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Almost every person in the small town of Cottonwood Bend had attended Doc’s funeral, Young Reverend Paul Harrington had presided over the affair, and the townspeople had followed Doc’s wishes and dressed in bright colors. Still, Belle Marshall felt the loss of her mentor like a knife to the heart. Doc had taught her a lot. And, he’d been almost solely responsible for the respect the townspeople had for Belle now.
When a band of Texas Rangers appears, cutting the funeral short, Belle doesn’t know whether to feel angry, relieved or just scared. The Rangers have wounded, and with Doc gone, Belle is their only hope. But Belle has more to worry about than the dangerous prisoner that they’ve brought with them, or the wounds that he’s suffered. She is also quite concerned to realize that the townspeople intend to form a marriage committee to get her married off as soon as possible. Apparently, now that Doc is gone, it would be improper for an innocent unmarried lady like Belle to be tending male patients. And they have a prospective husband all picked out!
Paul Harrington has been best friends with Belle Marshall for years. Over the years, his friendship for her had grown into a strong attraction, and then, amazingly, into an even stronger love. However, Paul knows Belle is too good for him. He may be the town preacher, but he has larger-than-life ghosts haunting his checkered past. So, when the marriage committee picks him out as Belle’s best bet for marriage, he feels honor-bound to resist, even though the thought of her in another man’s arms is almost more than he can take.
Belle is in no hurry to marry, though, so she plans to foil the marriage committee’s plans - only she’s not sure how she’s going to do that just yet. In the mean time, with the Rangers in town, she begins to learn more and more about Paul, and finds her attraction to him growing by leaps and bounds.
Catherine Snodgrass has created a down-to-earth, thoroughly enchanting historical romance in THE MARRIAGE COMMITTEE. The earthy characters practically jump off the page, and the emotional aspect of the story is so realistic that readers will feel as if they’ve gotten a hidden peek into the mind of a good friend. Sweet, with just a hint of spice in the love scenes, THE MARRIAGE COMMITTEE will hold your attention until the very last page.
Reviewed by Janean Nusz
for The Road to Romance
March 4, 2006
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