The Best of Intentions

“The Best of Intentions” by Susan Anne Mason is a post W.W.I novel. We find Grace Abernathy in England trying to keep her family together. Her mother is very ill and wants to see her older daughter who has immigrated to Canada with her husband, and who is now a widow with a young son. Her husband was killed in the war.

When Grace gets to Toronto, she finds that her sister has died and whose son is living with his paternal relatives. The Easton’s never accepted their son’s wife because of her low social station. Grace knows that going to their door and introducing herself would cause them to deny her access to the boy. She finds out that they need a nanny for young Christopher and since no one has ever seen her before, changes her name and is hired to look after her nephew.

The boy’s guardian is his uncle Andrew Easton, who is betrothed to a spoiled girl who has no intention of raising Christopher as her own, but plans to send him away to boarding school. Grace finds herself falling for Andrew and now has to find a way to keep him from making a great mistake in marrying the selfish woman.

I enjoyed this novel and also the storyline. I am a reader of historical novels and historical romance novels and loved this one.

Grace Abernathy comes to Canada to be with her widowed sister and is shocked to find things are not as she’d thought them to be! She is a resourceful young lady and her journey to finding her way is rocky and keeps us turning the pages.

Andrew has his own rocky way to navigate and at times you want to smack him and other times you are cheering him on. The dance Grace and Andrew have in navigating their way through their place in society and their feelings for one another, keeps you guessing right up until the end. Will they figure things out? Is there hope?

Phwew! One of my favorite characters, besides the main characters, is Andrew’s sister, Virginia. I want to be her friend in real life!

The Best of Intentions is set in Toronto, Canada. I was especially thrilled to have a book set in my city and the history is so interesting. I look forward to book # 2 in the series: The Highest of Hopes.



Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.

The Best Of Intentions by Susan Anne Mason is a perfectly charming historical novel and the first book in the Canadian Crossings series.
The setting is 1919 as the world recovers from World War I and the Spanish flu epidemic which followed. So many families suffered losses.
The novel is about fulfilling a sister’s wishes and caring for her baby son. Babies have the capacity to soften hearts and help to heal losses.
There are the themes of guilt and earning love from a parent. One young man has been forever in his brother’s shadow, trying to earn the affections of his father. Now he feels guilty because he is the one left living when he knows he is his father’s second choice. The reader is reminded that God loves us all equally. There are no favourites in God’s Kingdom, neither do we need to earn His love. God loves each and every one of us unconditionally.
1919 saw a new world emerging but some still cling to the old order of things – marriages were alliances of wealth and status rather than for love. It takes courage to break away from this.
The characters are delightful. They are warm and welcoming, their interactions are charming. There are friendships that cross class divides as hearts are drawn to another.
I really loved The Best Of Intentions. I could not put it down and devoured it in just two sittings – only pausing to sleep! I am looking forward to the subsequent books.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

This book was fun, intense, meaningful and beautiful.

I adored the relationships among Grace, Andrew and Virginia.

Andrew was kind and most of the time a gentleman. Though he did become a jerk later on. (more about that later.)

Grace, a lovely, and humble lady. Though she was not always gracious. She made mistakes like everyone else.

Their love was sweet yet forbidden. But not even Drew's father's social standards could keep them from falling for each other. Hard and fast.

I'm not gonna lie, there were times I hated Andrew. He was a jerk for most the back half of the book. I almost wanted him to suffer the terrible fate he'd created from his own hands. THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DON'T TRUST GOD WITH YOUR FUTURE!!!
Andrew needed a good purse whacking and I wished someone would have given it to him.

I did feel the drama dragged on. I wasn't sure where things would end up but I was very content with the ending.

So why did I dislike Andrew most of the time?
Because he could forgive everyone but Grace. He perceived her to be a perfect person. And when he learned she was only human, he was disappointed he was wrong, and took it out on her!

I was a little disappointed by the lack of faith content, and honestly, if the characters had been more faithful, I believe things would have turned out differently.

I did absolutely adore Susan's writing style and her amazing ability to draw a reader in.

Trigger warning: there was a pretty intense kissing scene. Other than that it was clean!