readingwithwrin
Written on Jun 24, 2018
Thank you to Bethany House for a free physical copy
Together Forever is book two in the Orphan Train Series. Last year I read book one With You Always and really enjoyed it.
Together Forever follows Marianne who is the sister of the main character in the first book as she tries to find her young sister (Sophie) who went in search of two children she had been put in charge of in the first book. Marianne feels responsible for having let Sophie down and is now determined to find her by any means necessary. So she joins the Children's Aid Society to help the children get placed into good families along the Orphan Train route while she will also look for her sister. She is joined by Brady who has experience with being on the Orphan Train and placing the children. Along the way, the two not only get to know about each other but face a few struggles caused by having to take care of so many children.
Overall I loved this one far more than the first book. Together Forever is actually about the Orphan Train system and how the children were placed and the records kept. Which is something that fascinates because of how little I truly know about it, that isn't just rumors or speculation at this point. (I am looking for some good non-fiction about the Orphan Trains if you have any suggestions please tell me in the comments or on any of my social media platforms.) The realities of the children being nervous and scared about there new lives were real and you could feel that. I really liked how Marianne and Brady dealt with that and addressed it instead of just pushing that to the side and distracting the kids fully. I also liked how it was talked about the children being treated like they were up for auction as slaves by some of the prospective new parents. (which is something that has been known to have happened to the real children on the orphan train)
"Some of the bolder townspeople who'd dealt with orphans before marched right up to the children and sized them up as if they were slaves on an auction block."
I also loved all the little side stories we got to see along the way from some of the adoptive parents. It made it all seem more real and like the children's aid society truly did care for the children.
"He told me he was proud of the way I'd adjusted to the news I couldn't have children. He said it takes great courage to accept what I can't change, and even more, courage to move forward and live my life to the fullest in spite of how achingly hard it is to face each new day."
The romance portion of this book was okay. I'm not going to lie by the end of the book even I started to fall for Brady because of how good he was with the children and just wanted the best for Marianne (seriously though man that wasn't your decision to make, so please chill). I couldn't have cared less about a certain other character and who he fell in love with because of how obvious it became who he was going to end up with about a quarter of the way through.
I really did like how we also get to see again several of the other characters that were the focus in the first book. I was afraid that they weren't going to be mentioned at all besides in passing, but they ended up playing a good part in this one as well.
As for the religious portion of this book it as there but it wasn't the main portion of the book, and in fact, the main character felt like she didn't deserve God's love anymore because of things she had done. While I don't agree with this part, it didn't affect my enjoyment of the book.
Hedlund is quickly on the way to being one of my favorite historical Christian fiction authors because of how she is able to incorporate everything and just doesn't make everything completely about the romance or make anything really feel forced. I can't wait to read the next book in the series as it is going to be about Sophie who I dearly loved in the first book.