Summary
Silas Jonesey's life in Salt Flatts, Kansas, has not followed the course he imagined. After his mail-order bride, Lucinda, abandoned him, it was an uphill battle to recover from a pattern of poor choices and sour moods. Now his prayers for reconciliation have finally come true; his estranged wife has contacted him after ten years of silence to tell him of her whereabouts.
Kate Dawson was supposed to be a mail-order bride, but after realizing she had been deceived about her intended groom she never went through with the marriage. Settling into life as a schoolteacher, she's spent her spare time the past few years helping her student, Anthony, and his sick mother. When Lucinda passes away, Kate is ready to fulfill the woman's wish that she take care of nine-year-old Anthony--until a man shows up in town asking about Lucinda and claiming he was married to the woman ten years ago.
Silas and Kate disagree over who should raise young Anthony, who has opinions of his own about his future. After being forced to come together for the good of Anthony, Silas and Kate begin to see another side to each other and the possibility of a united future despite all that stands between them. When Kate's past comes to light, Silas's feelings about women who abandon their grooms immediately throw the walls right back up between them. Can Silas, Kate, and Anthony's wounded souls bind them together as a family, or will past hurts and new resentments leave them lonely forever?
My Thoughts
Jagears has done it again. She has brought her readers a splendid summer read that is sure to make them sigh and leave them giddy with happy feelings.
This was probably one of my favorites from the Bride Series. If you have followed along with the previous books feel assured that you will see scenes and glimpses of our favorite couples from those books in this book as well. But back to this book. I liked how complex it was. There was more to it then just the two main characters, Kate and Silas, trying to find out what to do with Anthony the nine year old orphan. It was also about Silas finding a family he never knew he had. It was about Kate learning to stop running from life. It was about finding old roots and planting new ones.
The focus story line is how Kate and Silas are able to deal with the secrets and past hurts that start to resurface as they begin kindling a possible relationship. A possible new future that entails a home, belonging and healing. On top of that the nine year old boy given to Kate after her friend's death could maybe be Silas's son so they have to find out a way to prove it. I liked how Jagears decided to transition this story from discovery to discovery, healing to healing, secret to secret. It flowed really well I felt. There was a constant battle between the idea of starting a new beginning for these characters because they kept letting their past decide what they thought they deserved to experience in their futures.
There were slight moments where I felt some decisions made by characters made me want to grab them by the shoulders and tell them to stop being stupid and just be honest with one another. But alas that is probably a reader tick I have when I want characters to just be happy already.
If you love love stories this is a book for you. It about new beginnings and two souls finding out if their hurts will cause their bond to be stronger or force it to crumble down into a life of loneliness.
Rating: 4 out of 5 bookshelves
I received a free copy from Litfuse Publicity in return for an honest review.
About the Author
I am a stay at home mother on a tiny little farm with a fixer-upper house. As much as I love writing and reading about homesteaders, I am so glad I’m a homesteader during an era with modern grocery stores to take up for my slack. I am an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher by trade, and I still work occasionally in that field along with being my church’s financial secretary and writing novels. {snippet from author's website bio}Link to Author's: Facebook, Website, and Goodreads
Purchase her book: Amazon, B&N
In His Grace,
Taylor Reid
Can Silas and Kate overcome their rocky start and experience healing—and possibly love? Discover the answer in Melissa Jagears' new book, A Bride at Last. Neither Kate nor Silas is prepared for the secrets and past hurts that have yet to come to light as they attempt to prove nine-year-old Anthony's paternity to the court. Can their wounded souls bind them together or will all that stands between them leave them lonely forever?
Celebrate the release of A Bride at Last by entering to win a $100 Memory-Making giveaway and RSVPing to Melissa's August 4th author chat party!
One grand prize winner will receive:
- A $100 gift card to Netflix (for a family movie night), Shutterfly (to create a family memory book), or TablePlayGames (for a family game night)
- One copy of A Bride at Last
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