Review: A Bride At Last

A Bride at Last Author - Melissa Jagears Rating - 4 out of 5 Stars Would I Recommend: Sure

Back Cover...

Abandoned by his mail-order bride, Silas Jonesey has fought an uphill battle to recover from a pattern of poor choices. Now his prayers for reconciliation have finally come true and his estranged wife has contacted him with her whereabouts.

Kate Dawson was supposed to be a mail-order bride, but upon realizing she'd been deceived about her intended groom, she's now settled into life as a schoolteacher. When the mother of a student passes away, Kate assumes she'll take on care of nine-year-old Anthony--until two men suddenly show up in town, claiming to be the boy's father.

Silas can see Anthony loves Kate, so he enlists her help in reaching out to the boy and attempting to prove his paternity to the court. When a common interest in Anthony leads to an interest in each other and Silas and Kate begin to think they can overcome their rocky start, neither is prepared for the secrets and past hurts that have yet to come to light. Can Silas, Kate, and Anthony's wounded souls bind them together or will all that stands between them leave them lonely forever?

What I Loved...

I can't quite remember the last time I read a book where I wanted to just smack several characters including both Silas and Kate, the main characters! I loved that Melissa was able to bring about such emotion from me. I wasn't annoyed with the plot or characters but instead engrossed and just wanted to head out to the homestead and play matchmaker myself. I loved that the characters are so flawed and I loved them each anyway. Once or twice I wondered if I could ever survive in a homestead. While my brain told me no, this book made my heart really want to say yes!

What I Liked...

Melissa Jagears writing caught me a bit by surprise when she took the bits and pieces of the book that are usually meantt to add charm and took them to a whole other level when they turned out to be very intricate details to the characters, their motives, their circumstances and a major part of the plot. I can't with spoilers. If you happen to read this book, and I suggest that you do, please let me know if you happened to pick up on what I am referring to.

Other...

The cover is nice. I didn't picture Silas that way, however.

I had a hard time warming up to little Anthony. I am the parent of an 8 year old boy and by all means should have probably found it easier to like him but I just had a hard time of it. I tried. I really did. It took most of the book before I finally wanted to wrap him up in my arms as much as Kate had and wanted to throughout the book.

This is my first read from author Melissa Jagears and I quite enjoyed it and would read her work again.


Disclaimer: This book was provided by the publisher through Netgalley. The opinion of this book, is my own and I was not paid or compensated for for my review.