Review: A Chance at Forever

Amazon Link

Genre: Historical romance (Early 1900s United States)

Subgenres: Inspirational/Clean

Heat Level: Sweet

Note: To allow for a small tangent, this review is a tiny but longer than the one I’m leaving on Amazon.

This is the second book I’ve read by Melissa Jagears in The Teaville Moral Society series. I picked up the first A Heart Most Certain -  several months ago when I was looking for something light to read. It was available on Kindle Unlimited, making it a low-risk way to check out an author I was not familiar with. You can read my review of A Heart Most Certain here.

 I received my copy of A Chance at Forever through the Bethany House book reviewers program. Lest anyone think I chose books based on how little I have to pay for them, I fully plan to head back to Amazon and actually buy the 2^nd book in this series: A Love so True. I want to know how Evelyn meets her man!

I’m still kind of put off by the series title, but luckily, that didn’t hold back my enjoyment of this story. Besides, the snooty church ladies in The Moral(istic) Society don’t make as much of an appearance in A Chance at Forever as they do in A Heart Most Certain. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons I liked A Chance at Forever even more than A Heart Most Certain.

The theme really resonated with me as well. Aaron goes back to Teaville to seek the forgiveness of those he bullied. The aptly named heroine, Mercy, was one of the people at the receiving end of Aaron’s bullying. The story is as much about Aaron’s redemption as it is about the people from whom he seeks forgiveness. Not all of them are as merciful as Mercy. This is something anyone who seeks forgiveness has to come to terms with. You won’t always be granted forgiveness just because you seek it.  

As with A Heart Most Certain, the subject matter can get a bit gritty. The orphanage where Mercy and Aaron work is in the business of recuing women from a life of prostitution and caring for the children who parents don’t make it out in time. Nevertheless, the subject is handled in a delicate way. I wouldn’t think twice of lending this book to my teenage daughter.

While you don’t necessarily need to read the stories of The Teaville Moral Society in order, I would recommend reading A Heart Most Certain first. More fully understanding the background of the orphanage and the plague that the red light district in Teaville has become will make the story that much more enjoyable.