I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Mayflower Bride. It is a good, fast read. I read it in one sitting with a heated blanket and my pet dachshund. The writing is descriptive, the characters likeable, and I wanted to finish it quickly.

The story centers around Mary Elizabeth and William. Mary Elizabeth is a hard working but timid young woman who boards the ship, Speedwell. She and her father and brother are Separatists looking for religious freedom in the Virginia territory. William is a young man who has been dealt many hard knocks in his short life. Orphaned young, he was taken in by relatives, who promptly kicked out to fend for himself at the age of nine. He was rescued by a good Christian man named Paul, who taught him to be a carpenter and make something of himself.

At the beginning of the voyage, the Speedwell develops a leak that won't stop and the passengers are forced to board the Mayflower. So, Mary Elizabeth and William begin their adventure together. The story outlines the hardships the people faced on their journey. Storms, loss of water, scurvy, and starvation are just a few of the challenges that Mary Elizabeth must overcome to build a new life for herself.

Overall, I liked the story a lot. I especially enjoyed the author's notes at the end. She outlines who was real and who was fiction. She includes more history in the notes, which I enjoyed reading.

I saw that the Mayflower Brides is a six-part series. I look forward to reading the future parts.

The book was a nice lead in to the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. While it is about the true Separatists' journey to the New World, and there is a lot of history included in the text, there is also some of the modern myth included as well. It is a clean, Christian-fiction novel that will teach you a little bit about history, geography, people, and faith. I look forward to the next couple of books in this series, where they follow the descendants.