1. The novel opens with Eden and Elspeth Lee being told one of them is to wed an apprentice, a common practice in the 18th-century. How would you have responded to this news? What would you have wanted for your daughter or yourself if you lived in that era?

2. Is the time period of the book familiar to you? Would you have liked to have lived in early America shortly after the Revolution was won? Why or why not?

3. Eden is dismayed by Elspeth’s behavior from the very start of the novel. Have you ever had a family member or friend act in self-destructive ways? How has their behavior affected your life? How might the Lees have dealt with Elspeth differently?

4. Eden sees something remarkable in Silas and sets aside her own hopes for the future to ensure his. Would you have been so unselfish? Do you think she acted wisely or unwisely in refusing to marry him and venture to Pittsburgh?

5. Silas tells Eden that “The Ballantyne name begins or ends with me.” What other factors motivate Silas to become more than a blacksmith? In chapter , Eden realizes that the greatest rival for his affections might be his work. Do you agree or disagree?

6. God promises through Scripture that He will bring good out of every situation, even tragedies that befall believers. How did this prove true for Eden? Several caring people play significant roles in her life in the course of the novel. Who was your favorite and why? Are you a mentor or how can you be a mentor to a person in need?

7. When did you suspect that David Greathouse might mean Eden harm? Do you think Silas was right to warn her David’s intentions might be less than honorable? How would you have handled the situation if you were Silas? Eden?

8. What is Eden’s greatest strength? Her greatest flaw? At book’s end, what is the greatest challenge she faces? What is Silas’s greatest flaw? His strength?

9. Do you have a favorite scene or character? Why did this resonate with you?

10. If LOVE'S RECKONING were to be made into a movie, who would you cast for the roles of Silas, Eden and Elspeth? The secondary characters?

11. What do you think will happen next in the story of the Ballantyne family? What do you hope will happen?

12. What spiritual lessons from the book will stay with you?