A Bride at Last by Melissa Jagears

Kate Dawson finds herself taking a position as a school teacher in Missouri when the mail-order bride advertisement she responded to did not work out to her liking.  When she is offered a position as a school teacher she decides to take it to support herself.    She is a rather strong willed young lady and soon finds herself butting heads with members of the school board.

Anthony is one of her students and because of his home situation, she finds herself quickly bonding with him.  His mother, Lucinda has become quite ill and is unable to take care of herself or her son.  Kate steps in and helps take care of Anthony as well as helps to pay for their housing.  After Lucinda's death, Anthony believes Kate (his teacher) will become his caregiver.  Unfortunately, two men came to town that had been a part of Lucinda's past and that is when his life begins to crumble.  

Richard Fitzgerald and Lucinda had a relationship with many years ago.  Anthony remembers this man and what he forced him to do many years ago and did not want to go with him.  Richard, however, is eager to claim Anthony as his own son and take him back home with him.  He wanted Anthony to pick-pocket for him and give him all the money he collected.

Silas Jonesey was Lucinda’s husband.  She was a mail-order bride and had no idea what she was walking into.  Times were tough on the farm and she was not use to such hardship and being around a man that drank.  She did not want anything to do with that lifestyle, so one day she just up and left without a word.  He had never heard a word from her until she asked him for money during her later days.  Instead of sending money, he came to see her.

There appears to be no proof of who is the biological father of Anthony.  Anthony does not want to go home with either of these men…so before the judge can determine who gets custody of Anthony... Anthony takes matters into his own hands and runs away. 

This book has many twists and turns that will leave you on the edge of your seat.  The author, Melissa Jagears covers many areas that affect the lives of these characters.  Abuse, forgiving other, alcohol addiction, being abandoned by the people you love, trusting others are just a few of the matters that are addressed throughout this book.

I absolutely loved this book.  The characters had so much going on with them and I found the book hard to put down!



Disclosure: I received this book from Bethany House through their reviewer program free of charge.  In exchange, I agreed to review A Bride at Last and give my honest opinion