Love's Beginning

by Naomi Rawlings

Read about the day Elijah first falls in love with Victoria in the Eagle Harbor short story, Love’s Beginning.

As a ten-year-old boy, Elijah sees Gilbert Sinclair bully the other school children day in and day out. As far as Elijah figures, it’s going to be a long school year if somebody doesn’t show the rich kid a thing or two, so it might as well be him. If only his sister wasn't around to mess up his plans.

And why does he care so much what Victoria, the pretty girl with a house fancier than Gilbert's, thinks of their fight?

Love’s Beginning is a 12 page short story. It can be read as a standalone or as an extension of Love’s Every Whisper, which is Elijah and Victoria’s full length novel.

Genres: Romance

18 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 28, 2015

About the author

Naomi Rawlings is the author of historical Christian novels, including the Amazon bestselling Eagle Harbor Series. While she'd love to claim she spends her days huddled in front of her computer vigorously typing, in reality, she spends her time homeschooling, cleaning, picking up, and pretending like her house isn't in a constant state of chaos. She lives with her husband and three children in Michigan's rugged Upper Peninsula, along the southern shore of Lake Superior where they get 200 inches of snow every year, and where people still grow their own vegetables and cut down their own firewood--just like in the historical novels she writes.

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Love's Beginning" by: Naomi Rawlings is book #2.5 in the Eagle Harbor series. The story began in Eagle Harbor, Michigan; May 1883. It was a cute short story. I look forward to reading the books that precede this book, along with the ones that follow it. "Love's Beginning" painted an interesting picture of the day Elijah went to school, and was bullied by Gilbert Sinclair, also known as the rich kid. Elijah had a difficult time escaping from Gilbert and his crew. Having his sister, Rebekah, by his side trying to defend him, only made the situation worse. Elijah was encouraged by a little girl, named Victoria, who gave him her lunch, and had a brief conversation with him.

This is a very short story; however, it was enjoyable for me. I always like friends-to-more stories. Elijah and Victoria are young children, and I look forward to meeting them again when they are older.

"He figured the warm feelings that turned his insides as gooey as the middle of Ma's custard pie would stop after a week, maybe two at most. Unfortunately, they lasted the next fifteen years."


Although this short story is a part of a series, it can be read as a standalone. It can also be read as an extension of "Love's Every Whisper", which is Elijah and Victoria's full length novel.
My rating: 5/5 stars

[Angie Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story, but very short. Since it's not really meant to stand alone, it feels a bit more like a single-chapter prologue than an actual prequel. It was a little hard to get into the rhythm of Elijah's vernacular in such a short space, but the interaction between the kids was cute. :)

[Carolyn Vandine West · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute little introduction to this series. Elijah doesn’t know he’s going to fall in love with Victoria after she offers her leftover lunch. Once again the schoolhouse bully demanded his lunch. Once again he got a beating for refusing to hand it over. I’ll try to follow up on the next book. I received this from the author for signing up for her newsletter. Thank you

[Trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sweet short story. The story begins on the school yard at the lunch period. This short story gives readers an inside look at the childhood history between Gilbert & Elijah. In addition I enjoyed the brief glimpse into a tinder childhood moment between Elijah and Victoria.

Note: This story is about 21 pages long.

[Deanna Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a look into some of the characters. Enjoyed reading the thoughts of Elijah and why Gilbert Sinclair was someone he would not like into adulthood!

[John Hackett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Love's Beginning: Historical Christian Short Story (Eagle Harbor) 28 Sep 2015 | Kindle eBook by Naomi Rawlings

I think I have committed some sort of sin, a faux-pas perhaps. I have only given this review two stars on Goodreads and Amazon cannot find anywhere to review it. Mind you everyone else seemed to like it, but I suppose if you are a fan of the author, and this particular series you will find some good in it. But, eight pages? Really???

£0.99 Kindle Edition

This eBook is only 18-pages long, and of that Love's Beginning is only 8-pages long. Two pages thank the reader and includes an excerpt from Love's Every Whisper. There is a link that will take you to the Naomi Rawlings Author Newsletter where you can sign up for regular news and the offer of a free book too. There is also a request that is you like the short story Love's Beginning to spread the word on Facebook Twitter and Pinterest.

I have issues with the page numbering, see Observations)

Here we go.

THE REVIEW

Love's Beginning

This is the prequel, if you like, to the series. This is when the reader is introduced to Elijah, Gilbert, Rebekkah, and Victoria. This Elijah versus the school bully and he is going to lose again, for a principle.

Ahh, it's those wonderful days of corporal punishment when your parents were expected to smack you with a willow can if you displease them. Boys wore shorts to school, and you carried your lunch to school in a pail. A time when all the kids would stand around in silence to watch a fight instead of encouraging

Conclusion

This is a tidy (Welsh word for good) introduction to the series but at only eight pages long, I am sure there is more that could have been harvested to draw us into the characters and their stories, so I wonder if it was written as a backstory to the first book and never got revised. There are no chapters, only line breaks in this short story.

Love's Every Whisper Chapter One

The years have moved us on, Elijah's passion for Victoria is not diminished and neither have his principles. Victoria is out with a lantern looking for a ship that has yet to make port, a ship that has friends on board. Elsewhere another ship has run aground. Some of the crew and passengers are safe but others need rescuing. Elijah, now the leader of a life-saving boat (the first RNLI for British readers if you like) is getting ready to go to sea in the worst weather the port has ever seen. Meanwhile, there is no news from their friends or the ship they were travelling on.

Conclusion

It's a tantalising start to what I know will be another good story. There are line breaks in this opening chapter which help to move the story around.

Overall Impression of the whole eBook

It is well written, good layout and no mistakes. Even, given the differences between the two English languages, these two parts of the whole series still flow, which holds good for the rest of the books from this author. However, as I mentioned in the beginning, it is the numbering and technical layout that gives me concerns.

Is it a good read?

Not for me, it's so-so. 2 out of 5 stars. I am not that there is enough here for me to want to follow this up. As a stand-alone, it only offers questions and little in the way of conclusion.

Observations

The numbering system of eBooks always throws me. Why does the cover picture show on a righthand page like a normal book, and be shown as page one? Then the title, copyright, etc all appear as increasing page numbers of the book too. Surely page one of a regular book starts with the first page of text, be it part number headings or even Chapter One (1). Why confuse the reader? Either do not number the preliminary pages or number them as roman numerals.

Given that eBooks are trying to mirror published paper books, I can only assume the layout is supposed to mirror the printed layout too. This the numbering systems of the pages of the book:

1/18, 1/18, 2/18, 2-3/18, 3-4/18, 4-5/18, 5/18, 5-6/18, 6-7/18, 7-8/18, 8/18, 9/18, 10/18, 10-11/18, 11-12/18, 12/18, 12-13/18, 13-14/18, 14/18, 14-15/18, 15-16/18, 16-17/18, 18/18, -/18.

[Miriam Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Love’s Beginning, Naomi Rawlings heralds the entry of two lovely little girls into the story. Rebekah enters in a swirling “flurry of white pinafore, dark blue dress, and brown hair”, while Victoria is “all prettily dressed up in white lace and pink ruffles, with cheeks turning pink, the prettiest thing, with flounces and miles of creamy lace.” This is where Love begins and has its start in Elijah’s heart. Victoria’s kindness in sharing her food and her delicate stammer make her appear all the more winsome in Eijah’s eyes. “Love’s Every Whisper” is first heard here, softly and silently, in “Love’s Beginning”, in the tender hearts of Elijah and Victoria. The look of love is sweet, as Elijah poignantly discovers at the very moment he falls in love with Victoria Donnelly. This is where it all starts – in a flurry of childhood love – in the age of innocence. You will hear “Love’s Every Whisper” ring out in “Love’s Beginning”.

[Dorothy Roller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good preview to Elijah and Victoria's story of love at a very early age and one will probably never come to be. Since they were in school and two years apart, Victoria from a rich family and Elijah from a large poor family, he loves her already and she seems smitten with him, but with their circumstances, their friendship and a forbidden love even at a young age, most likely won't happen. This preview shows the characters of the rich bullies and those from good Christian, but poor families the rich bullies stealing their lunches just for fun as the rich kids have cooks to make and pack their entirely overly packed lunches.
It helps see some of the people as kids when we read them as adults. Cheap kindle version with a bigger except to the second story that also features Elijah and Victoria as adults both in love still, but still wrong classes to marry.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love's Beginning (Eagle Harbor #2.5), my third read from author Naomi Rawlings in which we go back to first love. Well-written with memorable characters. I got this book in November of last year and am just now getting around to reading it. “I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review." The gifting of this book did not affect my opinion of it. I look forward to Love's Every Whisper (Eagle Harbor #2). (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).

[Karen Montgomery · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a cute story about how Elijah Cummings fell in love with Victoria Donnelly whenever they were little and she brought them some leftovers of her lunch since the bully Gilbert Sinclair had beat him up for throwing his lunch pail in the woods to go catch! He says his feelings lasted for the next fifteen years! Enjoyed and you will too and has an excerpt of Love’s Every Whisper at the end!

[Heidi Morrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great little "insight" into some of the characters in book 2 (here as children), in the Eagle Harbor series. I had forgotten about this short story until after I read book 2. Some things were helpful in understanding the characters and events in #2. However, had I been able to, I would have read this SS first. Just my personal preference. Now, on to book 3!

[Barbara Keigher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely...
well, bullies are not lovely,
but the beginning of love at a young age is.

Very well written. It captures the life of people living in those days.
This short story makes me want to read more by this author.

[Regina Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Introduction

Well this introduction of Elijah and Victoria as children is quite the teaser. I plan to purchase the other books in the series as this very short book doesn't tell me as much as I would like.

[Melissa Henderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short story beginning the life stories of Elijah, Rebekah and others in the series. Read and find out what happens when lunch is the object causing turmoil between some of the children.

[Denise Damron · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sweet story that is actually the beginning of the Eagle Harbor saga. The characters are introduced in such a poignant way that make them real. Leaves you eager for the rest of their story.

[Katrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story.

[sheryl hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Keeps you reading

And wanting more. A story line of years ago is always intriguing. Can’t wait to read the text of her writings!

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series!

I have really enjoyed this series! I can't wait to read the next book! This short ebook was a nice addition!

[Charity Cunningham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love's Beginning An Eagle Harbor Short Story by Naomi Rawlings was a Quick, Lighthearted, Sweet Peak into how Elijah Cummings, the H, and Victoria Donnelly's story began.

[Pam Couch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet

It was nice to read about Elijah and Victoria during their childhood. Like most children, enemies and friends often extend into adulthood.

[Diane Boyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

sweet beginnings

I already read the Eagle Harbor series. This short story gives you a better understanding of the love these two share. Love it!!

[Barbara Waloven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great character and series introduction. Enjoyed ‘watching’ the scene play out. It’s been a while since I read a story like this. Now I wonder why.

[Joselyn T Everett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a sweet book! Love it!

[Juanita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short novella 2.5 starts. I don’t think it really added much to the series.

[Carolyn Ruttan]

I was surprised to find this was only one chapter long. Somehow I feel kind of cheated. Too short to rate it or pique my interest in reading more of the books that follow.

[Bhriv · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love's Beginning, written by Naomi Rawlings is a sweet short story about Elijah, Rebekah, Victoria and Gilbert from other books in the series. I loved seeing how they were as children...so fitting as they grow up to be so similar and this just gives you a tiny taste of what is to come. I thought it was very fitting, but unfortunately just extremely short :(
I was given a copy of this book by the author. All thoughts and comments are my own.

[Patti Fischetti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looks like a fun book

Even though you only get a small excerpt it was very clear regarding the relationship that the main characters would take in the later novels. Now I'm curious. I want to find out where their relationship goes from here.

[Nana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story is a great background to the Eagle Harbor series. The stories of the children who are featured as some of the adults in the remainder of the series are charming and somewhat gritty. I loved the honest and authentic representation of the children in this brief story as they discover the value of friendship and the torment of a bully.

[Regina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A prequel to Love's Every Whisper

This is a short story of how Gilbert, Elijah, Victoria, and Rebeka started out as children. I loved the story but there was one problem...it was too short. But it sets the stage for their stories.

[Wilani Wahl · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delight to read about the beginning for the characters in this series. This is well written although very short. I look forward to continuing to read in this series.