Two nights ago, after much debate if I wanted to read Just Dessert or another book from the Ladies of Larkspur series, I decided to start with Just Dessert since it is set up so that you need not read the books in order.
Heather Gray created characters and a world that soon had me going without sleep. The past two nights I was up until 2 in the morning reading. The original plan had been to get my 3 year old to sleep then settle down and read for an hour, maybe two. Time slipped away as I get swept up into the story of Mary Fitzgerald and her family.
This book is set in the Idaho Territory in 1878; Mary Fitzgerald will do anything to protect her siblings from their abusive father. She bakes a pie, gets her brothers and sisters cleaned up, and goes to the church picnic hoping that someone will buy her buy and she can get married. She does not care who she marries as long as she will be able to take her younger siblings with her. Her father shows up at the picnic drunk. Mary runs with her siblings to try to make it home. When a wagon pulls up alongside of them she instinctively steps in front of her siblings. The man in the wagon is Grady Carlisle, he and Mary used to play together when they were younger and he would spend the summers with his grandparents. Reluctantly, Mary accepts his offer to help them by giving them a ride back to their farm; his grandparents' farm neighbors theirs.
Grady cannot help but notice the fear, uncertainty, and anger that radiate from these children. He realizes that Mary is not the happy, carefree girl that she used to be. Grady decides that he needs to help this family as much as he can while he is with his grandparents for the summer. The next day he shows up to help clear out the drive, so the children will not get hurt when they walk to school and to make it easier to get a wagon through. Really, he just wanted an excuse to be able to help this family and to see them again. Grady comes from a Christian family, he does not push his Christianity onto the Fitzgerald children though.
Gigi is the youngest, she is talkative and dramatic. She begins to open up to Grady right away. Lizzie is quiet, seemingly shy, when she has something to say she says it. Bobby, is eager to learn, he wants to start going to church with Grady. Clive, the oldest boy has a chip on his shoulder. Who wouldn't after being through the things that their Pa put them all through since their Ma died. Clive wants to protect his younger brother and his sisters. Mary worries that if he has to be around their Pa much longer that Clive will turn out to be like him; believing that is the way a man should be.
Mary had to become a mother to her siblings when her Ma died. Her Pa made her quit school so she could take care of the house. She has done the best that she could to protect them from the violence that seemed to consume their Pa after their Ma died. Mary took the brunt of his anger in order to shield them. She has a hard time trusting; she turned her back on God thinking that he had abandoned them when they needed him the most.
What will happen to the Fitzgerald clan? Will Mary end up marrying a 90 year old man like she said she would just to escape her Pa? Will Clive be able to work through his anger? Will Gigi and Lizzie ever have a chance at a normal, happy childhood? What about Bobby, will he be able to keep going to school, or will he have to do what he can to help keep the far going? The farm that the children have to run by themselves and in secret so they do not anger their Pa. Will Grady find a way to help without losing his heart to this family, especially Mary?
This book left me wanting more. I know there are more books by this author, more Ladies of Larkspur books and I will be getting those. I still want to know more about the Fitzgerald clan. The only problem I found in the book was a proofreading problem towards the end. There were three spots that drew me out of the book temporarily. Twice, names got mixed up and once I had to re-read a sentence several times because it made no sense to me. I have seen far worse than this when it comes to editing, I am not sure I have come across an e-book that has not had some mistake like this. Despite those 3 moments though I was drawn right back in.
This book was absolutely delish! I craved more. I loved the fact that God was present in this book. I loved the messages that were given. This book was not in your face, "here you believe what I believe" but it was wonderfully well written and the author has a wonderful grasp on how to reach people with her characters. I found myself relating to some of the problems that the Fitzgerald children were facing. I just can not tell you enough about this book.
Go pick up a copy today at Barnes and Noble or Amazon.
Happy Reading!
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