Book Review: The "Heaven Intended" Series by Amanda Lauer

With all the nonfiction books I read to review or for author interviews on the podcast, I sometimes go quite a while without reading fiction. This summer, it was really fun to take a break from all that, though, and dive into a few good stories instead. When the opportunity arose to read and review a new historical fiction 3-book series based in Civil War times, I jumped at it!

The “Heaven Intended” series by Amanda Lauer contains three books, “A World Such as Heaven Intended”, “A Life Such as Heaven Intended”, and “A Love Such as Heaven Intended”. It is an expertly crafted series in which each book and each book’s main characters are intertwined into the lives of the other books’ main characters. This set-up made each book more and more fascinating than the one before it, and as I finished the third one, I found myself really not wanting the series to end.

As I mentioned, the series takes place during the Civil War, with certain characters believing in the principles of the south and others believing in the principles of the north. I found this extremely helpful, as it enabled me to get into the mind of folks on the “other side” and come to a better and deeper understanding of why they fought for the side they did.

One thing I do want to point out is that Amanda is Catholic, and the character of her books are, as well. Rosaries, saints, relics, and things of that nature are mentioned in passing. If that is something you would rather not read about, I mention this as a head’s up. However, the stories do not ultimately hinge on the Catholic faith of the characters, and I, as a Protestant, still was able to really enjoy the books.

Each book features delightful, endearing characters, moments of intrigue and danger, spies, mysteries, wholesome romance, and so much more. What’s especially fun considering these books are historical fiction is that you learn so much more about the War Between the States as a result of reading these engaging novels. For example, one of the characters throughout the books is Father O’Reilly, who was a real pastor and Civil War hero! In addition, I, personally, found book 3 particularly interesting as the book’s main character hears now-famous author Louisa May Alcott give a speech on Women’s Rights. So fascinating! This series truly brings history to life.

I thoroughly enjoyed this historical fiction series and recommend them to you. I think you will find them educational, inspiring, interesting, and fun. And the best news? You can get all three of them on kindle for just 99 cents through tomorrow, Friday, August 9th! And, if you forget about that sale, don’t worry – I will be offering all three of the books in the series as a giveaway on my Instagram account this coming Monday, August 12th, so be on the lookout for that!

You can find author Amanda Laurer on Instagram and Twitter.

*I received a complimentary copy of each of the three books in the “Heaven Intended” series in exchange for my honest review.