Courting Trouble by Deeanne Gist
This book was amazing! It’s probably the best book I’ve read so far in 2011! If you haven’t read this book then I think you should go and purchase your copy today!
Essie is an old maid – she’s just turned 30 and she wants a husband right now! Her desire for a mate spurns her to do a number of things to catch a man: she keeps a list of all of the town’s eligible bachelors along with their positive and negative traits. She offers help to the owner of the general store – hoping her employ will develop into a relationship with the shopkeeper. Her impulsive behavior continues with other men, resulting in her making some dreadful mistakes that haunt her throughout the story.
Essie is wild, carefree, and she loves to ride her bicycle! I never knew that riding a bike could prove so scandalous back in historical times. She loves the outdoors and she loves snakes and bugs and all sorts of things. Her behavior is not one most men would consider for a mate.
I found myself carried back in time and I really felt for Essie and her desire to have a husband. Back then, most people married young, and she was considered an outcast because she was a scandalous old maid and although she has admiration from many of the males in the town, she doesn’t receive many offers of marriage.
I felt the characters in this book were so well-developed and the dialogue was superb! The shopkeeper Hamilton, the cowboy Adam, and Ewing – the nemesis from her childhood, all have a unique role in Essie’s life. I also loved how Essie really cared for people – she has a soft spot for Harley, an orphan in the story, and there were other things she did that showed that she really cared about people.
The book is funny, entertaining and the story just draws you in. I savored every word of this book and after I was finished, I found myself going back, reading certain passages that stuck with me – it is EXTREMELY RARE for me to do this! This is the first book I’ve ever read by this author and I’m anxious to read more stories by Deeanne Gist! I have the sequel on my to-be-read pile. I’ve had this book for a few years now, but never got around to reading it until last weekend and I’m so glad I did! What a pleasant way to spend my time!
Have you read this novel? If so, what did you think about it?
Product Description
Tired of Waiting for a Match-Made-in-Heaven,
She’ll Settle for One Made in Texas
Whether it’s riding bikes, catching snakes, or sliding down banisters, Essie Spreckelmeyer just can’t quite make herself into the ideal woman her hometown–and her mother–expect her to be. It’s going to take an extraordinary man to appreciate her joy and spontaneity–or so says her doting oil-man father.
Unfortunately such a man doesn’t appear to reside in Corsicana, Texas.
It’s 1894, the year of Essie’s thirtieth birthday, and she decides the Lord has more important things to do than provide her a husband. If she wants one, she needs to catch him herself. So, she writes down the names of all the eligible bachelors in her small Texas town, makes a list of their attributes and drawbacks, closes her eyes, twirls her finger, and … picks one.
But convincing the lucky “husband-to-be” is going to a bit more of a problem.
Join Deeanne Gist for another unforgettable tale and find out whether Essie’s plan to catch a husband succeeds or if she’s just Courting Trouble.