Reviewing: Depending On You by Melissa Jagears

 ...from the publisher...

Can the joy and hope of Christmas restore their love before it’s too late?

Leah Whitsett’s life was ideal until the disastrous day she nearly died because of her husband’s deceit. When he returns home weeks

before Christmas, she knows the best gift she can give him is forgiveness, but how can she relinquish her hard-won independence knowing he plans to turn their family’s life upside down again?

Bryant has always known his wife was a gift he’d never deserved, but how can he provide for her in a town that no longer wants anything to do with him? He longs to atone for the misery he’s put his loved ones through, but when he brings a family member home for the holidays, he and Leah may end up even further apart.

With emotions high and their marriage at stake, will the season bring the hope they need…or are their rifts too large to mend?

...my thoughts...

Depending On You by Melissa Jagears is a story of forgiveness and second chances. This is book 3 in Melissa's Frontier Vows series, and I was happy to learn that Leah's story was about to be told.  Left for dead by some hired men exacting payment for her husband's dastardly deeds, I wondered what would become of her.  She had always been a devoted wife and mother and clearly didn't receive any of what she experienced for her husband's cowardly deeds.  Now, her husband Bryant is released from prison only to find Leah distant and not ready to welcome him home with open arms.  

She lost everything because of him.  Now running the local laundry, she has had to start from scratch, something Bryant would have to do too, only he has the added stigma of being an ex-convict and hard to hire. Bryant was humbled, and willing to work at any job to start over in a town that has a long memory when it comes to trusting an untrustworthy man.

Leah was not sure she would ever allow him into her heart again, but she allowed that he was a loving father.  Witnessing her daughter's marital struggles, Leah was touched by the ways Bryant's fatherly influence guided his daughters.  I could write on about the story line, but why spoil a good book for new readers?  I recommend this book to all who enjoy Melissa Jagear's books and hopefully to those who are looking for a good story that takes you back to frontier days.  While this book could stand alone, I recommend reading Romancing the Bride, book one, and Pretending to Wed. This is a good series and I like how Melissa tied everything together, happy endings in all.