Book description:
As Norah King surveys her family land in Iowa in 1880, she is acutely aware that it is all she has left, and she will do everything in her power to save it–even if that means marrying a man she hardly knows. Days before her wedding, Norah discovers an injured man on her property. Her sense of duty compels her to take him in and nurse him back to health. Little does she realize just how much this act of kindness will complicate her life and threaten the future she’s planned.
Norah’s care does more than aid Quincy Barnes’s recovery–it awakens his heart to possibilities. Penniless and homeless, he knows the most honorable thing he can do is head on down the road and leave Norah to marry her intended. But walking away from the first person to believe in him proves much harder than he imagined.
Rachel Fordham invites you to experience the strength and beauty of love forged in the crucible of hardship in this heartwarming story.
Mr review:
I have been a long time Rachel Fordham fan since her first book release. Yours Truly Thomas has been my overall favorite but this book is soo good that I think YTT has competition! And how fitting that the main hero used to be a boxer.
Norah and Quincey have a lot of hardship that they need to overcome. They try their best to help others and make reconciliation. Its a second chance romance. Their first meeting years ago could’ve been better. It doesn’t help that Quincey was almost dead and unconscious a lot. Interested already? Yes I devoured this book and couldn’t stop reading. I think Fordham did a great job making a believable world and problem, especially for the midwest in the 1880s I think its totally plausible.
I loved Norah and Quincey together whenever they’d talk. Norah needed healing but that doesn’t mean she’s weak. She has a strong spirit. I especially loved how she loves books and reading and would even start a book club with Quincey. If you’ve read Fordham’s past books, some characters are mentioned in other books. This book has our beloved Sam from her “A Life Once Dreamed” book. It was wonderful seeing him in this book.
This book has many themes of redemption, forgiveness, moving forward with faith, love, hope and service. It does deal with the gritty sides of a midwestern town with working girls in a saloon but nothing is overly graphic.
I was asked by the author to beta read this last year and I was blown away by it! It was so hard not to shout about it for months until it got closer to the release date. These are my own thoughts and opinions.
Books and Socks Rock 