Love's Sweet Beginning by Ann Shorey - REVIEWED

About the Book:

It isn't Cassie Haddon’s fault she's managed to reach the age of twenty-five without possessing any useful skills.

Until the war, she always had servants to wait on her. After the war, she and her widowed mother moved from place to place, relying on family to care for them.

Now she’s forced to find work to support them both. What isn’t in her plans is falling for Jacob West, a local restauranteur and grocer. She needs a job and he needs help. But can either of them see their need for love? 

Don't miss this tale of two people, from very different backgrounds, finding common ground and the hopes of a bright future together.

My Thoughts:

“Things change,” her father has often said.  Indeed they did.”  (p. 226)

Ann Shorey has incorporated more changes in the life of Cassie Haddon and her mother Eliza than her novel Love’s Sweet Beginning can contain!  I can’t remember the last time I’ve witnessed such a phenomenal transformation in the lives of an entire cast of characters!  I first thought that Cassie and her mother were the sole focus of the transformational process, but I don’t think there was a single character whose life wasn’t touched by the strength and faithfulness of Cassie’s determination.  There wasn’t anything that she wouldn’t face head on – even though it terrified her!  She knew what had to be done, and she took one bold step after another until she arrived at a better place. 

Cassie didn’t have any marketable skills, but she was willing to learn.  She didn’t shy away from hard work, and she didn’t let her failures keep her from trying again and again.  At first I thought her mother was just dead weight in the story, but I think the truth of her life made Cassie’s life even more precious! Eliza surprised me!!

And precious Jacob West….his success was hard earned, and his compassion for others and his willingness to give everyone a second chance made him a hero in every since of the word!  Yet he still faced shadows of his past.  He had much to overcome as well. 

This entire story is filled with folks that never quit.  They just do the next right thing, regardless of circumstance, and keep going.  Every reader will be well satisfied when the reach the end of this novel.  There is no shortage of trouble, but each challenge brings surprising changes and rewards. Love’s Sweet Beginning is a fantastic novel, and one that I am happy to recommend!

About the Author:

ANN SHOREY has been a story collector for most of her life. Her writing has appeared in Chicken Soup for the Grandma's Soul, and in the Adams Media Cup of Comfort anthologies. She made her fiction debut with the At Home in Beldon Grove series for Revell. The Edge of Light, released in January 2009, is the first in the series, followed by The Promise of Morning and The Dawn of a Dream. Her new Sisters at Heart series for Revell debuted on January 1, 2012, with Where Wildflowers Bloom. Book Two, When the Heart Heals, will release Feburary 1, 2013.

When Ann's not writing, she teaches classes on historical research, story arc, and other fiction fundamentals at regional conferences. She lives with her husband in Oregon.