An Inspiring Historical Romance: A Love So True, by Melissa Jagears

Saturday, May 20, 2017

Genre: Historical Fiction

Rating:❤❤❤❤❤

Series: Book two in the Teaville Moral Society series- Engaging the Competition (a novella) and A Heart Most Certain (book one)

About:

Evelyn Wisely has a heart for the orphans of Teaville and works at a local mansion that rescues children out of the town's red-light district and gives them a place to live. But her desire to help isn't limited to orphans. The owner of the mansion, Nicholas Lowe, is willing to help her try to get the women working in prostitution out of the district as well--if she can gain the cooperation and support of local businessmen to go against the rest of the community.

David Kingsman has recently arrived in Teaville from Kansas City to help with one of his father's companies in town. While he plans on staying only long enough to prove his business merit to his father, he's shown interest in Evelyn's work and is intrigued enough by her to lend his support to her cause.

They begin with the best of intentions, but soon the complications pile up and Evelyn and David's dreams look more unattainable every day. When the revelation of a long-held secret creates a seemingly insurmountable rift between them, can they trust God still has a good plan for them despite all that is stacked against them?

Description from Amazon.com

My Review:

To others, Evelyn appears to be passionate and driven, yet distant and reserved, and that is partly the way I saw her, even though I (the reader) was privy to all her thoughts and feelings- it was kind of hard to "get to know" her. However, she carries secrets, and once they were brought to the light, I understood and sympathized with her much more. Her slightly reserved, driven personality was a wonderful contrast to David Kingsman's happy, less driven one. He lends a lightness and joy to her, and she, in turn, complements him and shows him perseverance and drive. To read the end of the novel and then glance back at the beginning, to see how all the characters had grown and progressed, was very fulfilling. Also, Evelyn and David were so sweet together, and I loved their relationship! It was so refreshing, in light of all the bad relationships in books and movies you see out there today.
Book one in the Teaville Moral Society series left a few stories unfinished, and while also forging a new one, A Love So True fills you in on some of them (and I have a feeling the next book[s] will continue to do so). This way, the stories are different, yet inevitably similar, which I love. Readers also a fan of Nicholas and Lydia (book one) will get plenty of great chances for catching up.
I also appreciated the cover photos. They look both beautiful and faithful to the time period, as well as staying true to the book. Gotta love a cover that achieves all that!
As a side note, the novella (or even book one, for that matter) is not vital to reading and enjoying this Teaville Moral Society novel; however, it is much more fulfilling and entertaining when you do so. I know I enjoyed A Love So True much more because of them.

So what's next for the members of the Teaville moral society? I'm eager to find out!

Note: I got this book from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

2 Comments

Korin

2 lovely thoughts

RissiJune 19, 2017 at 9:02 PM
This is a book I'll have to make time for eventually. Melissa writes with a really clear, easy to enjoy voice (which isn't something I often find in historical), so I do like to read her books. Thanks for reviewing this one and the reminder to read it! :)
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