Mr. Anthony's Love Clinic #2

Grace Prentice arrives in the small town of Kildale as a new schoolteacher, only to find herself trapped between the rigid demands of Mayor Matthews and Mrs. Miller—who insist on controlling every aspect of her personal life—and her growing feelings for Frank McKay, a kind mechanic trying to finish his education. When the school board threatens Frank's livelihood to keep them apart, Grace must choose between her heart and the town's suffocating expectations, but fate intervenes in ways that will haunt Kildale forever.

Vera Roberts chafes under her older sister Mabel's controlling hand—well-meaning perhaps, but suffocating—until she meets John Proctor at her new job and falls hard. When Mabel forbids the romance, Vera moves out to build her own life, only to have everything unravel when John faces a serious accusation at work that threatens to tear them apart. This 1949 story explores how far a young woman will go to prove her independence and stand by the man she loves when the stakes are highest.

Helen McLean comes to Mr. Anthony seeking guidance, and through her harrowing confession, we learn how a childhood spent watching her father's gambling obsession became her own curse—one that threatens to destroy her budding romance with Lee Morrison, a principled young lawyer who despises gambling entirely. As Helen spirals deeper into her compulsion, losing thousands and jeopardizing her future with Lee, she must confront whether she can break free from the vice that's been woven into her since childhood. Mr. Anthony listens to her story, hoping to help her see what her gambling truly costs before it's too late.

Elsie Young has dreamed of becoming a pianist since childhood, driven by her mother's unfulfilled ambitions—but when she enrolls at the Julian Conservatory of Music at sixteen, she discovers a life beyond the practice room and meets Stanley Lanzetta, a fellow student whose passion for music matches her own. As their friendship deepens into romance, Stanley proposes marriage and begs her to run away with him, leaving Elsie caught between the love that's awakened her heart and the duty she feels toward her family.

Mr. Anthony offers five essential principles for a happy marriage: compromise built on treating your partner as you'd wish to be treated; financial responsibility and living within your means; freeing yourself from unhealthy emotional ties to parents; embracing parenthood, whether through birth or adoption; and building a stable family that enriches society. This advice column presents Anthony's wisdom through a series of direct, no-nonsense guideposts for couples seeking lasting marital contentment.

Blanche Stevens has spent twenty years sacrificing everything—her youth, her dreams, her evenings—to hold her family together after her parents died, running her father's construction business while raising her younger brothers alone. When Richard Flory, a charming hardware salesman, begins courting her and confesses his love, Blanche finds herself torn between the deep responsibility she's carried for so long and the possibility of a life of her own. Mr. Anthony shares her story with a caller facing his own impossible choice between love and family duty, hoping her experience might light the way.