A Bride for Keeps by Melissa Jagears ~ CFBA Tour and Review

Lucie's Review: A Mail Order Bride Story with a twist!

Everett Cline has tried to find a wife before, even tried a mail order bride more than once--three times to be exact-- and Everett has begun to accept the fact that maybe he isn't cut out for marriage. But a well meaning neighbor decides to go behind his back and orders another bride for Everett, maybe the 4th time's the charm?

Julia and Everett were like two ships passing in the night, two strangers living in the same home. This book dealt with the challenges faced by mail order couples, and showed a different, harder side of the story.

Julia, throughout the book, is constantly running from her past, and trying to lay the demons of the men in her past and present to rest. And in so many ways this book is the story of Julia and her struggles to embrace a future, through a journey of faith.

It was hard for Everett and Julia to reach out to each other, until Jesus became a part of their relationship. This book was slow paced at some points, but it did keep me reading because I wanted to see how everything would play out in the end.

Overall, this was a very different kind of Mail Order Bride story than what I expected, I liked how it was different, because it showed how God worked in both their hearts throughout the course of the book, especially Julia's. In this story especially, I think it is more than fitting to say that God brought them together. Both Everett and Julia were people who liked to keep to themselves and solve their our problems, and they had to learn to reach to each other. A unique tale, of letting go of past hurts and embracing a future.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and testimonials in Advertising."

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing A Bride for Keeps Bethany House Publishers (October 1, 2013) by Melissa Jagears

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

A Word From 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.

My husband and I have been married since 2001 and have a daughter and two little boys. My husband shares my fascination with traditional living except for being more hands on. He loves blacksmithing, knife smithing, traditional archery, hunting, etc. Generally whatever a mountain man does, he does it or has or wants to attempt it. He comes in handy for research! And of course, the rest of the family gets involved. I have my own blackpowder rifle, named Calvin, that my husband made for me. And I’m pretty sure my daughter is probably one of very few her age who can instruct adults how to shoot a longbow properly. The boy digs random holes in my yard to make “cement” with dirt and water making our yard a tripping hazard. The baby does what babies do.

ABOUT THE BOOK

A Tender Tale of Love on the Prairie Perfect for CBA Readers!

Although Everett Cline can hardly keep up with the demands of his homestead, he won't humiliate himself by looking for a helpmate ever again--not after being jilted by three mail-order brides. When a well-meaning neighbor goes behind his back to bring yet another mail-order bride to town, he has good reason to doubt it will work, especially after getting a glimpse at the woman in question. She's the prettiest woman he's ever seen, and it's just not possible she's there to marry a simple homesteader like him.

Julia Lockwood has never been anything more than a pretty pawn for her father or a business acquisition for her former fiance. Having finally worked up the courage to leave her life in Massachusetts, she's determined to find a place where people will value her for more than her looks. Having run out of all other options, Julia resorts to a mail-order marriage in far-away Kansas.

Everett is skeptical a cultured woman like Julia could be happy in a life on the plains, while Julia, deeply wounded by a past relationship, is skittish at the idea of marriage at all. When, despite their hesitations, they agree to a marriage in name only, neither one is prepared for the feelings that soon arise to complicate their arrangement. Can two people accustomed to keeping their distance let the barricades around their hearts down long enough to fall in love?

If you would like to read the first chapter of A Bride for Keeps, go HERE.