While Lydia King's reasons for joining the Teaville Moral Society might be suspect to some members, her heart is in the right place. Because of her father's debts and her mother's persistent illness, her best chance at a secure future and curing her mother is to impress the politician courting her. Her first task--to ask the town's wealthiest man to donate--seems simple enough . . . until he refuses.
Despite appearances, Nicholas Lowe wants to help others, but prefers to keep his charity private. When Lydia proves persistent, they agree to a bargain, but Nicholas still intends to do things his own way. Neither predicts what they'll learn about true charity or foresee the complications their actions will bring to the town, forcing Lydia to decide where her beliefs and heart truly align.
My Thoughts
I've been a fan of Melissa’s since I read her first novella and I have only gotten more impressed with her as I’ve read each of her novels. This is the first book of her second series and it got off to a great start!
Lydia and Nicholas were both very interesting and well written characters. Everyone sees Nicholas as stingy with his vast wealth because he never gives publicly to the church or any of the causes brought to him. But unbeknownst to the town he gives regularly and generously but he prefers to keep it all private and to decide exactly who it will go to. Lydia has a good heart but she's a bit naive. After striking their bargain Nicholas opens Lydia's eyes to the many areas of need including that of helping prostitutes escape the lives they never wanted or no longer want. They both had areas of their heart they needed to work on whether it was realizing that not everyone in the church is a hypocrite and that you can't save the world on your own, or learning to care more about following God and helping those in need than the way others view you. I loved watching their relationship, they were exactly what each other needed and their romance was quiet and sweet.
There were several characters in this book that I would have quite happily smacked but there were also a great number of lovable ones and together they made a wonderful story!
I loved the way the author clearly highlighted an area that can be hard to hear for some Christians. The fact that we are to be doers of the Word and not hearers only, we can't just assume someone else will be the one to help those in need, God calls us all to be His hands and feet and it is our responsibility to be His light in this broken world.
In closing I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and can't wait for book two!
Meet the AuthorCarol 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 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
I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for my review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
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