Teaville Moral Society #3

 


Mercy McClain joined the school board to protect the children of Teaville, Kansas, from the bullying she experienced as a child. When the worst offender from her school days applies for a teaching position, she is dead set against it. Yet Aaron Firebrook claims to be a changed man. Can he earn Mercy's trust--and her support for the challenges to come?


Published March 6th 2018
 by Bethany House Publishers







My Thoughts:

This is the third installment in the Teaville Moral Society from Melissa Jagears. This book is part of an installment, but can be read as a stand alone. The author sweeps the reader back to Kansas 1909 and introduces us to Mercy McClains and Aaron Firebrook. Mercy is an interesting character. She has an obvious disability with her arm and as a result has had to overcome many things in her life. At present she is helping her brother and sister in-law run and manage a local orphanage plus she serves on the school board council. As the story opens Mercy and the school board are in search for a teacher for the upcoming year. Unfortunately for Mercy she immediately recognizes the candidate from her own school days as not only a fellow student, but also her greatest tormentor.
George Aaron Firebrook has recently returned to his hometown. Aaron as he is known now has changed from the young man who left Teaville, but memories are lasting and for Aaron that is not good. His growing up years were troubled and he became known, but also lived up to being the biggest bully in town. Mercy literally holds his future in Teaville in her hands. Can she put the past behind her or will her judgement be forever overshadowed by memories?
I really enjoyed this book. It is a very written story. The plot is full of twists and turns that just when you think you've figured it out another important factor surfaces, for me this is very engaging and kept me turning the pages. This book does broach the issue of school bullying, but I feel it's something that was resolved realistically.
This is a book that I would recommend to anyone who loves history or just a good, clean read. I received this book from the publisher as part of their book bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Available for Purchase:

AMAZON  BARNES & NOBLE  CHRISTIANBOOK 

  

Teaville Moral Society

 

 Lydia King knows what it's like to be in need, so she joins the Teaville Moral Society hoping to help the town's poor. But with her father's debts increasing by the day and her mother growing sicker by the week, she wonders how long it will be until she ends up in the poorhouse herself. Her best chance at a financially secure future is to impress the politician courting her, and it certainly doesn't hurt that his mother is the moral society's president. Lydia's first task as a moral society member--to obtain a donation from Nicholas Lowe, the wealthiest man in town--seems easy . . . until the man flat-out refuses.

Despite appearances, Nicholas wants to help others but prefers to do it his own way, keeping his charity private. When Lydia proves persistent, they agree to a bargain, though Nicholas has a few surprises up his sleeve. Neither foresees the harrowing complications that will arise from working together, and when town secrets are brought to light, this unlikely pair must decide where their beliefs--and hearts--truly align.

Published August 2nd 2016 

by Bethany House Publishers 

Available for Purchase:

AMAZON  CHRISTAINBOOK BARNES & NOBLE 

BAKER RETAIL

Meet the Author:

 

 

Melissa Jagears, an ESL teacher by trade and the author of A Bride for Keeps, A Bride in Store, and A Bride at Last, is a stay-at-home mother on a tiny Kansas farm with a fixer-upper house. She's a member of ACFW and CROWN fiction marketing, and her passion is to help Christian believers mature in their faith and judge rightly.

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 My Thoughts:

Oh wow, what an excellent story!

The author brings us a story with a theme that is more common than you might think.  This story takes place in southeast Kansas during the fall of 1905.  We are introduced to Lydia King, whom I felt a connection to immediately.  Do you know why?  Simple she loves books. :) Yes, a woman I can relate to. 

Lydia's homelife is anything but perfect.  Her mother has deteriorating health problems which cause great concern for Lydia, but her father is mostly an embarrassment for her with his growing debts.  Yes, she knows poverty firsthand.  

Lydia has joined the Teaville Moral Society with the good intentions of not only helping the town's poor, but to also try to rid it of the very things that has caused her family so many problems.  The Society is a purely volunteer organization through the Freewill Church and her first task was to obtain a much needed donation from Nicholas Lowe, the wealthiest man in town.  

Nicholas is a very caring man, but he has secrets that he doesn't want revealed to anyone or the consequences would result in many suffering.  He's intrigued by Lydia's tenacity and her caring, but at the same time he feels she's naive about the true problems of the poor and the Teaville Moral Society's true reasons behind their work.   

I truly loved this story.  It's a story of how far one woman will go in search of answers and of a man who asks a woman for complete trust and faith.  This story also points out how it's easy to judge when you don't know the full story.  It's easy to throw stones at others for their sins until you step in their shoes and see exactly what they have endured.  

What a wonderful way to start a new series and a book I would recommend to anyone.

**I received this book from the publisher for a honest review without outside influence or bias.