Publisher's Weekly Review
Popular evangelical Christian novelist Gist tells a could-have-happened tale of a Seattle landowner who requires a wife to keep his 640 acres. In the land replete with timber but few women, widower Joe Denton signs a contract with Asa Mercer to deliver the wife he needs to ensure his land rights. Unfortunately, 19-year-old Anna Ivey doesn't realize she's signed on for marriage; she only wants passage out West and a job. Sparks fly as tempers flare when Joe and Anna discover they are at cross-purposes. Acquiescing to common sense as well as a sense of desperation, the two agree to work together temporarily. As Anna cooks up a storm in payment for the traveling debt Joe incurred on her behalf, Joe cooks up his own scheme for wooing Anna into marriage. Gist's work is comical, sassy and sweet-yet her story's ending ties together a bit too neatly for readers who relish real-life finales. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* The Civil War has just ended, and entrepreneur Asa Mercer has a lucrative plan he will bring East Coast women to the men in Washington Territory who need wives to keep their free land. For Anna Ivey, the constant threat of rape by her employer makes Mercer look like her only way out. Back in Seattle, Joe Denton is fighting to hold on to his land and successful logging operation. Joe's wife died years ago, and her death certificate is missing. The judge refuses to believe that Joe was married and orders him to get a wife or lose everything. Desperate, Joe hires Asa, who reserves Anna for him. Unfortunately, Anna thinks she has signed on to be a cook, not a bride, and now Joe has to do everything in his power to convince her to marry him before the judge's deadline. With her knowledge of history, attention to detail, and lively humor, talented Gist (A Bride Most Begrudging, 2005; Deep in the Heart of Trouble, 2008) has written a story about a man at the end of his rope and a very stubborn woman sure to delight readers.--Mosley, Shelley Copyright 2009 Booklist
