Summary: The Brightest of Dreams (Canadian Crossings #3) by Susan Anne Mason
Quinten Aspinall is determined to fulfill a promise he
made to his deceased father to keep his family together. To do so, he must
travel to Canada to find his younger siblings, who were sent there as
indentured workers while Quinn was away at war. He is also solicited by his
employer to look for the man's niece who ran off with a Canadian soldier. If
Quinn can bring Julia back, he will receive his own tenant farm, enabling him
to provide a home for his ailing mother and siblings.
Julia Holloway's decision to come to Toronto has been met with disaster. When her uncle's employee rescues her from a bad situation, she fears she can never repay Quinn's kindness. So when he asks her to help find his sister, she agrees. Soon after, however, Julia receives some devastating news that changes everything.
Torn between reuniting his family and protecting Julia, will Quinn have to sacrifice his chance at happiness to finally keep his promise?
Julia Holloway's decision to come to Toronto has been met with disaster. When her uncle's employee rescues her from a bad situation, she fears she can never repay Quinn's kindness. So when he asks her to help find his sister, she agrees. Soon after, however, Julia receives some devastating news that changes everything.
Torn between reuniting his family and protecting Julia, will Quinn have to sacrifice his chance at happiness to finally keep his promise?
Review: The Brightest of Dreams (Canadian Crossings #3) by Susan Anne Mason
Dealing with tough and sad issues
involving children, I was not expecting to enjoy this book as much as I ended
up doing. To be fair there were parts of the plot describing appalling
conditions for the children working on Canadian farms, which I found thoroughly
disturbing, but other parts were about how a close relationship between Julia
and Quinn got room to develop in the middle of all the drama as well as
descriptions of their life in Canada. We also got to follow Julia when she
dealt with her very own problems. Secrecy, pride and stubbornness seemed to be
at the core of the entire plot. I found descriptions of all the restraints society put on women of the time interesting.
War veteran, family man and Earl’s of
Brentwood’s personal valet Quinten Aspinall – Quinn, has made a very big
promise to his father before his death to keep the family together. He has made
it through the war with minor injuries and seems a level headed and well put
together man who believes in the guidance of God and generally trying to do the
right thing.
He
is asking for leave of absence to travel to Canada in order to bring siblings
Becky, Cecil and Harry, 18, 16 and 12, home. The earl hires him to find his
niece and bring her home with them.
I
enjoy following his though process as he is dealing with the tough experiences
of this story. He gets very concerned along the way when he is told appalling stories
of children having been gravely mistreated as free labor on farms. Quinn has to
get creative to get information about his siblings whereabouts. He trusts God
to guide him and keep him safe on his quest. His faith helps him through his
hardships and descriptions of this runs strong through the story. Throughout
the story he is met with experiences that challenge his view of life as well as
his values, and he needs all his strength and down-to-earth personality traits
to carry him through the events he encounters. I found him a thoroughly nice guy. He impressed me. Well done for creating such a likable and well rounded up character.
Julia Holloway, earl’s niece, went off to Canada as personal caregiver to Private McIntyre. Following his suicide, she lives in dire straits in Toronto. When Quinn inquires after his “fellow soldier”, he finds Julia scrubbing floors at the military hospital for a pittance.
She harbors secrets she feels vital to keep from Quinn and the earl. She expects to feel even further disgraced, so she refuses to speak to him. The earl has dangled a very tempting «carrot» in front of Quinn, making it essential for him to keep Julia safe and bring her back to England. I was relieved to see the relationship between Julia and Quinn develop in spite of all the constraints within themselves and in society.
Julia Holloway, earl’s niece, went off to Canada as personal caregiver to Private McIntyre. Following his suicide, she lives in dire straits in Toronto. When Quinn inquires after his “fellow soldier”, he finds Julia scrubbing floors at the military hospital for a pittance.
She harbors secrets she feels vital to keep from Quinn and the earl. She expects to feel even further disgraced, so she refuses to speak to him. The earl has dangled a very tempting «carrot» in front of Quinn, making it essential for him to keep Julia safe and bring her back to England. I was relieved to see the relationship between Julia and Quinn develop in spite of all the constraints within themselves and in society.
I
enjoyed the writing a lot as it managed to draw me into the plot and make the
reading quite captivating. It was probably not the best idea to jump right into
installment #3 of Canadian Crossings. I anticipated encountering some short
comings in my knowledge about a storyline running through all the books, but
felt there were no issues at all reading this as a standalone. It was a quick
and easy read I was sad to see end, but still there is the option of reading
books #1 and 2, which I look forward to.
I
recommend The Brightest of Dreams in the Canadian Crossings Series for fans of
Susan Anne Mason and for readers of historical romance fiction. Thank you to
publisher Bethany House and NetGalley for this eARC, which gives me the chance
to share my honest review. All opinions are completely my own.
My
rating: 5 stars / 5
Book Details:
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers (February 4, 2020)
Publication Date: February 4, 2020
Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B07VPL4J7Y
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