In 1860s Seattle, a man with a wife could secure himself 640 acres of timberland. But because of his wife’s untimely death, Joe Denton finds himself about to lose half of his claim. Still in mourning, his best solution is to buy one of those Mercer girls arriving from the East. A woman he’ll marry in name but keep around mostly as a cook.
Anna Ivey’s journey west with Asa Mercer’s girls is an escape from the griefs of her past. She’s not supposed to be a bride, though, just a cook for the girls. But when they land, she’s handed to Joe Denton and the two find themselves in a knotty situation. She refuses to wed him and he’s about to lose his land. With only a few months left, can Joe convince this provoking–but beguiling–easterner to be his bride?
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Sexual Content - 1/5
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Violence - 0/5
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Language - 0/5
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Drugs and Alcohol - 0/5
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Summary
Overall \"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me!\" The theme of this story totally blows this little saying out of the water. The protagonist,
Anna Ivey carries with her the last words of her dead parents, and those words serve to harm her, not bless her. She's under the impression that her own words had killed her parents and her brother. What a burden to carry! But when she flees her postCivil War home in Massachusetts to escape the unwanted overtures of a philanderer, she finds that she has run into another unwanted situation. A shrewd businessman had convinced her that she could travel west with his group of ladies who had agreed to be brides to some men in Seattle.She agreed only to go as a cook, but a man on the other end had been promised her hand as a brideone very necessaryone which would allow him to keep his land. Ms. Gist has researched her book well and has included some interesting aspects about lumber jacking in early Seattle. A nice love story is the icing on the cake.