Miss Beth Bettencourt by Eva Marie Everson

Miss Beth Bettencourt by Eva Marie Everson

4.5 Stars 

This was my first book by the author and I was impressed! What a tender, character-driven Southern historical romance that slowly unfolded in the best way. Set in the 1960s in Georgia, the book leans heavily into grief, forgiveness, faith and learning to let others in. 

The depth Eva brought to the table for Beth was so good. Beth was so interesting to me, this book was like a character study on her to me. She was almost 30 years old, unmarried and carrying years of betrayal and hurt from her twin sister's betrayal when she ran off with her fiancé many years ago and then the grief from her passing away added a layer of complexity to the book of everything she had to process through.

The book opens up with David "Marty" Martin accidentally found asleep in her house, but it was all a misunderstanding. He mistakenly picked the house as his old army buddy's house so the charges are dropped. Under the circumstances....Beth offers him a job and a place to stay. 

Marty brought a lot to the book as his relationship with Beth developed naturally through conversations and patience with each other and I loved that. He is a Christian and southern gentleman. You can see how his faith really brings a lot to the story in his prayers. He tries to help Beth process through old feelings, grief and hardship and her old fiancé comes back to town trying to talk to her and give her back the ring that should have been hers...

Forgiveness is a major theme in this as Beth wrestles with this bitterness she has carried for years. 

I overall really enjoyed Beth and Marty - both of their stories were so well weaved together, and seeing the reveals in the end - WOW, unexpected!

Molly was also a really great addition as a sassy southern character I loved.

I liked the faith aspect added in with Marty, but would have liked to see a bit more with Beth's journey in her faith specifically. 

Looking forward to more by Eva! Thank you to the author and publisher for a complimentary copy of the book to honestly read for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Content/Trigger Warnings: Death of sibling past recounted, grief from that loss, fiancé running off with sibling storyline, sadness surrounding that situation, a few colloquial southern uses of the Lord's name, a couple of references to old superstitions/wives tales involving a moonstone, romance was kisses only. The book lightly acknowledges racism and discrimination but not a main point.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4uoffF3
Baker Book House: https://bakerbookhouse.com/products/9780825453342_miss-beth-bettencourt
*Amazon links are affiliate links and a commission may be earned on items purchased from these links.