Laura, herself an orphan, had corresponded with an agency in New York to adopt a little five-year-old girl, Angelina Sanchez, when the Orphan Train came through her new home city. It was only when she tried to get the paperwork signed, and she ran into Gavin Maitland, representative of the town/orphan exchange, that she was faced with the problems ahead of her! The only thing that allowed her to keep the little girl temporarily was that she was “sickly” and no family wanted to take on the responsibility of her medical expenses.

Laura, an accomplished seamstress, was able to build her business through word-of-mouth and maintained a steady stream of customers. Gavin Maitland, owner of Maitland Mercantile, continually brought Laura bad news concerning her pending adoption. He knew that, even though they were drawn to each other, she would never take him serious since she constantly got mad at him. Both their businesses introduced several main support characters who were very important to the story. Ms. Fran Shaff has done an excellent job of keeping the interaction moving between the town’s folk without allowing confusion to muddle the story! The inevitable side stories are so very interesting and involved in the main plot that there is never a boring moment throughout the entire novel.

I laughed, I cried, I plotted along with the main characters, but what I could not do was quit reading! I loved this story and look forward to more like it…possibly a sequel, maybe about Stephanie Porter, the school teacher and Gavin’s ex! Kudos to Ms. Shaff! You will be delighted to have read this book.

Overall rating:
Sensuality rating: Sweet

Reviewer: Brenda Talley
April 25, 2007