My review of The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson!

About the book:

Two Hearts. One Hope.Rose has been appointed as a healer's apprentice at Hagenheim Castle, a rare opportunity for a woodcutter's daughter like her. While she often feels uneasy at the sight of blood, Rose is determined to prove herself capable. Failure will mean returning home to marry the aging bachelor her mother has chosen for her---a bloated, disgusting merchant who makes Rose feel ill.When Lord Hamlin, the future duke, is injured, it is Rose who must tend to him. As she works to heal his wound, she begins to understand emotions she's never felt before and wonders if he feels the same. But falling in love is forbidden, as Lord Hamlin is betrothed to a mysterious young woman in hiding. As Rose's life spins toward confusion, she must take the first steps on a journey to discover her own destiny.

My review:

This debut novel by Melanie Dickerson carried me off into an enchanted world that I didn't want to leave when the story ended. The Healer's Apprentice was a real page turner and will make any romance lovers heart beat a little bit harder as they read along. After seeing the book video trailer I knew I had to read it. Boy am I glad I did! I adore historical fiction. It's my favorite genre. I also love the Middle Ages time period. This story had those elements and they were both done very well. The author clearly knows how to write with emotion and how to firmly establish the setting so that readers like they are living in that time period.

This was a beautiful love story and I can see this being a teen favorite (though I'm way past my teen years and was totally enthralled with this book.) The kisses were heavenly and the romantic tension was beyond awesome. I had a hunch about where things were headed early on and was glad when situations firmed up what I suspected was coming. There were so many good messages in this book. There is a difference between feeling adored and enjoying it and actually loving the person who is flattering you. It's not love, but manipulation. The author showed how actions by handsome young men can be very persuasive to girls who feel unloved by their families and long for affection.

The author also showed how doing the right thing is always best. Making decisions based on emotions can be disastrous, but doing the right thing for the right reasons is often God's perfect and pleasing will. So if we trust God, He will make things known to us in due time. Taking situations into our own hands will usually mess things up even more. I also loved the message that the name of Jesus is more powerful than any darkness. His name is stronger than any other. Very inspiring message! This story was so well done and enthralling that I nearly read it straight through. In fact, all I wanted to do was read this book and will be eagerly awaiting future books from this author. The Healer's Apprentice is making my best fiction of 2010 list.

The Healer's Apprentice was published by Zondervan and released in Sept 2010. Zondervan provided a copy of this book for me to review. This book staying on my keeper shelf because I may actually read it again!