From the Back Cover:
Marrying a stranger to save a ranch is one thing; losing the land on their wedding day is another.
Desperate to keep the ranch where three of her children and a husband
lie buried, Annie Gephart must marry or sell. Which of the few
bachelors in town would consider a surprise proposal to wed a plain
widow with a rebellious daughter, a spirited boy, and unpaid
taxes—without laughing in her face?
Jacob Hendrix has never fully let go of his ranching dreams despite
ending up as a small Wyoming town’s marshal. The job wouldn’t be so bad,
except he’s more errand boy than lawman. When Annie proposes marriage
without a single coquettish bat of an eyelash, can he commit himself to a
woman he hardly knows for a choice piece of property he’d be an idiot
to pass up?
But taxes aren’t all that threaten Annie and Jacob’s plans. Cattle
rustlers, crumbling friendships, and wayward children make this marriage
of convenience anything but. When they lose what they’ve sacrificed
everything to save, will the love of a stranger be enough?
My Thoughts:
As an enthusiast of the marriage of convenience trope, I do believe
this is one of the sweetest renderings I've ever read. I love to ponder unique reasons people might have married without affection in times past and delight to see strangers choose love over self-preservation as they give of themselves to make things work.
This story takes a realistic
look at the struggles of a destitute widow and the kind, practical marshal who marries her
to save her ranch. In this partnership, the marshal takes on a needy family he has the means to care for and a choice piece of property which reminds him him of the reason he came west. But when the ranch they married for is suddenly taken away, awkwardness ensues. Cattle rustlers, grieving children, and a sooner-than-expected attraction clutter this new marriage relationship now balancing on a wobbly foundation.
I sympathized with
Annie as she struggled to preserve her family dynamic after the loss of a spouse and many buried children and make room in her heart for a new husband as society tells her she's too soon a widow. Jacob (steadfast, wise, sacrificial, distracted-grin-inducing, wish-he-weren't-fiction Jacob) is a fixer. He tries to discern God's leading in
his life, tries to do his best in a demeaning, title-only marshal job, tries to fix his crumbling relationship with his best friend, tries to settle into his new role as father
and husband, tries to woo his grieving wife, and tries to catch cattle rustlers
before he finally learns to trust God's timing in situations he can't seem to change. And Celia...I know Celia. I
believe we all have had Celias in our life, and even displayed Celia's flaws in some
stage of our character development--desperation to avoid change and fighting to create her own security. Her difficult arc is the novel's concrete foundation, the dark sky from which glows all the celestial, heart-warming moments of this story. Then there is smallest of this make-shift family and possibly my favorite character, Spencer, full of hugs and sunshine, mischief and sticky buns.
Through
the years I
have read every Melissa Jagears book I could get my hands on, and this
is my
new favorite. True-to-life
characters are the shining glory of this novel and a trademark Melissa
Jagears carries beautifully. As I've mentioned in other reviews of her
books, her immersive, heart-deep writing style calls to mind the
tried-and-trusted work of one of my favorite novelists, Lori Wick.
While all the characters are flawed
in their own way, I cheered them along as they faced emotional
struggles, family conflict, marital issues, delinquent juveniles, dangerous
cattle rustlers, and political corruption.
Themes of
loneliness, societal pressures, blended families, grief, and loss were
portrayed in touching, relatable ways. Now I'm counting the days until I hear what's next in the Frontier Vows series.
Let's chat!
This book is set in Wyoming. Have you ever been there or read a book set there that sticks in your memory? It's a beautiful, rugged, sometimes lonely place. What are your thoughts about it?
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