Heart-warming: "A Chance at Forever" by Melissa Jagears

about the book....

Determined to protect the children of Teaville, Kansas, from the bullying she experienced as a child, Mercy McClain finds fulfillment working at the local orphanage and serving on the school board. When Aaron Firebrook, the worst of her childhood bullies, petitions the board for a teaching position, she's dead set against his getting the job.

Aaron knows he deserves every bit of Mercy's mistrust, but he's returned to his hometown a changed man and is seeking the forgiveness of those he wronged. He doesn't expect Mercy to like him, but surely he can prove he now has the children's best interests at heart.

Will resentment and old wounds hold them back, or can Mercy and Aaron overcome the past in time to battle the threats against the future of the town's orphans?

my review....

Melissa Jagears has written a compelling novel exploring the power of forgiveness and second-chances, one that nicely ties up the "Teaville Moral Society" series. I quite enjoyed once again visiting Teaville, Kansas in the early 1900's, and thought that the author created wonderfully complex characters as she reconnects the likeable Mercy with her childhood tormentor and bully, Aaron. Jagears succeeds at evoking sympathy for both of these characters, for Mercy with her childhood hurts and her difficult present, but also for Aaron, whose backstory reveals why he acted as a bully. The way that Mercy and Aaron tentatively move towards a place of forgiveness is powerful to behold. I myself was bullied in my childhood, and I can appreciate how difficult it was for Mercy to learn to trust Aaron and come to a place where she could offer real and lasting forgiveness. I liked the couple of twists that the author throws into the story, placing the blossoming relationship of Mercy and Aaron into question as concerning information comes to light. I also thought that the subplot involving Mercy and her brother provides a sobering look at the way moral decay weaves itself into society and causes so much pain and heart ache for all whom it touches. I came to the final chapters with a new appreciation for the verse that seems to under gird the story, that God makes all things work together for good to them that love God, a promise that Jagears has brought to life with her vivid story-telling.

"A Chance at Forever" is a solid addition to Jaears' series, and one that fans of historical novels will no doubt love. I award the novel a rating of 4 out of 5 stars.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.

about the author....

Carol Award-winning author Melissa Jagears is a homeschooling mom who writes Christian historical romance into the wee hours of the night. She's the author of the Unexpected Brides series, the Teaville Moral Society series, and Love by the Letter, a free prequel ebook novella. You can learn more about Melissa, her books, and where she hangs out online at www.melissajagears.com.

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