When y’all read this post, hopefully I’ll be on my way to TN to go caving… Enjoy your day, friends!

FIRST OFF, SOME STATS:

Find the book on: Amazon and Goodreads
Pages: 368
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Release Date: April 2, 2019
Title: Far Side of the Sea
Fiction

ABOUT THE BOOK

Cara Bernay has never fit in. At loose ends in 1881 London after a near tragedy costs her a job, she befriends a carefree artist. With his help, she begins planning a new life and developing her own artistic talent. But soon Cara finds herself at odds with the artist’s brother–a handsome but arrogant earl forcing his brother back to a “respectable” life.

Henry Burke, the Earl of Morestowe, feels the weight of growing financial burdens. His younger brother is the one person who can save their family, and Henry needs him back home. Despite misgivings about Cara’s mysterious background, Henry sees she’s a positive influence on his brother and on Henry’s young ward, and he strikes a deal with her to return with them to their estate.

But the family has their own secrets, and when Cara, drawn ever closer to Henry, stumbles onto the truth, she must choose between following her heart and pursuing a bold plan that could bring disaster.

WHY I CHOOSE THIS BOOK

It sounded intriguing. I actually vacillated a bit while trying to decide if I was going to download it for review or not, because I figured from the blurb that the romance might be a bigger part of the plot than I generally like. In the end, my intrigue won out and I read it.

WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BOOK

This book was not my cup of tea. I didn’t really dislike it, but I felt rather meh about the whole story. I should have listened to my instincts about it probably not being a story that I’d really like so that I didn’t have to write an unexcited review because the book wasn’t bad, just not for me.

In an effort to be succinct, here’s a list of pros and cons.

Pros:
*The life of an artist was well portrayed. Reading about the painters in the story felt very real and even several weeks after finishing the book I can still imagine them bending over their canvases.
*The main character grew up in one of the orphanages run by George Müller. This wasn’t a huge part of the story, but it was probably my favorite thing about the book, considering I read/heard a ton about Mr. Müller when I was younger.
*The misunderstandings between the brothers was very well written – and despite the fact that the misunderstanding itself bugged me to bits (I mean, come on guys!), it was executed well.

Cons:
*The life of an artist was maybe a little too well portrayed. As in, even though it didn’t go into detail I didn’t like how much it alluded to the fact that their lives weren’t exactly righteous.
*There was too much romance for my tastes, but again I know this is a personal thing, and I don’t think there was wrong romance – it just took over the plot.
*The big misunderstanding going on between the brothers bothered me so much. I won’t go into it for spoiler’s sake, but I’m really glad I don’t have a relationship with any of my siblings like that…

CONCLUSION

I don’t think I’ll read another book by this author, nor would I recommend them, but hey! It might be someone else’s style…

RATING

I’m giving The Artful Match 3 out of 5 stars. Thank you so much Bethany House and NetGalley for letting me review this book.