|
Former US Marshall Frank Daggett has been trailing con-man Pierre Le Blanc and his two daughters for a long time. So long in fact Pierre is the reason Frank is no longer a US Marshall. He was given the choice to give up the hunt or resign. Frank couldn’t let down the many people who had been conned out of money, jewelry, all manner of valuables, so he resigned. When he gets to Litchfield, Minnesota he hopes the trail ends and he’ll snag the Le Blanc’s once and for all.
Gerda Nilsson desperately wants a husband and a family. She asks God to bring someone to her. Someone she can love and who will love her in return. People she cares for are marrying, having babies, building lives, while she continues to work in the dress shop she is part owner of. The day she sees a handsome stranger in the hotel where she’s eating, she is smitten. She can’t get the man out of her mind. But, when she finds out the ex-lawman isn’t a Christian she prays that God will take the temptation of his love away. And when he begins to attend church, she believes he’s doing solely to woe her.
While Frank continues to search for the con family, he is taken with Gerda Nilsson, a dressmaker in town. And, other townsfolk make him welcome. He begins to wonder about the friendliness and care complete strangers give him, and it alls seems to lead to the church. Frank ends up attending church where God takes a hold of his heart.
Will Frank become a Christian and be able to win the hand of Gerda? Will Gerda get what she’s prayed for? How about those Le Blanc daughters?
This is a wonderfully sweet tale. We’re back in Ms. Dooleys skillfully crafted Litchfield, Minnesota. Those who have read the delightful series know that Pierre Le Blanc had been captured and may wonder why he’s on the lam again – well, he’s not, but to say too much would give away too much!
I really enjoyed this book. As I have all the books in the Litchfield series, the characters have been well developed, the stories intriguing and the settings so realistic you can almost touch the glass window of the dress store as you peer inside. I liked having a story in a male Point of View; too, Ms. Dooley does an excellent job of letting us inside this man’s head and heart.
Highly recommended.
Reviewed by Linda Mae Baldwin
for The Road to Romance
December 2, 2004
|
