Rightfully Ours by Carolyn Astfalk

Title: Rightfully Ours

Author: Carolyn Astfalk

Release Date: April 26, 2017

Publisher: Full Quiver Publishing

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★★★★☆

Synopsis:

A coming-of-age story of first love, buried treasure, and discovering some things are worth the wait.

Sixteen-year-old Paul Porter’s relocation to Pennsylvania is a temporary move during his dad’s deployment. Or so he and his brother think, until devastating news lands on their doorstep.

Paul’s new home with the Muellers provides solace, especially in the form of Rachel, his friend and confidante. Their abiding friendship deepens as they work side by side to uncover what could be lost treasure.

Will they acquire the strength of character and virtue to take only what rightfully belongs to them or are they in way over their heads, with more than a few lost artifacts at stake?

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My Review:

My first book by this author.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm not a big romance reader, but I really liked this one. With a lot of the YA romances that are in the market these days, this is different. No words can describe how impressed I was by this book. A lot to say, I don't know how to start. I initially picked this book up for the fact that it has brothers, but because this is obviously a romance novel, the brothers wasn't the main focus. Despite that, I still enjoyed it, though. It was a sweet story.

Carolyn Astfalk's Rightfully Ours is a coming-of-age YA Christian romance that follows two teens, Paul and Rachel, who fall head over heels for each other and must be careful not to get ahead of themselves. Since it's a Christian romance, it was not only clean, but it acknowledges the fact that s*x is strictly reserved for married couples only. As a Muslim, I was IMPRESSED. It may be Christian, but it's almost similar to the values we have in Islam. It was not perfect since there were a lot of kisses here and there before marriage, but then, what do I expect? This is not a Muslim romance, but it's way better than the other romance books that are out there in the market these days.

The intense scene when Rachel got hurt while she and Paul were digging for treasure in their secret garden... This book shows us the meaning of true love.

Sean is a good brother; I loved how he advises Paul against s*x before marriage.

While I really enjoyed Rightfully Ours, there were only a few things that threw me off. The repetition; it was repeated many times how much Paul and Rachel loved each other and how they longed to be together and kissed each other every chance they got, we got it! Then there was this part when, after Rachel got better after the accident, Paul thanked God, but he also thanked his dead father. We should NEVER associate partners with God. That is considered shirk in our religion. Also, I was really hoping to see more interaction between Paul and Sean.

Overall, even though there was not much brother stuff, I really enjoyed it. Religious or not, I would recommend it to those who are in a relationship and to romance readers. Rightfully Ours is a good replacement for most of the romance books these days.