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Simple Jess (Marrying Stone #2)

by Pamela Morsi (Goodreads Author)

4.15 of 5 stars 4.15 · rating details · 661 ratings · 83 reviews

The last thing widow Althea Winsloe wanted to do was remarry. Unfortunately, her meddlesome mountain neighbors had other plans. So, one autumn night they banded together and gave Althea a shocking ultimatum: She was to find herself a husband by Christmas...or the town would do it for her!

Althea knew she had her choice of any single man in Marrying Stone, Arkansas. Yet the...more

Mass Market Paperback, 325 pages

Published April 1st 1996 by Jove

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Aug 08, 2012 Jill rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 4-5-5-stars, historical-romance-american

***5 stars***

There are books that you read yesterday and you can forget today. Others you read and can never forget. Like Simple Jess.

Widow Althea Winsloe has no desire to remarry. But it's difficult to run her farm, look after her son and cope with the heavier physical demands of getting firewood and meat for the winter. Jesse Best has three goals in life, a gun, a dog and a woman. When Jess hears that Althea wants to sell her late husband's hunting dogs, he approaches her to buy a dog. But Al...more

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Mar 27, 2012 Jane Stewart rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: rural-american-historical-romance, 4-plus-star-historical-romance, mentally-challenged

4 ½ stars. I didn’t want to stop reading. I loved the way it made me feel at the end.

STORY BRIEF:
Takes place in a rural mountain community in Arkansas in 1906. Althea’s husband died two years ago. She has a three-year-old boy. Her husband had the richest farm land in the area. Althea does not want to marry again. She wants to save the land for her son when he grows up. There are two family clans in the area, the Piggets and the McNees. Both sides want their eligible bachelor to marry Althea to g...more 4 ½ stars. I didn’t want to stop reading. I loved the way it made me feel at the end.

STORY BRIEF:
Takes place in a rural mountain community in Arkansas in 1906. Althea’s husband died two years ago. She has a three-year-old boy. Her husband had the richest farm land in the area. Althea does not want to marry again. She wants to save the land for her son when he grows up. There are two family clans in the area, the Piggets and the McNees. Both sides want their eligible bachelor to marry Althea to get the land. The town is pressuring Althea.

Althea has food put away from a garden, but she needs firewood and game/meat before winter comes. Jesse hears that she plans to sell her group of hunting dogs. He has always wanted a dog. He offers her his coins to buy one of the dogs. Instead she offers to give him all the dogs if he will do some work for her to earn them. Jesse is excited and says yes. He comes to her farm every day to work.

The townsfolk call him Simple Jess because his brain is not right. His instincts are great, he has a great work ethic, he knows and works well with animals, he’s good at hunting. But he is not good with words. He can’t explain things well. He is slow to learn new things, but once he learns something his memory of it is fine.

REVIEWER’S OPINION:
My gosh, I didn’t want to stop reading. I was so eager to see the relationship between Althea and Jesse happen and grow. At the end of the book I felt uplifted, loved, and fulfilled. That’s the reason I read romance. I want those feelings.

I loved the sex scene between Althea and Jesse. He was consuming her based on instinct and desire, not experience. I loved the way he desired her. It was darling. (Can I say “darling” about a sex scene?) It was a wonderful love scene.

I liked the variety of characters. I liked seeing what happened with the two main eligible bachelors, Eben and Oather. Eben was a despicable jerk. I enjoyed the surprise of what happened with him. Other characters were unlikeable, but that creates the story.

DATA:
Story length: 325 pages. Swearing language: mild. Sexual language: none to mild. Number of sex scenes: 3. Total number of sex scene pages: 11. Setting: 1906 Marrying Stone, Arkansas. Copyright: 1996. Genre: rural american historical romance.(less)

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Nov 13, 2010 Ridley rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: paper, 5-star, american-historical, disabled-h-h, read-2010, favorites

Widow Althea Winsloe just wants to be left alone to raise her young son as she sees fit. Unfortunately for her, the men and women of her tight-knit village in the Ozarks are determined to see her remarried, and soon. Determined to remain in control, she plans to sell her husband's well-respected pack of hunting hounds. No one's going to just marry her and take what's hers, she's saving everything on the farm for her son to inherit one day.

In the general store when Miss Althea discloses her plan...more Widow Althea Winsloe just wants to be left alone to raise her young son as she sees fit. Unfortunately for her, the men and women of her tight-knit village in the Ozarks are determined to see her remarried, and soon. Determined to remain in control, she plans to sell her husband's well-respected pack of hunting hounds. No one's going to just marry her and take what's hers, she's saving everything on the farm for her son to inherit one day.

In the general store when Miss Althea discloses her plan to sell her hounds, Jesse Best chases after her to try to buy a dog from her. Nearly strangled by his umbilical cord when he was born, he's known as "Simple Jess" to the townfolk. An honest man and hard worker, he's nonetheless often taken advantage of for his lack of wit or logic. He's a simple man, and he wants three things in life - a dog, a gun and a woman.

Seeing an opportunity, Althea makes a bargain with Jess. He can earn all the dogs by working on her farm to get her set for the coming winter. Wanting to earn a living like a man, and excited to own his own hunting dogs, Jess eagerly accepts.

This is the one book I've read that's truly captured the truth of disability. Jess was a fabulous character in that he was nothing special. He was only intractably different in other people's minds. He wasn't an inspiration to others, he was just a man whose brain didn't work quite right, but went about his life doing things his own way.

When the story is told from his perspective, there's no angst or drama from him on his otherness. He regrets that other people treat him bad or take advantage of him, and wishes that he could keep up with other people's thinking, but he doesn't see that as making him less than anyone else. He just works hard to do right the things he can do. When we read the story from his perspective, it's colored with a sense of wonder and confusion. The prose changes a bit to reflect his simpler thinking but without bogging the narrative down in awkward sentence construction or excess dialect. You see less rumination on other people's motives and more of him repeating things to himself so he won't forget.

I loved Althea as well. She's a strong woman determined to spare her son the drama she went through when her widower father remarried. She's reluctant to marry again and have her new husband slight the son that isn't his own blood. The more she works with Jess, the more she begins to appreciate a man who works hard but isn't afraid to defer to someone else's judgement when he should.

Thankfully, the book avoids a common pitfall of books dealing with disability and there's not so much as a hint of charity in Althea's relationship with Jess. Loving him doesn't make her a better person, it makes her a happy person. She genuinely values what he can contribute and is happy to compensate for his weaknesses. Bit by bit throughout the novel we see the many things she has a newfound appreciation for once she sees him as a man.

And thank goodness, because pity sex is just pathetic. When these two finally get together it's anything but charitable. Their first kiss is equal parts sweet, passionate and awkward. Jess's inexperience is tempered by his blunt honesty, and having a man plainly say how much a woman drives him mad is hot, hot.

As strong as the main couple is, and as much as I love the treatment of disability, I think the secondary characters might make the novel. The town of Marrying Stone is populated with a wide variety of characters and none of them are cardboard placeholders. Even antagonists Eben Baxley and Oather Phillips have rich backgrounds and nuanced personalities, giving the marrying plot more depth and drama. Althea and Jesse are made even more vivid by the rich characters that surround them and the colorful conversations they have with them.

Simple Jess was a pleasure to read and I'd recommend it unreservedly to anyone who loves an emotional, character-focused read.(less)

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Apr 20, 2013 Kathleen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-rom, reviewed, holiday

This book is a keeper and repeater. Have read it oodles of times. Set in the Ozark Mountains in 1906 in a small community called Marrying Stone, local busybodies try to force the widow Althea to choose a husband, either Eben Baxley or Oather Phillips, giving her three weeks to decide, until Christmas.

But the stubborn widow comes up with Bachelor C, because she wants to maintain control of the farm, so her three-year-old son can inherit it. She knows Bachelors A and B will run roughshod over her...more

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Mar 19, 2011 Denise rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone who loved The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie

Shelves: historical-romance-usa, madness-mental-imperfection, favorites, second-read-worthy, virgin-hero

This is my first read from this author and it certainly will not be my last! I found out this book follows Marrying Stone after I was more than half way through. It did not matter at all, thankfully the author manages to keep out all the back-story of the previous book so Simple Jess can be read as a stand alone.
Althea is a young widow with a small son. Her mother-in-law and the "Granny" of the mountain community are pressuring her to re-marry. She has a farm that is envied and 4 of the best...more This is my first read from this author and it certainly will not be my last! I found out this book follows Marrying Stone after I was more than half way through. It did not matter at all, thankfully the author manages to keep out all the back-story of the previous book so Simple Jess can be read as a stand alone.
Althea is a young widow with a small son. Her mother-in-law and the "Granny" of the mountain community are pressuring her to re-marry. She has a farm that is envied and 4 of the best hunting dogs and they feel this is all going to waste. The MIL, wants her to marry within her family to keep the farm within her family. She did not have a happy marriage and was abandoned by her father when he remarried. She gets a lot of flack from everyone on how she should be raising her son. Althea just wants to be left alone to raise her son in her own way without a husband trying to control her.
I absolutely LOVED Jess! He is called Simple Jess by the Ozark mountain community where he lives, made up primarily of two families. Real mountain folks in every sense of the word. He is simple minded due to a birth defect caused by the cord being wrapped too tightly at birth. He is slow, but he is just sweet and wonderful! The community treats him as if he has no feelings at all, but he does, lots of feelings and thoughts. He just does not have a mean or spiteful bone in his body, he is honest to a fault. He finds out Althea is going to be selling her hunting dogs, and he wants one very badly. There are three goals he has 1. To own a hunting dog. 2. to own a gun. 3. to have a woman. They strike up a deal, he can have all of the dogs if he helps her to prepare for the winter. After getting to know both Jess and Althea, you really want to see them together. There is a first kiss, initiated by Jesse, and you just want to sigh and cry at the same time.
After a town get together, they force Althea by way of a Kangaroo court to choose a husband. Her choices are laid out to her, Eben Baxley and Oather Phillips. She has 3 weeks, until Christmas to make up her mind. Without being historied to death, we get to know quite a few characters in this story and even come to care for and understand the antagonists. This one is going in my re-read pile!! (less)

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Jan 27, 2013 Kathie (katmom) rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was a sweet book with a Hero that has NO experience whatsoever.

Jesse is "simple" having been born with a cord around his neck. He is a big man, a sweet man, a hardworking man...a man that find joy in the little things.

Things like the SMELL of women. He likes to stand next to them at church or the once a month Literary Meetings. Women just smell so darn good.

Althea is a widow with a young boy and the best corn bottom land around. The village decides she HAS to get married, or they will choos...more

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May 02, 2012 .þµŋψà. [Punya Reviews...] rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to .þµŋψà. [Punya Reviews...] by: Dinjolina

Shelves: pamela-morsi, virgin-hero-what-is-that, sweetnsexy-beta, favorites, i-wanna-have-your-babies, frustration-alert

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. My review contains spoilers and they're mostly my thoughts as I went with the book...

I was certain Jesse’s book wouldn’t get anything less than a 5 star from me. I knew because I loved him soooo very much in Marrying Stone that I was practically impatient to start his book. The concept of a simpleminded or slow witted hero was very intriguing. But sadly, I was kinda disappointed and pissed more than a few times. Just hope that I can elaborate my feelings in this review the way I want it.

Jesse ha...more

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Dec 30, 2010 ♥ Sam ♥ ~S2~Im made of awesomness rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-romance, romance

The following review may be heavily laced with sarcasm. Please just oblige me.

Althea Winsloe, a widowed mother living in the Ozarks enclave of Marrying Stone Mountain is under siege. Her husband Paisley (sadly, we never get to meet his siblings Plaid, Polka Dot, and Argyle) has been gone for a few years now. Now both her meddling mother-in-law and town elder Granny Piggot are insisting that she marry. Every rootin’ tootin’ bachelor in town has his mind set on courting her, mostly to get their gr...more The following review may be heavily laced with sarcasm. Please just oblige me.

Althea Winsloe, a widowed mother living in the Ozarks enclave of Marrying Stone Mountain is under siege. Her husband Paisley (sadly, we never get to meet his siblings Plaid, Polka Dot, and Argyle) has been gone for a few years now. Now both her meddling mother-in-law and town elder Granny Piggot are insisting that she marry. Every rootin’ tootin’ bachelor in town has his mind set on courting her, mostly to get their grimy mitts on her deceased husband’s land and remarkable pack of hunting hounds. But the headstrong Althea is determined not to marry again, as Paisley was a bit of a douche. So when the slow-witted Jesse Best approaches her about fulfilling his lifelong dream of owning a hunting hound, Althea seizes the opportunity to screw over the dudes trying to come a-courting. She puts “Simple Jess” to work getting her and her grating son Baby-Paisley ready for the winter, and as payment he can have the dogs. But it isn’t long before Simple Jess feels hard down there, especially when he notices those round things with points that are peeking out of Miss Althea’s josie. And Althea can’t help but notice the strapping figure, innate kindness, and naturally blond hair of her new hired hand. Meanwhile, two suitors pop up. There’s Oather Phillips, who is reluctant to court Althea because he’s a closeted gay and handsome assbag Eben Baxley. Unfortunately, Oather’s sister Mavis, she of wild red hair and maternal instincts, tried to trap the ne’er-do-well ladies man Eben into marrying her long ago, by engaging in a moonlight tryst in the presumably filthy woods of Marrying Stone. And now Eben Baxley has come to town intent on wooing Althea, and humiliating/making a mistress of Mavis. To spare his sister the humiliation of having her erstwhile lover as a neighbor, Oather sets out to court the widow Winsloe. But our strong-willed widow’s round and pointy parts only notice one man: Simple Jess.

The Bad: First of all, Devon, there were not nearly enough sex scenes in this book. Not even close. I had to keep re-reading the same one just to keep interested. Don’t get me wrong, when Simple Jess and Althea finally boned, it was pretty hot, but there should’ve been some josie-ripping within the first 30 pages to satisfy someone whose website focuses mainly on what athlete you’d prefer to hit it with. And the sex scene, like much of the book, was punctuated by moments of unintentional hilarity on the part of Simple Jess’ naïveté. “Ohmygosh, you’re holding it!” is a line I don’t think I’ve ever read in a love scene before. And it brought back so many memories from high school. And I know it was all in an attempt to set the Appalachian scene, but the language of the book was just a little too much for me.

.The Good: Mavis and Eben totally hit it. Decently executed, but I could’ve used another forest-bound rollix or four. Also good, the author developed the story and the characters slowly. Like, glacially slow (again, no sex!). While it did little to satisfy my thirst for tingling thighs and ripped union suits, it did give a lot of credibility to Althea’s budding love for Simple Jess. I found myself completely believing that Althea could love the feeble-minded lug that gets hard at the sight of her. Simple Jess was well written as long as someone else was narrating. While his child-like view of his new feelings of love and desire was pretty affecting, his internal struggle to figure out what the josie-peeking round parts with the points were, made Apple Juice shoot from my nose.

All in all Simple Jess was a good read, it made me laugh and made me down right frustrated. But you know what, read it yourself!

LOVE YOU ALL MY DEVOTED REVIEW READERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!(less)

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Jun 10, 2009 Trish rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is another of my all time favorite books. It's a simple, gentle story of a mountain widow with a young son whose neighbors decide it's time for her to remarry. There are two main suitors, Eben & Oather, neither of whom love her but who acknowledge that she is in possession of the 'best corn bottom farm on the mountain'. Then there is Jesse Best, a great gentle mountain of a man who was born with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and deprived of oxygen at birth and as a result '...more

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May 02, 2012 Lady Danielle aka The Book Huntress rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Historical romance readers

Shelves: 2012-sky-s-the-limit-club, yearly-reading-challenge, edwardian, early-to-mid-twentieth-century, historical-romance, less-than-perfect-hero-or-heroine, widow, heroine-is-a-mom, virgin-hero, hero-to-die-for, hero-drop-dead-gorgeous, small-town-slice-of-life, favorites, heroine-i-liked, american-setting, set-in-arkansas, ozark-mountain-setting, dangerous-hero-2012-general-reading

Simple Jess is a simple love story. People tend to think of simple things as unworthy. Not the case at all. In a world where everything is complicated, murky, and it's hard to tell what is real and what isn't, the simple gets taken for granted. Kind of like Jesse Best.

Merriam-Webster lists these definitions of Simple, which I will hide in a spoiler if you don't care to read them...(view spoiler)...more Simple Jess is a simple love story. People tend to think of simple things as unworthy. Not the case at all. In a world where everything is complicated, murky, and it's hard to tell what is real and what isn't, the simple gets taken for granted. Kind of like Jesse Best.

Merriam-Webster lists these definitions of Simple, which I will hide in a spoiler if you don't care to read them...(view spoiler)

I am a person who puts a lot of importance in education and in using your brain. I can blame that in part on my upbringing, but not completely. I have internalized that message way too much. I think that this book was therapeutic for me. In the rat race of life, I often forget to value what there is in my life that is free from elaboration, unconditional, without guile, fundamental. I put too much importance in achieving, only to feel bereft when those things fail to deliver. At the end of the day, I can still be loved, even if I am not the MVP at my job, don’t have millions of dollars in the bank, listed as a MENSA member, or on Maxim's Hot 100 or People's most beautiful list.

Jesse is the reminder of the steadfast things in life. The pure items of worth and beauty that seem diminished when we look in the horizon and see the greener grass that doesn’t belong to us. His heart is full of love. He’s a man who can be trusted to do what he promises. His ability to forgive is not based on his lack of intelligence but in the strength of his loving heart. When Althea needed help he gave it to her, asking for very little in return. And Althea saw that what Jesse lacked was much less than what he possessed.

Althea thought being alone and independent was better than relying on anyone else. She’d always felt like the unwanted addition since her father left her and went off to remarry another woman. She was the spare relative that had to prove she was worthy of being around. She didn’t want that feeling for her son, and she jealously guarded him, afraid to allow anyone else to influence him. But Jesse showed her that it was okay to trust in someone else, with her son and with everything that was truly of value. It took the kind words of Granny Piggott to get her to see that we need people, even those people who are the hardest to deal with.

I thought about the strange magic that is love. Our tendency to believe that our soulmate will come in a certain package or a specific way. That is if we even believe that love is possible for us. But God has other plans for us. I feel that in this story he was telling me that he gives beauty for ashes. Even though Jess was born diminished, and many folks took every opportunity to remind him of that, he had been given much in return for what he lacked. And that was more than enough to see him safe, loved, and content, and a blessing to others in his life. Another reminder to me that being content is the goal. Appreciating what seems merely adequate, when beneath or through a different set of glasses is pure riches.

I appreciate the simple beauty of this story. In the simplicity, I found true richness of storytelling and a resonance on an emotional level that makes me smile as I type the final words of this review.
(less)

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Apr 22, 2013 Anna Marie rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is one I may have to try to find for my own collection.

Althea lost her husband two years ago. She lives on the best acreage on a mountain, and everyone and their kinfolk want to get their hands on it. There's the P clan and the N clan, and they're feuding over which clan Althea's going to re-marry into... and she's sick of it all. She doesn't want anyone taking her little boy's inheritance, lording over her, and treating them like possessions. Stubbornness ain't to be born on the mountain,...more This is one I may have to try to find for my own collection.

Althea lost her husband two years ago. She lives on the best acreage on a mountain, and everyone and their kinfolk want to get their hands on it. There's the P clan and the N clan, and they're feuding over which clan Althea's going to re-marry into... and she's sick of it all. She doesn't want anyone taking her little boy's inheritance, lording over her, and treating them like possessions. Stubbornness ain't to be born on the mountain, so the two clans decide to give Althea until Christmas to choose, or they'll wed her to who THEY choose.

Two swains are presented, one from each clan, neither interested in her, neither what she wants in a man. And they're supposed to win her... mostly they just want to win over the other. But in the meantime, Althea has needed help on her farm, and she offered the mountain's slow man - Jesse Best - her late husband's hunting dogs if he'll bring in meat and firewood to see her through the winter. And of course you KNOW what's going to happen...

But it's the telling of the story that was amazing. It was mostly from Jesse's point of view, with him trying SO hard to understand what was going on, and with him working out what needs to be done and how to do it... just a little more slowly than the normal person. It was the falling in love with Jesse that captivated the reader. It was that thing that he couldn't remember, that he knew he should say something about, that he wished he were smart enough to know like other people, that held us there, rooting for him the whole story through. It was the working out of the mean things that people would say about him that had you bristling and wanting to stand up for him.

I wish there weren't the sex scenes (there is also a rape, fyi, in case that's an issue), but that's just me: I don't see Jesse as taking Althea before they were wed. He's too black and white in his views of right/wrong for that, and it was disloyal to the character for Pamela to have pushed it. I had to dock a star for that crap. Ruining the continuity of the thing so you can have your steamy sex? It wasn't a good move.

But I was glad when they didn't force the effemate male character to be gay. I'm SO SICK of that - naturally assuming that all 'soft' men are homosexuals... and this book didn't do that. It allowed him to be the artist/lawyer non-macho man that he was WITHOUT forcing him down that path. Because IMHO, there are a LOT of guys who aren't homosexual who are pressured into that box, and that rankles me. She got close, but she didn't slap a label on him, and I appreciated it.

At any rate, the book was a lovely read. (less)

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Dec 29, 2012 Liz B rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebook, romance, historicalfiction

So many things to like about this book:

1. Talk about an unusual hero. Jess is brain damaged from lack of oxygen at birth. He is slow in the Forrest Gump sense. We get a lot of his POV, which is good; we can see that he is not quick, but he is observant, thoughtful, sensitive, and knowledgeable. It is just that his knowledge is hard-won through rote learning.

Personal note on #1: I am surprised that I could overcome my own strong preference for a clever, clever hero. I like nerds. I like ridiculou...more So many things to like about this book:

1. Talk about an unusual hero. Jess is brain damaged from lack of oxygen at birth. He is slow in the Forrest Gump sense. We get a lot of his POV, which is good; we can see that he is not quick, but he is observant, thoughtful, sensitive, and knowledgeable. It is just that his knowledge is hard-won through rote learning.

Personal note on #1: I am surprised that I could overcome my own strong preference for a clever, clever hero. I like nerds. I like ridiculously smart guys who are good with words. I married a ridiculously smart guy who is good with words.

Another note on #1: How did this book ever get published? I mean, I'm delighted it did and it deserved to. What was different about the romance market in 1996?

And a final note on #1: Yes, Jesse's brain damage is a central aspect of the book and a central aspect of his character, but it is not all he is or all he is about. As the sister of a brain-damaged man, I appreciate this more than I can adequately articulate.

2. Unusual setting & lots of historical detail. I suppose there is a certain group of us who grew up on Little House on the Prairie (and, to a lesser extent, Love Comes Softly) who are all like, yes please, tell me how deer jerky is made, and also what are the required preparations for winter in the Ozarks? Well, if you are in this group, you will be fascinated. (And you should probably also read Hatchet and Brian's Winter, and come to think of it, I wonder why I didn't like Robinson Crusoe more.)

3. The jerky villain turns out to be more complex than we all thought, as does the other jerky villain.

4. There's a gay character. Maybe I am remembering entirely wrong, but I thought that only happened in edgy YA and fantasy back in the mid-90s.

5. Trial scene!

Altogether, I found this book really sucked me in with its intensity in a variety of different ways. It's not a 5 star romance because it just lacked that element of constant sexual tension that is a personal favorite of mine. (There is sexual tension, but turns out Ozark dwellers in the 1800s had other things to worry about.) Still, a great book that I highly recommend.(less)

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Dec 21, 2012 Lori Green rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've been on a reading binge recently and have been tearing through books in an almost manic need to devour words. Simple Jess by Pamela Morsi was picked up as one of Dear Author's daily deals and what a sweet read it is.

At the beginning of the book, I felt the language was slightly stilted and difficult to read. Since the story is very years ago and the people in the book were highly uneducated, it was an interesting read because the author tried her best to sound authentic (and did a good job)...more

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Aug 18, 2012 Mimi Smith rated it 5 of 5 stars

5 stars

The summary

Truly, well-meaning neighbors can be a pest. Althea appreciates their concern but she doesn't intend to follow anyone's advice on how to live her life after the death of her husband. She plans to take care of her farm and her boy, and everything else can go to hell. But when the citizens of Marrying Stone make an ultimatum She picks a husband so, or they'll do it for her, she will have some hard choices ahead.

Simple Jess is, as his name says, simple. But that doesn't make him...more

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Aug 17, 2012 Ana rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: z-read-in-2012, historical-western

An amazingly touching book!

Althea Winsloe has no intention of remarrying, ever! After all, she has what she needs - her husband's farm to pass onto her beloved son when the time comes. However, the denizens of Marrying Stone don't agree. It seems like every single person in the small mountain town is eager to see her wed, preferably to the man of their choice.

Arkansas mountains

True, she does need help with the farm, but it is easy enough to simply hire a man to take care of things like that. E...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Tutory rated it 4 of 5 stars

It was refreshing to read about this type of Hero.
Jess holds his own throughout the book despite his "feebleminded" self as he often was described.
his strength come from within ,and his determination to be a better man shapes who he is as a person.
The heroine was a good mother and everything but she wasn't remarkable in any way . she tried to defy her town but she soon gave into the pressure . The trial held to "force her" into marriage was so unrealistic and she didn't have to take any part of...more

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Apr 30, 2012 Linda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: virgin-hero, sweet-hero, silly-moments, romance-series, hokey, early-1900-s-period-of-history, baby-involved

The story of Jesse Best is the second book in the 'Marrying Stone' series. Like the first, it is set in the mountains of Arkansas during the 1900's. Hillbilly twang dominates the characters' vocabulary. Whatever you want to call it, this story has its goofy moments and nothing you should take too seriously. Make sure you read MARRYING STONE first because many of the residents are mentioned plus you'll have a better understanding of Jess.

Our hero is a handsome man. Because of circumstances when h...more

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Jan 22, 2012 Michelle R. rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sugartail, speech-therapy, lavyrle-spencer-ish, rar

(Review originally appeared at Red Adept Reviews.)

Overall: 3 ¼ stars

Plot/Storyline: 3 ¾ stars.

Simple Jess is more than a simple, no pun intended, love story. The book is just as much about the community of Marrying Stone, in the Ozarks, as it is a story about the growing love between Althea and Jess. I appreciated that, because unless you believed in this community, it would be difficult to understand how a woman could be forced to pick a husband by Christmas.

I think romance novels can be divide...more

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Jul 02, 2011 Calisto rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: wanted-to-like-but-didnt, easily-forgettable

Do you know stories that you think you should like because everyone else does and raves about it but then you read it and go...Eh, what's all the fuss about? Well Simple Jess is that story for me. Maybe the problem is that I should have read this when it was originally rec'd to me...about ten years ago because now it just feels quaint and dated.

Althea is a widow that does not want to remarry but she's sitting on prime land so her in-laws are demanding she remarry (preferably within the family so...more

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May 23, 2011 Zahu rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: brooding-virgin-heroes, sweet-reads, mommy-heroines, mentally-handicapped, american-western, 1900-1950

I decided to tackle my Pamela Morsi TBR and I really have to say that she is a good author, if I just avoid all the unnecessary mojo that goes on in her books. Lol! Well, at least for me, the stories of the sideline characters that always runs parallel in her books are really irritating. I confess I skipped right over them and concentrated on the parts that dealt only with the hero/heroine.

Coming on to the story, I loved it! I've never read a book about a retarded character before (except the Ma...more

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May 04, 2011 Anita rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read this book a few years ago and I have never forgotten it. The main characters Jess and Althea are both mountain folk. Althea is a widow with a very young son. Jess is a young man who volunteers to help around Althea's farm. Jess suffered an umbilical cord injury at birth and was brain damaged. He is to most people, simple or dumb. But Jess is smarter than most people give him credit for. He has a lot of common sense and is a fast learner. Jess develops a crush on Miss Althea. The story tel...more

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Jun 16, 2009 PT rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, historical, romance, scarred-hero-heroine, serial

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 09, 2013 Caroline rated it 3 of 5 stars

Summary
Althea Winslow, a widow mother to a 4 year old boy, has no wishes to remarry; she simply wants to live on the farm her husband left her with her son. However, in the very small town that she lives in, she is under constant pressure to remarry, by her meddling mother-in-law and neighbours.

Jesse Best, called "Simple Jess", is a hard-working, loving and simplistic type of man. He survived his complicated birth and now lives on the farm with his father, sister and brother-in-law. He knows he...more Summary
Althea Winslow, a widow mother to a 4 year old boy, has no wishes to remarry; she simply wants to live on the farm her husband left her with her son. However, in the very small town that she lives in, she is under constant pressure to remarry, by her meddling mother-in-law and neighbours.

Jesse Best, called "Simple Jess", is a hard-working, loving and simplistic type of man. He survived his complicated birth and now lives on the farm with his father, sister and brother-in-law. He knows he isn't like other men when it comes to processing various thoughts at once, but he is hardworking and loveable. He wants his own hunting dogs and his own gun. So, when Althea offers both in exchange for his work on her farm, he readily accepts.

Cons
I felt very cheated out of alone time with Jesse and Althea. There were very few scenes where they interacted alone, together. The novel placed a very heavy focus on secondary characters and their own struggles/stories - which I would be fine with, if I was compensated with scenes of Jesse and Althea. But I felt like the author traded one in for the other.

Something that really irritated me with the otherwise commendable writing, was how the author would reach a climactic scene and suddenly end the chapter. She would then start the next chapter with the incident already over with and the characters are "looking back" on it. It was like I suffered through ages and ages of narrative, all building up to this scene, and as soon as it occurred - CHAPTER OVER!! And this happened at least 3 separate times. As soon as something interesting was happening, it would end. And most of this happened when it involved Althea and Jesse, so it took away from their relationship.

And honestly, you don't even know what an abrupt ending is until you have suffered through this novel. (view spoiler)

Pros
Jesse was a fantastically written character. The author struck a wonderful balance of making Jesse simplistic in his thoughts and wishes, yet very mature in other aspects. His personality and lovability really carries this book, because otherwise, there was little that I enjoyed.

The interaction between Althea's child and Jesse was wonderful. I was wary of Jesse being written as too much child-like, but that wasn't the case.

This book had a lot of potential. But small things really ruined the enjoyment of it, for me. If the character of Jesse wasn't written so well, I would probably give this novel 2 stars. But it is definitely worth the read just for such a great character!(less)

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May 02, 2012 Cecilia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I don't really know how to grade this book, but I think it's mainly because of my own life experience, more than the book itself. For one thing, I have a brother who is mentally handicapped - a tall, handsome man who tries hard every day of his life to do the proper thing, who doesn't understand a lot of what's going on around him, and who gets taken advantage of (not to mention periodically mugged). Simple Jess reminded me a lot of my brother. Though Jess is somewhat higher functioning, the way...more

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Oct 15, 2012 Alex rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, historical, rainy-day-reads

At First Sight: Althea Winsloe's first marriage wasn't necessarily bad, but she's not inclined to repeat it -- he father basically left her to live with relatives after he remarried when she was a child and she doesn't want her son, Baby Paisley, to feel unwanted like she did - no matter how much the town wants her to, or how much her mother in law meddles.

But life in the Ozark Mountains isn't easy, and she did inherit a good farm from her late husband, a farm a lot of people want to get their h...more At First Sight: Althea Winsloe's first marriage wasn't necessarily bad, but she's not inclined to repeat it -- he father basically left her to live with relatives after he remarried when she was a child and she doesn't want her son, Baby Paisley, to feel unwanted like she did - no matter how much the town wants her to, or how much her mother in law meddles.

But life in the Ozark Mountains isn't easy, and she did inherit a good farm from her late husband, a farm a lot of people want to get their hands on.

Enter Jesse Best - who everyone calls Simple Jess because when he was born he was deprived of oxygen for a few minutes and his mind has always been a little slow as a result.

Jesse doesn't care about the farm, but he does want to get one of Althea's husbands hunting dogs - which she wants to sell as they take too much time and money to care for - so they strike a deal: Althea will give him the dogs if he helps her get the farm ready for winter.

Since this excels even Jesse's wildest dreams, he's happy and eager to work. Althea has her doubts as to if Jesse knows what needs to be done, but as he sees him work, she realizes that he does know a lot of farming, sometimes better than she does.

At the same time, Althea is being pursued by two very different men - Eben and Oather - something Jesse doesn't like even though he isn't sure why.

Second Glance: I read Simple Jess because a couple of friends of mine said it was a good read. I wasn't sure how it was going to work because of Jesse's condition but it totally worked and it was great.

Jesse was such a lovely character, yes his mind is slow but he's smart in is own way. It takes him a while to learn things but once he does he doesn't forget. He's very good natured and sometimes people take advantage of him and talk down to him, so he relies on his brother in law and sister to help him out when he doesn't know something.

Althea was a little harder to like but after a while she starts to make sense, she's stubborn and spoils her son, but she has a good heart and she slowly starts to see through what she has always known about Jesse to the man he really is. She realizes he's a good provider in his own way - he's a good hunter and farmer, and knows right from wrong.

The subplots were a bit distracting - they are about Eben, Oather and Oather's sister Mavis - and I didn't care for them, but they weren't bad - though there was this scene between Eben and Mavis that was hard to read. But I really liked the central part of the story.

Bottom Line: Simple Jess was a surprise story to me but I loved it. It was sweet and the romance was slow growing. Sometimes it was a little too slow and it did make me get a little sad sometimes, but I loved how things ended.(less)

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Aug 19, 2009 Castiron rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: library-checkout

A romance featuring a mentally disabled hero. The story was enjoyable, and the people and lifestyle of Marrying Stone fascinating. Althea's resistance to remarriage and gradual falling in love with Jesse were well done, as is Jesse's admiration of Althea. Jesse's problems with processing input rang true with what I observe of my autistic son.

What struck me most about this story was that it'd be much harder to tell it in a modern setting. Jesse Best definitely has cognitive impairments, but he kn...more

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Aug 15, 2011 Lynsey rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance-historical, tone-steamy, theme-cowboys-western-frontier

Gosh this is hard to rate. 2.5 - 3 stars and I think I am being quite generous there. Jesse alone deserves 5 stars because he was such a wonderful character, but unfortunately the rest of the book bought it down. I really wanted to like it better but I found the supporting characters a real struggle and sometimes the heroine's behaviour bothered me, so much so that I wondered if she even deserved our hero.

I really enjoyed the first 3rd of the book. Watching the slow growth of Jesse and Althea's...more Gosh this is hard to rate. 2.5 - 3 stars and I think I am being quite generous there. Jesse alone deserves 5 stars because he was such a wonderful character, but unfortunately the rest of the book bought it down. I really wanted to like it better but I found the supporting characters a real struggle and sometimes the heroine's behaviour bothered me, so much so that I wondered if she even deserved our hero.

I really enjoyed the first 3rd of the book. Watching the slow growth of Jesse and Althea's affection for each other was really charming. Unfortunately this took a nosedive after Althea says and does some pretty horrible things to Jesse on a couple of occasions, and godbless him he deals with it like a real man should and still treats her very calmly and with respect. I loved him for that.

For me the 'kangeroo court' was just awful. I don't know if I have taken these scenes completely the wrong way, but I didn't find them funny or charming at all. I felt it was humiliating and quite barbaric treatment of the heroine.

I didn't enjoy the towns people. Eben was just revolting and I was shocked when he got an HEA. I don't think I 'got' this character at all.

As I say, Jesse and his family saved this book for me. He was a thoughtful, giving and decent man who was quietly steady and never asked for anything other than to just be himself. I really liked him. His family were also sweet and supportive.

I'm left feeling a bit confused and uncomfortable about the message of this book, because it seems to me that Jesse was marginalised and not treated well by others, until someone noticed that not only was he a good and decent man, but he was also incredibly attractive. I felt there should have been some sort of recognition of how the town had not been completely decent to him, when they should have treated him properly from the start, simple or not.

Overall I'm glad I read this because I got to meet Jesse but I don't think I will read another of this author's work.
(less)

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Jul 10, 2012 Megan Lavey-Heaton rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebook, romance

This book was immensely beautiful. I read it as a recommendation from Dear Author that addressed the subject of a hero with a learning disability. In this case, Jess had oxygen cut off to his brain at birth, and the result caused him to become simple-minded. I love how there's no pandering to him at all. The book examines everything from both the hero and heroine's points of view. She never feels pity for him, and there's a range of genuine emotions throughout the town regarding Jess and his rol...more

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Apr 27, 2013 Tammy Walton Grant rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-april, hr-americana, kindle-or-ebook, romance-historical, tropes-spinster-oldmaid-widow

Question: If a heroine was raised in the Ozarks by her kin, in a teeny tiny town perched on the side of a mountain, where no one came in from away, and no one left, folks jumped over a rock to celebrate a weddin', they say words like "caint" and are so intermarried they caint right remember what clan they started out from, and the clans decide that the widder Althea caint rightly keep her hunting dogs and her farm to herself so they hold a kangaroo court to decide who she should marry, if you ar...more

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Jun 03, 2012 Carolyn F. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: library-book, historical-romance

Althea's husband died 2 years ago leaving her all his property, including his dogs which all the men covet. Her in-laws are hounding her to marry someone on their side of the family and the other major families in the area are trying to coax her to theirs. She wants to stay unwed because she felt like a 5th wheel growing up and doesn't want the same for her son. In order to help her through the winter because she has no man to provide for her, she trades the dogs for a whole lot of work by Jess,...more

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About Pamela Morsi

Pamela Morsi is a USA Today, Waldenbooks, and Barnes & Noble bestselling author of romance. She broke into publishing in 1991 with Heaven Sent and has been gracing readers with at least a book a year ever since. Two of her novels, Courting Miss Hattie (1992) and Something Shady (1996), won the Romance Writers of America's RITA Award, the highest honor in romance publishing, and others have bee...more

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Quotes from Simple Jess

“He pulled her close and kissed her. Happiness and joy settled around them like a warm cloak. And gentleness spurred passion. His kiss deepened and a soft, low moan eased out of his throat.
He wiggled on the bed beneath her, letting her feel the resurgence of his passion inside her.
"I'm ready to do it again," he said plainly.
"You can't do it twice," she answered, giggling.
"Why not?"
"You just can't," Althea told him. "Men do it one time and then they rest up for a day or two."
"I think I'm rested up enough," he told her.
"Jesse, I know what I'm talking about," she said with confidence. "I was married for over two years. And I know all about it. You can't be ready to do it again."
He proved her wrong.” — 2 people liked it

“He simply had to trust the dogs. On the hunt, man and dogs were always a team.
With Jesse, perhaps this was more true than with most. Most men, knowing themselves to be a lot smarter than the dogs, often overruled their judgment. Jesse, not thinking himself much smarter than anything, did not. He often relied upon his own instincts. He
therefore had more respect for instinct, perhaps, than a man who normally relied upon intellect. The mind of the dog was in many ways as simple and uncomplicated as Jesse's own. He was taught to memorize actions in places he couldn't reason, and
obey in situations that he did not understand. When he did understand he followed his instinct. His instincts assured him that as hunter, the dog was at least the equal of man. And for scenting and tracking, the dog was superior.” — 2 people liked it

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Simple Jess (Marrying Stone #2)

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