Lawfully Innocent by Robin Helm: Book Review

About the Book

Book: Lawfully Innocent

Author: Robin Helm

Genre: Historical Romance

Release Date: August 31, 2019

Benjamin Beckett, a handsome young English lord, lacks purpose in his life of privilege. After learning the truth about his heritage, he decides to leave unbearable boredom behind, making drastic changes in his too predictable life.

Adventure awaits Benjamin across the ocean, and he embraces the challenges before him. Can a man who’s not yet thirty be strong enough to impact the New World? Will he find a cure for his loneliness and ennui?

Click here to get your copy!

Book Review:

I’ve come to expect these books to be romance novellas, and I feel that Lawfully Innocent pulls away from the romance aspect. And there is nothing wrong with that. There is still a romantic element, but it is not the goal nor the conflict of the story.

Instead, you’ll find a man seeking to find where God wants him to be. What job does God have planned for Ben? That is the plot I found and a noble question. Drawn to America, Ben finds himself working as a US Marshal. The responsibilities put him in direct contact with criminals in need of a savior and orphans in need of a home.

Can Ben break through the prejudice and show God’s healing redemption to wayward souls?

I’ve often asked the same questions as Ben and struggled to know what course I should follow. Seeing this element through Ben’s perspective has helped me to see through my own doubts.

A quick and enjoyable read that will carry you through one man’s journey to finding his purpose. Ben is required only to bring the men in, not set their punishment. But even outlaws deserve a chance for redemption.

I requested a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. I was not required to leave a positive review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

About the Author

Robin Helm’s books reflect her love of music, as well as her fascination with the paranormal and science fiction.

Previously published works include The Guardian Trilogy: Guardian, SoulFire, and Legacy; the Yours by Design series: Accidentally Yours, Sincerely Yours, and Forever Yours; Understanding Elizabeth; and More to Love. Ms. Helm also contributed stories to A Very Austen Christmas and A Very Austen Valentine.

She plans to publish Maestro, Lawfully Innocent, and A Very Austen Romance: Austen Anthologies, Book 3 in 2019.

Her life in (usually) sunny, small town South Carolina is busy, but affords time for writing, reading, teaching and performing music, and playing games on her phone. (Would you believe she’s an elder in a war game? And she’s writing a book about it?)

More from Robin

I grew up in South Carolina during the 1960’s and 1970’s when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became law. South Carolina did not comply immediately, so I remember my doctor’s office with two waiting rooms, two water fountains, and two doors, both leading to the same doctor and same examination room. It seemed very strange to me even then. I did not know any African American children, because schools, restaurants, churches, the town pool, the public health center, our neighborhoods – everything – was segregated.

When I was in high school, that began to change. At first, only a few African-American students came to my school. I really didn’t notice, because we all worked together. I have since looked back and realized the bravery of those students. They left their newly built high school, which was much nicer than the very old one I attended, and came to a place where they knew almost no one.

My junior year, our schools and all public buildings were desegregated. Our town handled it very well. Three high schools combined, but everyone kept doing the things they had done. That year, three sets of cheerleaders combined and three of each sports team came together. It was wonderful! We had cheerleaders all the way down the sidelines, and the captain’s position was shared. The school busses were desegregated as well, and I drove a route.

I have no bad memories of that time. There were no fights, no arguments, no violence of any sort.

This story is set in the mid 1840’s in South Carolina, and it addresses what sorts of things had to happen before we could get to The Civil Rights act and desegregation.