellent. It nicely complemented the building tension throughout the book.
I award this book a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. The only reason I am taking away a star is because of the grammatical issues. I think anyone who enjoys historical fiction would greatly enjoy this book. It gave an interesting view of post-revolution America. It also gave a good look into the abolitionist movement. Since it had a time-travel twist, there was an interesting juxtaposition of modern ideas with those of the time period. If you are interested in American history, this is the book for you.
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Larkin's Choice
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