Dark Road Home (Edge of Freedom Book 2) by Elizabeth Ludwig

Read first chapter excerpt here

The nightmares of her past have found Ana Kavanagh an ocean away.Ana Kavanagh's memories of Ireland are mostly of fire and pain. As a girl she survived a blaze that left her an orphan, left her scarred, and left her angry at God. Now in New York, Ana finds a kindred spirit in Eoghan Hamilton, who's struggling with his own anger. His twin sister, Cara, betrayed him by falling in love with his enemy.

Cast aside by everyone, Eoghan hopes to rejoin the Fenians, an organization pushing for change back in Ireland, by securing information against Rourke, the man his sister married. Ana, Cara's friend, may be his best source, and despite the attraction he feels, Eoghan determines to use the girl's sweet nature to his advantage.

Adding to the danger is a specter from Eoghan's own past, one whose thirst for vengeance knows no bounds. Eoghan must choose which road to follow--bitterness or forgiveness--and where to finally place his trust.

Dark Road Home by Elizabeth Ludwig is the second novel in her Edge of Freedom series, and it picks up less than a year after the first novel, No Safe Harbor. The plot line for this novel is well developed and moves at a good pace. Dark Road Home was an interesting and enjoyable novel, and it contains a good mixture of suspense, romance, and mystery with unexpected twists and betrayal. The themes were clear and concise and included topics such as learning to trust God and friends even when you feel that you have been betrayed by both, being honest, and choosing forgiveness over bitterness. The narration of the novel was third person but was still told from either the perspective of Eoghan or Ana so that the reader that an idea of what each main character was thinking or feeling. 

The characters of Dark Road Home were interesting and realistic. Both Ana and Eoghan had experienced betrayal at the hand of people they considered friends and family and felt abandoned by God. As a result, both had to learn how to forgive, to trust again, and to rely on God in the midst of trials. They each had unique strengths and flaws that allowed them to work well together and find answers to the situations that they faced. The other minor characters also had important roles in the novel as they helped the main characters learn the truth about what they faced and about each other. Both Cara and Rourke, the main characters from No Safe Harbor, were involved in this novel and it was nice to see how they had changed and grown from the first novel. 

Overall, I found this novel to be exciting, convicting, and enjoyable, and I would highly recommend the series to anyone looking for a interesting historical series that contains both romance and mystery. 

I received this novel from NetGalley.com in exchange for an honest review.