Dealing with tough and sad issues involving children, I was not expecting to enjoy this book as much as I ended up doing. To be fair there were parts of the plot describing appalling conditions for the children working on Canadian farms, which I found thoroughly disturbing, but other parts were about how a close relationship between Julia and Quinn got room to develop in the middle of all the drama as well as descriptions of their life in Canada. We also got to follow Julia when she dealt with her very own problems. Secrecy, pride and stubbornness seemed to be at the core of the entire plot. I found descriptions of all the restraints society put on women of the time interesting.

War veteran, family man and Earl’s of Brentwood’s personal valet Quinten Aspinall – Quinn, has made a very big promise to his father before his death to keep the family together. He has made it through the war with minor injuries and seems a level headed and well put together man who believes in the guidance of God and generally trying to do the right thing.
He is asking for leave of absence to travel to Canada in order to bring siblings Becky, Cecil and Harry, 18, 16 and 12, home. The earl hires him to find his niece and bring her home with them.
I enjoy following his though process as he is dealing with the tough experiences of this story. He gets very concerned along the way when he is told appalling stories of children having been gravely mistreated as free labor on farms. Quinn has to get creative to get information about his siblings whereabouts. He trusts God to guide him and keep him safe on his quest. His faith helps him through his hardships and descriptions of this runs strong through the story. Throughout the story he is met with experiences that challenge his view of life as well as his values, and he needs all his strength and down-to-earth personality traits to carry him through the events he encounters. I found him a thoroughly nice guy. He impressed me. Well done for creating such a likable and well rounded up character.

Julia Holloway, earl’s niece, went off to Canada as personal caregiver to Private McIntyre. Following his suicide, she lives in dire straits in Toronto. When Quinn inquires after his “fellow soldier”, he finds Julia scrubbing floors at the military hospital for a pittance.
She harbors secrets she feels vital to keep from Quinn and the earl. She expects to feel even further disgraced, so she refuses to speak to him. The earl has dangled a very tempting «carrot» in front of Quinn, making it essential for him to keep Julia safe and bring her back to England. I was relieved to see the relationship between Julia and Quinn develop in spite of all the constraints within themselves and in society.

I enjoyed the writing a lot as it managed to draw me into the plot and make the reading quite captivating. It was probably not the best idea to jump right into installment #3 of Canadian Crossings. I anticipated encountering some short comings in my knowledge about a storyline running through all the books, but felt there were no issues at all reading this as a standalone. It was a quick and easy read I was sad to see end, but still there is the option of reading books #1 and 2, which I look forward to.

I recommend The Brightest of Dreams in the Canadian Crossings Series for fans of Susan Anne Mason and for readers of historical romance fiction. Thank you to publisher Bethany House and NetGalley for this eARC, which gives me the chance to share my honest review. All opinions are completely my own.