Book Review: A Time of Proving by Alena Mentink

Title: A Time of Proving

Series: Home to Osceola #2

Author: Alena Mentink

Where to buy: Amazon (affiliate link)

Genre: Christian Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance

Would I recommend: If you love a story set in a small town that’s chock full of second chances, forgiveness, and sweet romance, this is for you!

Synopsis:

She lost her family to tragedy. He lost his when he ran away. What will second chances cost them?

Miriam Locklin thought she could keep her family together, just as her deceased parents would have wished. But when she is banished to a small Midwestern town to live with an uncle she’s never met, she realizes the fight for her family may be harder than she ever imagined. And she has no one in the little town of Osceola to fight for her.

Determined to clear his name, Jase Hoffman returns to his hometown of Osceola to prove he’s not the villain everyone believes him to be. Facing the people he left behind is no easy task. When he unexpectedly meets Miriam—for the second time—he can’t help but be drawn to her. But his broken relationships prove he’s no good at family.

As their feelings for each other grow stronger, one man could destroy everything Jase and Miriam hold dear. Yet love is only true if it’s been tested…and the hardest test is yet to come.

A Time of Proving can be read as a standalone or as a continuation of the Home to Osceola series. Faith and danger mix on the Nebraska prairie, and characters discover the value of family ties and love. Fans of Lauraine Snelling and Tracie Peterson are sure to enjoy.

Miriam Locklin wants more than anything to keep her siblings together. But when her aunt and uncle in Omaha can no longer sustain caring for all seven of the Locklin children and divide them up among other relatives, Miriam despairs of them ever being together again. She’s sent to live with an unknown uncle in the small town of Osceola. The only bright side she can see is that moving to this out-of-the-way place might keep an unwanted suitor from pursuing her.

Jason (Jase) Hoffman has a good job in Omaha, doing what he loves – building. He encounters Miriam when he rescues her from that unwanted suitor, but trouble finds him soon after. He sees no option other than retreating back home to Osceola. He doesn’t expect a warm welcome, and when his father tells him he must prove himself to the family by spending a year in the family farming business rather than pursuing the construction work he enjoys, he isn’t sure he’ll make the year.

This is the second in Alena Mentink’s Home to Osceola series, but I was able to read it as a stand-alone without any problem. I want to read the first, and I’m sure hoping there will be more! Her writing style is gentle and easy to read, but there are enough moments of high tension to keep the pages turning.

Miriam and Jase are both such likable characters! They each had baggage from their past – Miriam, her determination to keep her family together (and her insistence that doing so meant no marriage for her), and Jase, the event from his past for which most of the people of Osceola have judged him harshly (and continue to do so). They both hung onto that baggage so hard that sometimes I wanted to reach into the pages and shake them! And Miriam carries such a burden of responsibility for her younger siblings that it’s easy to forget she’s just a teenager herself. I had to keep that in mind when she thought Jase was sweet on another young woman in town (and reacted like a teenager would).

Faith is an important part of this story, too. Miriam’s uncle in Osceola is a preacher (and quite a delight himself!). Both Miriam and Jase turn to their faith when life presents challenges, and both are willing to admit when they’ve been trying to handle things on their own without seeking God’s plan for a situation.

With its themes of second chances, redemption, forgiveness, and finding courage to face your past, A Time of Proving is a heartwarming read. There are suspenseful situations to keep the story moving along nicely, and plenty of moments that made me laugh right out loud. This is the first of Alena Mentink’s books I’ve read, but it won’t be the last!

Disclaimer: I received an advance copy of the book from JustRead Publicity Tours. I was not required to leave a review. All opinions here are mine, and I don’t say nice things about books I don’t actually like.