Maine Brides

My friend Amanda got me this book along with one other for Christmas. She knows me so well. I think I more excited about books than anything else. It's sad I know. Anyway, it's got 3 short stories in it about 3 women from Maine and how they end up becoming brides. There are a lot of Christian principles in the book as well.

The first story is called The Prisoner's Wife and takes place in 1720. And it's about a girl named Lucy who loves and has always loved Jack Hunter, but put her feelings aside to obey her father. Jack Hunter's dad was a bad man in their town of Maine and did all kinds of things wrong. One morning they find a man in the town murdered with Jack's ax by his dead body. Jack is taken to jail and calls on Lucy to come to the jail even though they have not spoken in 4 years. Jack finds out that if he is hanged by the town, then his farm and everything he's worked hard for (hoping the town would forget the doings of his father) will be sold to anyone who wants the land and house. Jack does not want this to happen and asks Lucy to marry him so that the farm and everything that he owns will go to Lucy. The story continues with Lucy's struggles as the wife of a man in prison for a crime he didn't commit.

The second story is called The Castaway's Bride and takes place in 1820. This story is about a man named Edward (this name holds a special place in my heart) who's ship wrecked 5 years earlier. He has been on an abandoned island until one day another ship ends up stopping there and brings him back to his hometown in Maine. He was engaged to Abigail before he left. When he comes back home he doesn't necessarily expect to find her still pining for him, but he also doesn't expect to find what he does...that she's now engaged to his cousin, Jacob. Abigail's sister Deborah, stands up for Edward and says that Abigail had promised her heart to Edward before he left, but didn't expect to fall in love with Edward herself. Neither Edward or Deborah have expected these feelings to arise and this story talks about their struggles and how they eventually overcome them.

The last story is called The Lumberjack's Lady and takes place in 1895. Etienne LeClair, a french man from a town outside of Quebec, works for Mr. Hunter at a camp for lumberjacks who cut down wood to sell to others who need it to build. He hears a woman scream and runs to find Mr. Hunter's daughter Letitia in the water of a frozen pond. He rescues her, and is then offered a job at Mr. Hunter's office helping with orders from patrons in town and taking notes when Mr. Hunter has meetings. Letitia can't help but have feelings for her rescuer, but knows her father would not approve since Etienne's social class is well below hers. They end up working together everyday in Mr. Hunter's office and the fondenss they have for each other continues to grow.

These love stories were a nice change of pace of reading. I've got another book to read just like this one that I'll be pouring in to after I read my new Stephanie Plum novel I got in the mail today. I'm so excited. I love the Plum novels.

If you ever want to borrow a book to read that catches your interest, please let me know and I'd be glad to get it to you!!