Deeanne Gist

“My stars and garters!” This was a fun and fluffy little story. A little history about oil wells and bicycles, wrapped up in a romance. A little who-done-it, pertly solved by the lady members of the velocipede club.

The bad-guy is headed to Fort Smith to be tried by “Hanging Judge Isaac Parker”. A distant relative (one-armed!) was the court reporter for Judge Parker, so I enjoy running across the judge in a book now and then.

As to the sense of place, I just happened to drive through show more Corsicana last weekend, so I know that the author got the setting just right, and it’s a good thing the area is so flat, what with all that bicycling going on.

The main character, Essie Spreckelmeyer, mentions her faith a time or two, though not in a preachy sort of way. But just as a fair warning, know that this book is put out by a Christian publishing house. Don’t let that deter you, though. This is a good, clean, fun little story that any romance reader could enjoy. And I did! show less

Në një kohë kur Amerika zien nga përgatitjet për Panairin Botëror të vitit 1893, i cili organizohet në Çikago, trashëgimtari i perandorisë së bizhuterive, Luis Tifani, përfiton nga rasti për të prezantuar një kishëz me xhama me mozaikë, që bota nuk e ka parë asnjëherë. Kur ëndrra e tij kërcënohet nga greva e xhampunuesve, vetëm disa muaj para panairit, ai detyrohet të bëjë një zgjedhje të pazakontë: punëson vajzat e shkollës së vizatimit të aplikuar në show more Nju Jork.

E etur për aventurë, Flosi Xhejn shpërngulet në një bujtinë dhe bëhet pjesë e “vajzave të Tifanisë”. Ajo është një vajzë e re,plot hire, e cila përfaqëson edhe brezin e grave moderne, në një kohë kur shumica e seksit të dobët qëndron në shtëpi dhe kujdeset vetëm për burrin dhe fëmijët. Shumë shpejt, Flosi do të mësojë se bota nuk është ende gati t’i mirëpresë gratë e pavarura e, kësisoj, nuk do ta ketë të lehtë të bëjë emër në botën e artit.

Përveç sfidave të pafundme, ambiciet e saj do të kërcënohen edhe nga një element tjetër i rrezikshëm: zemra e saj. Kush do të triumfojë: objektivat e saj apo ndjenjat për fqinjin në bujtinë? show less

I have wanted to read this book for a while. I've only read one other book by Gist, and, I have to say, although I thought that one was pretty good, I liked this one even better. I'm fairly new to Christian fiction in general and Christian romance in particular. Gist seems like a fantastic author to recommend to those who, like me, are used to reading secular fiction. Although "God stuff" does come up in her works, Gist doesn't seem to be too heavy-handed about it. In this book in show more particular, the "God stuff" is actually pretty light. During the first half of the book, it's just about nonexistent, and, in the second half, it's mostly limited to a few "what does God want me to do?" moments on Tillie's part.

As usual, Gist's writing is filled with all kinds of wonderful historical details. My knowledge of servant life is limited to English servants, and even then I don't know very much. The amount of detail in this book was wonderful, and I enjoyed the historical note Gist included at the end of the book.

One of my biggest complaints about Gist's The Measure of a Lady was my frustration with the main character's black-and-white view of the world, which sometimes made it difficult to like her. I didn't have that problem with this book. Both Tillie and Mack were enjoyable, likable characters. Tillie's desire to do good doesn't become too saccharine, and her refusal to believe what she was hearing about the director of the orphanage was perfectly understandable - after all, the entire town saw him as a fine, upstanding citizen, so why would she believe otherwise? Mack was prone to letting his temper get the best of him, getting into fights when he would have been better off dealing with problems in other ways. However, he only ever raised his fists at those he believed deserved it, and never women or children, and he gradually learned that fighting was not always the best way to solve problems. His horror when he realized that his own bad behavior at the Vanderbilt's could result in others, such as Tillie, being penalized, also went a long way towards making him likable.

I loved Tillie and Mack's relationship - there were some fantastic sparks flying between those two! Mack obviously adored Tillie, and there was no artifice in the way he dealt with her - he flat-out told her how he felt about her, and he demonstrated his feelings for her without once ever trying to make her feel jealous or otherwise force her to return those feelings in some way.

I suppose my love of Tillie and Mack's relationship leads to one of my few complaints about this book: the primary conflict keeping Tillie and Mack apart seemed a bit weak to me. It was obvious that Tillie and Mack were great together. It became increasingly obvious that the benefits of being a lady's maid would, for Tillie, probably not outweigh the drawbacks. Being a lady's maid would have been an excellent way to earn more money, which she could have used for the two things in her life that were most important to her, supporting her family and funding good organizations like the orphanage. However, lady's maids only last as long as their looks do, so her career would have been over by her early 30s. At that point, her chances of having a life like that of others in her station, with a husband and children, would be pretty slim, and yet she would not be able to fund the kind of life being a lady's maid would have accustomed her to. Tillie gets sick riding in carriages, so being able to travel would not have been of true benefit to her. Being a lady's maid would also have consumed so much of her time that the only good she could have done for others would have been with her money - volunteering her time for anything would have been impossible. As her father makes clear later in the book, Tillie siblings can support the family by getting jobs as they get older, so her monetary support isn't as necessary. Once Mack is offered the job of orphanage director, on the condition that he is married, all remaining reasons for Tillie not to be with Mack evaporate.

One thing about this book that may shock those expecting a gentle Christian story is a fairly dark event that happens near the book. Up to that point, it was very difficult for Mack to drum up enough suspicion about the orphanage director to get a proper investigation going. However, after one of the orphanage's children dies, this changes. The thing that makes this tragedy especially dark is that the child who dies isn't a random, unnamed child, but rather a girl that both Mack and Tillie had gotten to know a little. In fact, just before the girl's death, Tillie had promised to teach her how to sew, so that it would be easier for her to get proper employment after leaving the orphanage. It turns out that the orphanage director had a deal with the local brothel - the girls at the orphanage were intentionally not taught marketable skills, so that they would feel their only chance for survival once they became too old to live at the orphanage was to become prostitutes. I had expected that Tillie would manage to help the girl find a job after leaving the orphanage, and that this experience would prompt Tillie to realize that she could do more good in person rather than with monetary donations, so the girl's death was a shock.

Overall, I really liked this book and would recommend it to any reader of secular romance would wanted to delve into Christian romance but was afraid of anything too preachy or disgustingly sweet. Because of the very light amount of "God stuff," and because of the dark turn taken near the end of the book, this may not be considered an acceptable book for some regular readers of Christian fiction, however.

(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

I read some reviews before starting this one. I have come to the conclusion that if you are as passionate about birds as I am, if not please do not read this book! I do not want to read a review about how the abundance of birds spoiled this book for you.

I loved and totally identified with the main character, Georgie Gail. She was smart, educated,independent and witty. She had her own house, as a perk from her job as the switchboard operator of the town. An advid reader of s publications show more about birds, she fought against the town milliner who used bird parts on the hats that he and his family created. I was paricurly horrified at the description of one dress! The woman wore an owl's on her hat, had swallow wings adorning the cape and the worst was the hem which was encircled by the tiny heads of pretty yellow birds. I reacted the same as Georgie! I had to lay down my book and try to get the vision out of my head before continuing to read the book.

Eventually the Migratory Bird Act of 1918 came about. Many birds were becoming extinct because they were killed for the feathers, heads and sometimes whole bodies. I remember seeing women with mink stole with the heads hanging down in them in the 1950s. I remember cringing that a woman would want to buy anything that was essentially a dead body!

Back to the story, the love interest is Luke Palmer aka Lucious Landram, full of Clark Gable charm but married to the job that he loved.

I must say that I adored the ending and was surprised by it. Please do read it if you love birds! show less