A Whale Of A Marriage

by Diann Hunt

Since she first heard her father's tales of life aboard a whaling vessel, Adelaide has wanted to experience the adventure herself. But in 1856, respectable woman do no such things - and Adelaide is convinced her dreams will never become reality. Then Captain Josiah Buchanan enters her life. In need of a cook for his whaling ship, Josiah proposes a marriage of convenience with Adelaide. The arrangement works perfectly - until the two begin to realize the consequences of their impulsive action. Can Josiah ever move on from the memory of his late wife? Will Adelaide have to be satisfied with a pretense of marriage when she longs for so much more? Fall in love with this inspiring love story and our entire collection of Christian romance novels from Heartsong Presents!

Genres: Christian, Christian Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction

176 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 2004

About the author

Diann Hunt wrote romantic comedy and humorous women's fiction targeted to Christian women of the Baby Boomer generation. She'd lived in Indiana forever, had been happily married forever, loved her family, chocolate, her friends, her dog, and, well, chocolate. Her book "For Better or For Worse" is being made into a Hallmark movie, with production beginning in November, 2013.

After a four-year battle with ovarian cancer, Diann went home to be with her Lord and Saviour just after Thanksgiving, 2013. She leaves behind a legacy of words of blessing, love for her Lord, her family, her close friends, and fans the world over who have come to know and love her and call her their friend.

Reviews

[Rob Imes · Rating 3 out of 5]

A WHALE OF A MARRIAGE by Diann Hunt was Heartsong Presents #603, a Christian inspirational historical romance novel published in 2004. It's a thin book, the story ending on page 170. The book's heroine is Adelaide Sanborn, a young woman working in a general store in 1856 when the story begins. Adelaide longs to be a seafaring woman, having been inspired by tales of the sea by her late father, but her opportunity to fulfill this dream seems unlikely. One day, however, Josiah Buchanan, captain of a whaling ship, arrives at the store and gives her that opportunity. He needs a cook aboard his ship, and asks Adelaide to take the job, allowing her to go to sea at last. The catch is that Josiah asks her to marry him, so that she will be safe under his protection on board the ship, but it will be a "marriage in name only." Adelaide agrees to the proposal, but gradually she discovers that she has fallen in love with Josiah, and he feels the same way about her, but each one is unwilling to admit this new development, since it was not part of the original bargain. Also on board the ship is Adam, the romantic interest of Adelaide's sister Esther, and Josiah becomes jealous of their conversations, not knowing about Esther. There is a lot of talk about prayer in the book, too, as Adelaide and Josiah learn to trust that God has a plan for their lives together, despite the complications that are thrown into their path.

This was a difficult book to give a rating that reflects how I felt reading it. Although I've never read a Heartsong romance novel before, I enjoyed this one about as much or more than I would expect to enjoy any other Heartsong novel. So, for a Heartsong, it would be a 5-star book for me. However, in the grand scheme of things, I think it would rate as a 3.5 star book -- one that occasionally reaches 4 stars in certain places. I certainly enjoyed reading the book, for the most part, and thought it was well-written. One thing that I didn't like was how the lack of communication between Adelaide and Josiah for much of the novel led to so many misunderstandings. At one point, when Josiah overhears Adam talking about Esther, he assumes that Adam is admitting his love for Adelaide (instead of Esther). I was reminded of how the TV sitcom Three's Company used to have such scenes to create confusion amongst the characters, in order to further the plot. If the characters had been more honest with each other, I would have been less frustrated by their actions -- although admittedly there would be less tension in the drama.

It was the setting which caused me to read this book, since I like stories that take place at sea, and there was a lot of detail about life on a whaling boat that made it come to life on the page. I wonder if the author ever wrote a sequel about the romance between Adam and Esther? I'd read it!

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captain Josiah Buchanan meets Adelaide Sanborn in the General Store. As he gets to know her on the few weeks he is in Port he finds she desires to go to sea. He needs a cook on his ship. Josiah offers Adelaide marriage so she can safely join him on the whaling ship.

Adelaide had heard all the great stories of the sea and whaling from her late Father. She finds life is quite different on the ship. Her father had skipped the part of sickness, quarrels and other negatives.

Both Josiah and Adelaide are finding they want their marriage to be more but they fail to tell that to eachother.

Great story.

[Cary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I might not have liked it if it had been much longer since the religion kept pouring out and in my opinion wreaking havoc with the continuity. But since it was only 170 pages long it was a quick clean read.