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?

My Thoughts

I have read Robin Helm's Austen based novels in the past and enjoyed reading them, so I was excited to get a chance to read "Lawfully Innocent". I had a hard time getting into the story, however. Even though it is a "Lawkeepers Romance", it didn't really have any romance in it. Partway through the second chapter, one of the characters mentions Benjamin's "bonny lass" and I was thrown a little as I didn't realize there was a woman in his life. I thought we were going to read about the romance happening, but it was already a done deal. I prefer to be able to see the characters fall in love. I liked Benjamin and his desire to do right, but some of the things he thought about got a little repetitive after awhile. I would have liked to get to know Rebekah more, but she isn't really a main character like Benjamin. Whatever conflict appeared in the story was quickly dealt with and not a driving force behind the storyline. I appreciated the clear presentation of the gospel and the Bible passages given. I liked the US Marshal aspect of the story and will check out other books in the collection. "Lawfully Innocent" was a quick read which is nice if you aren't wanting to get tied down to a lengthy novel.

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.