Reviewed by Martha Artyomenko
About the book:
Men are optional. That’s the credo Emma Chandler’s suffragette aunts preached and why she started a successful women’s colony in Harper’s Station, Texas. But when an unknown assailant tries repeatedly to drive them out, Emma admits they might need a man after all. A man who can fight–and she knows just the one.
Malachi Shaw finally earned the respect he craved by becoming an explosives expert for the railroad. Yet when Emma’s plea arrives, he bolts to Harper’s Station to repay the girl who once saved his life. Only she’s not a girl any longer. She’s a woman with a mind of her own and a smile that makes a man imagine a future he doesn’t deserve.
As the danger intensifies, old feelings grow and deepen, but Emma and Mal will need more than love to survive.
My Review:
Lighter fiction is generally not my thing, but Ms. Whitmeyer pulls you into this story with a unique storyline. Women who believe they can do it on their own, set in a historical setting is one thing. Saving battered women is another. That touched my heart. It is something that is near and dear to my heart as I know that historically women suffered without any recourse. They were often killed by their spouses, beaten or harmed in other ways while everyone looked the other way.
I also loved Malachi. He wanted to show love, but didn’t believe himself worthy. He had worked hard to rise above the homeless boy he once was, but still did not see his value.
This spoke to me about how many of us do not see our value. We still see ourselves as trash, good for nothing often, instead of seeing ourselves as precious jewels that have been tried by fire. I honestly, could have done without so much of the love story, but it was not as mushy gushy as I thought it could have been. I hope that Ms. Whitmeyer goes back to Harper’s Station and gives us more stories for these women.
This book was provided by the author and NetGalley for review. The opinions contained herein are my own.