Christian Historical Romance | The Page Dreamer (Deborah O'Carroll)

I’m excited to be reviewing this beautiful book by Kellyn Roth today!

Title: Beyond Her Calling

Author: Kellyn Roth

Series: The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy, #4 (but stands alone)

Historical Fiction / Christian Fiction / Scotland (I DON’T CARE, IT’S A GENRE) • Adult • 2022 • 255 pages (paperback)

Read May 9, 2022 • 4 stars • Favorite character: Jordy • I received a free ARC of this book from the author and was not obligated to leave a review. All opinions are my own. (And I actually finished “reading” it by getting myself the audiobook off Audible because Scottish accents!)

Goodreads • Barnes & Noble • Amazon • Author Website

I enjoyed reading this historical fiction novel set in the 1880s in Scotland. Scotland! That had to be the best part of it, and I really enjoyed the setting and especially the accents!

Ivy Knight from England heads up to Scotland for a visit. Drama, friends new and old, relationships, and soul-searching ensue. I liked Ivy’s point of view and her thoughts, and especially the way she compares everything to music, which made me happy. She’s a dear, and her sweetness and occasional awkwardness but determination to do right made her a lovely character.

Jordy McAllen is great too! He’s my favorite. *grinning* A passionate but sometimes endearingly boyish young doctor, with a delightful accent and also a sense of fun, trying to find his way. Ivy and Jordy are also adorable together. *cackles* They’re both such cinnamon rolls!

There were one or two things I felt I was missing due to jumping in on book four, but only in a very mild way, but in general it was a good standalone too. It’s adult fiction but clean other than some mature issues discussed from someone’s past. Everything’s tied in to the characters’ faith throughout the book and there were some inspiring lines at times.

Also, this is random, but I enjoyed that there were letters throughout the book between several different characters (epistolary bits in books make me happy for some reason), and references to other books, like Jane Austen’s.

It wrapped up satisfactorily (like I said, stands alone pretty well), but I’m definitely hoping to check out the next book about these characters because I’d love to spend more time with Ivy and Jordy! (I think the next one featuring them is After Our Castle. I can’t wait!)

Best for fans of Christian historical romance, and, of course, Scotland! (I also recommend the audiobook!)