A Heart Most Certain by Melissa Jagears - a book review

This is a full sized novel in the Teaville Moral Society series.  It is set in the early 20^th century. 

We first meet our heroine in the fall of 1905. Lydia King is a spunky young lady with a heart for helping others.  When her parents financial situation becomes increasingly bad, she feels her only hope in keeping them all out of the poorhouse, is to make a financially advantageous marriage.  In order to impress her demanding future mother-in-law, she must perform a nearly impossible task.  Her mother-in-law is the president of the moral society and tasks Lydia with obtaining a donation from the wealthiest man in town. The problems start when he says no. 

Faith is a strong thread throughout the book but there are also secrets and deceptions, political corruption.

This is from the publisher’s website:

“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.”

The author deals with many Christian doctrines in a subtle way.  This is definitely a Christian historical romance but isn’t at all “preachey”.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

You can read an excerpt HERE 

Learn about the author, Melissa Jagears  HERE

 

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House and Baker
Publishing Group through their book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed above are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”