She Shall Be Praised-Ginny Aiken

She Shall Be Praised Ginny Aiken FaithWords, Jan 7 2014, $15.00 ISBN: 9780892968466 In 1883, following a trip to London, upper crust Emma Crowell stops at the home of her aunt and uncle in Hope County, Oregon. Heeding her father’s plea, Emma accepts Joshua Hamilton’s proposal. About to leave on a business trip to Paris, Joshua gives his fiancée a poodle. On the coach to Portland without a chaperone, Emma demands the driver stop because her dog Pippa needs a break. Once the socialite and the canine leave the coach; the driver leaves them behind in the wild. Two outlaws capture the deb and the dog until rancher Peter Lowery and his manager Colley, searching for sheep rustlers, rescue them. He takes the females to his home, but explains he cannot escort her to Portland due to his ranch obligations for a few months. Instead Peter offers her a place to stay if Emma becomes the housekeeper and his son Robby’s caretaker. As Emma adapts to working guided by the Proverbs, she falls in love with her host and his child. Although she believes Peter reciprocates Emma must persuade him to let her stay with them instead of taking her to Portland. The third Women of Hope Americana romance (see Remember Me When and For Such A Time As This) is a wonderful 1880s Oregonian inspirational. The key cast comes across fully developed; especially Emma who starts off as a debutante out of place in a rustic lifestyle after years in ballrooms (though I doubt she can change her spots, Ginny Aiken makes a compelling case). Ironically, Colley and Pippa bring freshness to She Shall Be Praised while the protagonists need to overcome their respective first impressions of each other. Harriet Klausner