Book Description:
In early 1900s Kansas, Mercy McClain, determined to protect Teaville's children from the bullying she experienced as a child, finds fulfillment working at the local orphanage and serving on the school board. When Aaron Firebrook, the classmate who bothered her more than any other, petitions the board for a teaching position, she's dead set against him getting the job.
Aaron knows he deserves every bit of Mercy's mistrust, but he's returned to his hometown a changed man and is seeking to earn forgiveness of those he wronged. He doesn't expect Mercy to like him, but surely he can prove he now has the best interests of the children at heart.
Will resentment and old wounds hold them back, or can Mercy and Aaron put the past behind them in time to face the unexpected threats to everything they're working for?
https://amzn.to/2EvSXaC
https://amzn.to/2EvSXaC
About the Author:
Much to her introverted self's delight, ACFW Award winner and double INSPY finalist Melissa Jagears hardly needs to leave her home to be a homeschooling mother and novelist. She lives in Kansas with her husband and three children and can be found online at: www.melissajagears.com
My Thoughts:
G. Aaron Firebrook returns to Teaville in hopes of finding a teaching job, as well as making amends for his past behaviors. In his school days, Aaron was known as the school bully. He was relentless in who he targeted and how he bullied them. But, Aaron is no longer that school yard bully. He has turned his life around and is now applying for a teacher position in the same place where he had been a student. By dropping “George” from his name and now going by Aaron, he hopes no one will make the connection. Unfortunately, the first person to recognize him is Mercy McClain.
Mercy recognizes Aaron as the boy who tormented her in school. Because of her partial arm, one of his names for her was “Stumpy.” Mercy couldn’t fathom why Aaron would be back, and as a teacher. There was no way she would allow him to be given a teaching job, because there was no way that Aaron, aka George the bully, had changed. Or had he?
As the story unfolds, we get to know more of Aaron's life and background. Piece by piece the author gives us insight into what drove his past behavior, as well as his present behavior. Getting to know Mercy also helps one understand her feelings, her hurts, and her struggle with forgiveness. The story also makes one reflect on how easily one can become judgmental to the point of not recognizing in one self some of the same behaviors we judge or criticize in others. Although the story is set in the past, the story and its message is timeless. With A Chance At Forever, author Melissa Jagears has skillfully handled the topic of bullying and entwined it with forgiveness, love, and some twists and turns that will keep you turning pages making it a story you definitely won’t want to miss.
