About this book:
“Six
years ago, a shocking secret sent Agnes Pratt running in search of a new start.
She found it in Penance, a rugged town of miners and lumberjacks in the Dakota Territory,
where she became Miss Aggie, respected schoolteacher and confirmed old maid.
But the past has a way of catching up with people.
When childhood friend and former
sweetheart James Harris accepts a position as the town doctor, Aggie's
pleasantly predictable days suddenly become anything but. James wants to know
why Agnes left behind the life they had dreamed of creating for themselves--but
he is the one person who can never know.
Can a healing light be shed on the
past? Or will the secret Agnes can't seem to outrun destroy her chance at
happiness?”
Series: As of now, no, but Sam will be a side character in the author’s 2022
release.
Spiritual Content- Prayers & Thanking God; Mentions of God &
faiths; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions
of Heaven, being in God’s hands, & peace; Mentions of
churches, church going, & hymns; Mentions of miracles; Mentions
of blessings & being blessed; A mention of a book of sermons;
*Note: A couple mentions of a man
looking like a Grecian god.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blast it all’, a ‘stupid’, two
forms of ‘blast’; A mention of cursing (said, not written); Some eye
rolling; Seeing those with scarlet fever, deaths, & pain from it
all (semi-detailed); A fire, injuries, & pain (semi-detailed);
Hitting someone (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of illnesses & deaths
(barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of fires, injuries, burn victims’ pain,
& deaths (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of injuries, pain,
blood/bleeding, & doctor activities about all of it (up to semi-detailed);
Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of saloons, drinking, & alcohol
(James mentions that there had been some nights he’d longed to join those in
the saloons); Mentions of threatening to use the switch on children; Mentions
of hateful people & prejudices; Mentions of rumors, gossip, &
busybodies; A couple mentions of a brawl causing a fire; A couple mentions
of tobacco; A couple mentions of human waste; A couple mentions of vomiting; A
couple mentions of hunting & hunters;
*Note: (Not Negative Content, necessarily,
but a trigger warning) Mentions of a baby passing away & the
family’s pain (barely-above-not-detailed).
Sexual Content- A fingers
kiss, check kisses, two nose kisses, four head/forehead kisses,
a not-detailed kiss, two barely-above-not-detailed kiss, and two semi-detailed
kisses; Recalling past kisses (one up to semi-detailed, all the rest
are barely-above-not-detailed); Touches & Nearness (barely-above-not-detailed);
Wanting to be kissed, touched, & embraced (barely-above-not-detailed); Noticing,
Staring, Blushes, & Winks; Many mentions of
illegitimate children (*Major Spoiler* including Aggie *End of Spoiler*); Mentions
of saloon girls/prostitutes (including one who got pregnant (and wasn’t
her fault) and that the baby did not make it); Mentions of kisses, kissing,
& touches (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of inappropriate teasing
from James towards Aggie (nothing over the top, mentions of sharing a
blanket or bed and having babies); Mentions of courting & past
relationships; A few mentions of men taking about Aggie’s curves (&
Sam puts a stop to it); A couple mentions of a (sick) man sleeping in a single
woman’s bed (without her, nothing improper happens); A
couple mentions of a bold man trying to put his arm around Agnes; A couple
mentions of chaperones; A couple mentions of flirting; A couple
mentions of jealousy; A mention of a married couple “playing games” when
the children are asleep; A mention of a prostitute’s oft-used bed; A
mention of passionate love letters; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: Helping a woman in labor
& her pain and screams (& cursing her husband for getting her “in this
fix”, up to semi-detailed); A couple mentions of a young student asking
how babies got inside of their mothers & that after he was told, that it
didn’t seem so complicated.
-Agnes “Aggie” Pratt, age 24
-James Harris, age 25
P.O.V.
switches between them & Sam
Set in 1880 (Prologue in 1874 and Epilogue years later)
330 pages
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Rachel Fordham has become an
author that I really enjoy and make an effort to get her newest book whenever
it releases. Life has been a little busy since this one was released last year,
but I finally got around to reading it now.
I’ve read Christian Fiction
Historical books before that talk about illegitimate children, but none of them
have had the compassion and sincerity that “A Life Once Dreamed” had. The
past books I’ve read with illegitimate children or grown adults in them was
more along the lines of the main character being “oh, that’s wrong to look down
on them because of that” but never speaks up about it. Aggie was not that
character. She was completely enraged by the unjustness of the hateful words towards
those who could not control how they were born. And she spoke about it often.
So while I never really into
Aggie and James’ story or romance, I did really like her as a character and
James eventually won me over by the end. He acted like a sulking child towards
Aggie at first and while I understood why (I’d probably be sulky too), I
enjoyed the overall plotline rather than just the romance side.
I think I would rank this as my
least favorite book by this author—but! That is not because I didn’t enjoy it—I
definitely did—it’s just that I enjoyed her previous two books more. 😉 I’m quite excited about her next
book and seeing where it falls in the line up.
See y’all on Friday with a new
review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this
author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
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