No Other Will Do (#01 in Ladies Of Harper's Station Series)

In true Karen Witemeyer style, this book is full of laughs, loves, lessons and lively, lovable characters. It all happens in northern Texas in the late 1800s where Emma Chandler is struggling to set up and maintain a colony for destitute, abandoned and abused women. Their motto might be 'men are optional,' but they are not too proud to call on a man for help, and not just any man! Malachi was like a brother to Emma in their youth. But, of course, it was far more than that to him. When they get together, there is a mystery to solve, issues from the past to resolve, danger to thwart, and a romance to enjoy. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I loved this story. On the surface it looks like a typical western romance set in the 1880s, but it is so much more. I fell in love with the main characters from the very first page of the prologue. I love how the storyline really emphasizes the value of people and how love can change the trajectory of a person's life. It is a really enjoyable romance but also a story that challenges and encourages you to love people like Jesus loved.

No Other Will Do is written in Karen Witemeyer's trademark witty style, but perhaps goes deeper into issues of equality and Christian sisterhood (and brotherhood) than her earlier novels. It's good to see. \\r\\n\\r\\nThere were a couple of things I didn't like: the weird dialogue descriptions, like Tori declared and Emma quipped and Tori chided. It makes me feel like I'm eight years old and reading Enid Blyton. It's something I've seen in several books recently and I don't know if it's bad writingediting or the start of a general trend. If it's a trend, it's one that doesn't work for me. It also didn't feel right for the uneducated (or self-educated) Mal to be familiar with concepts such as feminism before the term was part of everyday English. The idea was understood (and ridiculed), the word is more modern. \\r\\n\\r\\nThe other thing was that this is supposed to be a women's colony: no men. Yet at the first sign of trouble, Emma calls in a man to help. And it ends up being the men who save the day. That irked me. On the plus side, there was no mansplaining--the hero (and other male characters. Well, except for the evildoer) did actually treat the women like the intelligent humans they were. \\r\\n\\r\\nThanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.