The Captain's Bride by Lisa Tawn Bergren

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Book Blurb: Elsa Anders's dream of marrying Peder Ramstad is about to come true. But as this independent, strong-willed woman discovers her own creative gifts--a love for travel, painting, and the sea--can she find happiness with a captain who insists upon leaving her safely on shore?

Leaving their home in Norway behind, Elsa and Peder embark on a new life in  with their closest friends, including: Kaatje Jansen, a woman seeking a new beginning for the sake of her marriage and for the child growing within her; Elsa's sister Tora, a sly young vixen who knows exactly what she wants--and exactly how to get it; and Karl Martensen, a man torn between his friendship for Peder and a forbidden, secret love for Elsa, a man tormented by emotions that threaten to ruin them all.

From the gentle hills of Bergen, Norway, to the rocky coast of Camden, Maine, and across the crashing, danger-filled waves of the open sea--experience an epic saga of perseverance and passion, faith and fidelity, in the Northern Lights series: the new historical series by Lisa Tawn Bergren.

Review: The Captain's Bride is, for me, a story of hope, new beginnings, journeys and finding new directions in life.  it is a story filled with friendships, trials, tribulations, hope, love, and finding forgiveness.

All of the characters change and grow with their experiences and learn how to live with (or not) each other as their lives fill with new experiences.  Elsa and Peder Ramstad are good examples of this.  Peder would prefer to keep Elsa home - away from a life at sea - and his view is (justifiably up to a point) colored by not only his years at sea, but also by circumstances that came up during their travels.  Elsa feels that her place is by her husband's side - a view that becomes more ingrained as time goes on and in spite of dangers she, herself, faced on their journeys.

Another example would be Esla's sister Tora Anders, although she is an example of going in a different direction.  She is a strong-willed young woman who knows exactly what she wants and is bent on getting what she wants - regardless of the fallout and the broken pieces she may leave behind.  Things don't always work out the way she expects, but for her those are minor inconveniences.  While she may come across as cold and just a bit ruthless, Tora does show glimpses here and there of...being more.  She, along with the other characters, is the kind of character who I find interesting in a "waiting to see what happens next" kind of way.

Great beginning to a series and I look forward to reading what happens next.

(Image and book blurb found on Amazon.com, review copy courtesy Waterbrook Multnomah.)