From This Day Forward by Lauraine Snelling

From This Day Forward by Lauraine Snelling is the fourth book in the Song of Blessing series.  I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I get when Lauraine Snelling comes out with a new book about the town of Blessing!  She has written twenty books (compiled into 5 series) about the Bjorkland family and the people of Blessing and I never tire of this family that I have come to love!  When I get a new book I devour it!  It's like getting a letter from home.  There are a only a handful of books that have made me cry while reading them and a couple of them have been Lauraine Snelling books about Blessing.  I am so connected with this family that when something happens, it's like it is happening to my family.

One great thing about Lauraine's books is that you don't necessarily have to start from the very beginning.  She writes her novels in such a way that you don't feel lost.  The first book I read was from the Daughter's of Blessings series.  I loved it so much and became so interested in the family that I when I learned that it was a part of a bigger story I just had to go back and start from the beginning.  So even though this book is a great stand alone story I would encourage you, if you have not already read the rest of the books, to go back to the beginning.  I don't think you will be sorry!

Each book usually features a different characters life, but one thing I love about these books is that even though the story may focus primarily on a certain character, there is plenty story dedicated to the rest of the town and to the matriarch of the whole series, Ingaborg Bjorkland.  It really is an ongoing story of the Bjorkland family and the people of the town of Blessing, but with each book you get to know certain characters a little better.

In From This Day Forward Deborah MacCallister, head nurse at the Blessing hospital, has loved Toby Valders since her school days, but she's had enough of their on-again, off-again relationship. Toby truly cares for Deborah, but he's never felt like he could commit to marriage or a family.

When Anton Genddarm, the new schoolteacher, comes to town, the young women of Blessing see a chance to force Toby's hand with a little strategic matchmaking. But real sparks fly between Deborah and Anton, and she finds herself in an even more complicated situation. The attention she gets from Anton makes Toby do some serious soul-searching, but is it too late?

Then Deborah receives an invitation to study the latest advances in nursing at a hospital in Chicago, and she faces a hard choice. To leave or stay? Should she give up on the dream of Toby and accept the interest of Anton?
Thank you so much Lauraine Snelling for another beautifully written story!  

***Thanks to Bethany House Publishing for providing me with Streams of Mercy in exchange for my honest review.