Review of Love on Assignment

Love on Assignment by Cara Lynn James is the second book in the historical romance Ladies of Summerhill series. All Charlotte wants is to be a successful reporter and provide for her elderly aunt and disabled sister. When the opportunity arises for her to get some dirt on Professor Daniel Wilmont, a respected Christian educator who writes a newspaper column against terrible working conditions for the profit of the elite, Charlotte readily agrees.

   This opportunity is rare for Charlotte, since her employer is a grumpy man who has never taken notice of Charlotte's talents before. He is very unhappy with the Professor Wilmont's writing and wants Charlotte to find evidence to stop the professors' career and ruin his reputation. To be able to spy on the Wilmont household, Charlotte takes the position of governess to watch the professor's two young children. She soon feels trapped, however, when she discovers that the professor is a truly good, upstanding man who eventually captures her heart. Charlotte must choose whether she should do the right thing and follow her new Christian faith or sacrifice her relationship with her employers, both the newspaper and the professor, and her ability to care for the family.

I found Charlotte's situation very intriguing. Her dilemma of choosing between two actions that could both cause pain made me wonder what I would do if I was in her position. I enjoyed Charlotte's determination to succeed. I also like the contrast the author showed in Daniel and Charlotte's lives. In the position as governess, Charlotte soon finds how different the world of the wealthy is from her family's situation. The story was well-written, and the romance between Daniel and Charlotte is sweet. I have read the first book, Love on a Dime, and I can attest that readers can pick this book up without reading the first book first. However, characters from the first book make some little appearances in Love on Assignment. Themes of faith and forgiveness are strong threads in this book.

I found the book to be a bit tedious at the beginning, though at the end I could not put it down. Also, a girl tries to capture Daniel's attentions. Her intentions are less than honorable, but I applaud the author for not going into details and using the girl's actions to push the plot forward instead of some "juicy" tidbit in the story. I've also heard it has some historical inaccuracies, but if one does not live in a time period, one must not be expected to know everything about the culture. Overall, I believe this is a well-written novel about choices, love, and forgiveness.

I recommend this book to ladies in their teens and up. All in all, I rate this book four out of five stars.

Specifics (from amazon.com): 
Paperback: 336 pages 
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (January 11, 2011)

Note: Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an electronic copy of this book for reviewing purposes.

Blessings,