Sunday, March 16, 2014

She Shall be Praised by Ginny Aiken

She Shall be Praised by Ginny Aiken. FaithWords, 2014. 400p. (9780892968466) Series: Women of Hope, #3

The summary and gorgeous cover drew me in but sadly I didn’t completely enjoy the story despite it’s interesting premise.

Goodreads Summary:
When socialite Emma Crowell stops the carriage on the way to Portland to 'exercise' her new puppy, the last thing she expects is to be left behind in decidedly unsuitable attire, let alone kidnapped. Fortunately, she is soon found by local rancher Peter Lowery. Unfortunately, he has no intention of abandoning his livelihood to take her back to civilization until the fall. He will, however, provide food, shelter and safety, and in return he expects Emma to earn her keep.

Emma is surprised to find she enjoys the challenges of life at the cabin and feels drawn to Peter and his young son Robby. But though willing to learn, no matter how she tries, she never seems to live up to expectations. As Emma seeks God's guidance and aspires to the picture of womanhood shown in the 31st chapter of Proverbs, Peter comes to realize that he may be underestimating the strength and character behind this woman's beauty.

My Review:
I read this last fall and you can tell I didn’t love it since I’ve put off writing the review for so long. The story seemed to drag and wasn’t quite believable at times. For instance, when she gets left behind, why didn’t the couple tasked with being her chaperone and traveling escort come back to look for her?

Also, it made little sense that Peter wouldn’t take her to the nearest town after he rescued her from the kidnappers. Sure he was committed to his sheep and making sure he could provide for his son and his employee, but it seemed terribly selfish, uncaring and stubborn of him not to take two (three?) days off to take Emma into town. Especially considering that later in the book he goes to town twice – once due to an accident and once for personal reasons. Don’t want to say more and spoil parts of the story.

man with straw hat sheering a sheep
Sheering sheep
Image credit
The characters were interesting though and diverse. And I certainly never knew that there were sheep ranchers in the mountains of Oregon. On a more serious note the book also addressed how cases of rape were treated by law enforcement. (Note: there are no sex scenes)

I haven’t read the first two books in this series but I don’t think it matters and I’m not sure it would make this book more understandable/believable.

But that's just my opinion. You might like it if you enjoy historical fiction and stories where a spoiled rich girl learns that life isn't always tea parties and balls.

I dislike giving low ratings but this one is just 2 or 2.5 stars sadly



Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission.

~~~
Remember - Anytime you visit Amazon.com or BarnesAndNoble.com or ChristianBooks.com use an affiliate link to get there. Any purchase you make from a link on my site generates a small kickback. You need not purchase the item I'm featuring, any purchase counts. It costs you nothing extra and is an easy way to support this site.

2 comments:

  1. Hello Rina!

    I discovered your blog through Amber Stoke's (my editor) blog, and I thought it would be nice to invite you to be part of the blog tour for my debut novel, an inspirational romance titled 'To Die Once, (Child of Grace Series, Book #1)' which runs from April 5th through May 21st, 2014. You can follow this link to read the blurb (http://mautobeaperson.wordpress.com/to-die-once/).

    If you're interested, I could send you a PDF copy of the e-ARC. I would love to have you be a part of it. :) Let me know!

    P.S. Sorry I had to contact you like this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Miranda!
      Your book sounds quite interesting. I can't promise that I'll get a chance to read it (I've discovered I'm quite terrible at reading e-ARCs ), but I'll do my best. Would you like to do a guest post or interview as part of the blog tour?
      You can email me at rinasreading@gmail.com
      All the best for your book debut!
      ~Rina

      Delete

Real Time Web Analytics