Mary's getting pressure to agree to a marriage with someone she's known since childhood. She resists and sees a way out when she becomes reacquainted with the baker, Barnabas. He's lost his wife and has two small children to raise. He needs a mother for them but feels like he'll never stop loving his dead wife. Mary knows this but agrees to the marriage anyway. She's fallen in love and hopes he'll love her eventually.
Barnabas plans to take his family to the colonies, a detail he fails to mention to his soon-to-be wife. He is also critical of the way she does things and harasses her about getting pregnant. He wants to start a legacy in the colonies, complete with an ornate headstone that he plans to ship over from England.
The book is full of descriptions about early life in the colonies. At times, these can get long, but if you're interested in that subject, you'll probably enjoy it. For me, it became a bit tedious.
"Poor Mary." That was my thought while reading this. She spends the entire book trying to please Barnabas while he spends the entire book taking her for granted, comparing her to his dead wife and asking her if she's pregnant. Sure, he takes care of her basic needs, but it's clear that Mary longs for his love. Even though she knew what she was getting into, it was still heartbreaking to see what she had to put up with just to get what she wanted at the very end. I disliked 'Barney' a LOT, so the end wasn't satisfying for me.
From the descriptions, I didn't recognize any of the characters from the second book, but the third one has Patience Terry and Barney's brother, Jeremy. While Jeremy was hands-down my favorite character, I'm not enthusiastic about continuing the series.
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