Synopsis
In this powerful story of redemption and love, a prodigal young woman from the hills of Virginia flees the men who lured her away from a godly upbringing into a life of desperation. Taking on a new identity, Mary Bridget Washburn escapes to the quaint city of Alexandria, Virginia, where her path crosses that of a widowed minister with three young children and daunting problems of his own. Can Mary Bridget and her tainted past stay hidden long enough for her to bring hope to a family falling apart?
Library Journal
Romance novelist Nichols (Handyman) enters the Christian market with this contemporary tale of love and suspense. Abandoning her godly upbringing after the siblings she raised for years are placed in foster care, Mary Bridget ("Bridie") Washburn flees the hills of Virginia with a man who forces her into a life of crime. She eventually reports him to the police and strikes out on her own. Assuming a new identity, Bridie lives a quiet life until she meets a teenaged girl begging God for help. Alasdair MacPherson, the girl's father, is a widowed pastor struggling to raise three children after his wife's suicide. When he hires Bridie as a nanny for his troubled family, her faith is rekindled, and she and Alasdair slowly fall in love. But their happiness is threatened when the man Bridie sent to jail is released and tracks her down seeking vengeance. Although the drama created by the suicide of Alasdair's wife offsets the stock characters and predictable plot, the characters' cool acceptance of it and lack of moral condemnation of her or the deed may trouble more conservative Christian readers. For larger collections. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.