The Scent of Gardenias by Lorraine Haas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Growing up in impoverished conditions in the 1940’s, young Margaret Rose dreams of making a better life for herself. She is also determined to escape the iron rule of her father and when she meets Eugene, an older man, she finds the opportunity to do so. When Margaret Rose announces her engagement to Eugene her father is dead set against their marriage because he has already promised her hand in marriage to a neighboring farmer’s son. Margaret Rose refuses to wed the neighbor’s son and instead chooses to elope with Eugene. Margaret Rose’s hopes of a brighter future are soon dashed when she receives news that her husband has died in the war. Pregnant and alone with no money to support herself or her child, Margaret Rose is forced to return home and live with her parents.

Margaret Rose is dead set against staying with her parents and wants to pursue her nurse’s training. However, she now finds she is unable to do because she has two small children and no woman with a child can be accepted into nurse’s training. Undeterred by this, Margaret Rose finds a way to pursue her nurse’s training in New York. While there she meets a good looking and charming young man who sweeps her off her feet. Soon Margaret Rose is wed and living her dream life with a beautiful home complete with a white picket fence. However, she soon discovers that her husband has been keeping some dark secrets from her and he is not who she thought he was. As Margaret Rose starts to dig deeper into her husband’s secrets, she finds the lives of herself, and her three children are in danger. Finding herself far from home and with nobody she can trust, Margaret Rose must rely on her wits and savvy to devise a plan to save herself and her children.

This was a beautiful and poignant story of a young woman who overcame many of the challenges women faced in the 1940’s as she pursued her dream of creating a better life for herself and her children. Margaret Rose is a young woman who was well ahead of her time and her story of how she overcame insurmountable odds is a true inspiration. She is a woman to be admired as she faces each obstacle with grit, determination, and courage despite the odds being stacked against her. Margaret Rose’s story is full of raw emotion as she pursues love and acceptance from her family and from the men in her life. It will tug at your heart strings and at times leave you in tears. This book is beautifully written, and a must read for anyone that enjoys historical fiction!

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