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Book Review of Simple Jess (Marrying Stone, Bk 2)

Simple Jess (Marrying Stone, Bk 2)
tgriffis avatar reviewed on + 326 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


What a wonderful love story! Set in Marrying Stone, Arkansas, 1906, the mountain people, especially her mother-in-law, have taken it upon themselves to force widowed Althea Winsloe to remarry. Althea doesn't want another husband. She is happy with her young son Baby-Paisley and doesn't see a need to take on another husband, even if she does have the best corn-bottom land on the mountain. Her suitors just want the farm and her late husband's hunting dogs. She decides she will sell the dogs then maybe no one will want to marry her.

Jesse Best, called Simple Jess, is considered feeble-minded, but it was caused from a complicated birth. Just because his thinking is slow doesn't mean he isn't a man. Once he knows something, he doesn't forget it. And he's honest to a fault. He would love to have his own hunting dogs, but he doesn't have enough money. Althea makes a deal with him that he can have the dogs in exchange for helping her on the farm to get ready for winter. That's when things begin to heat up.

Several other interesting characters to make this a wonderful book. Highly recommend.