Peter has a sheep ranch to run, a motherless boy to raise, and countless other important things to worry about. Whatever is he going to do with the young, pretty—though impractical—woman he has rescued?
Will Emma be able to change Peter’s first opinion of her?
Will Peter ever forget his stubbornness long enough to see Emma for what she truly is becoming on his ranch?
Will both of these hard-headed characters learn that God is ultimately the one who is in control of everything?
* * *
She Shall Be Praised was an entertaining novel. I have read several series of books by Ginny Aiken and knew what to expect. As always, her characters were witty—though they seemed to have differing opinions most of the time which kept the dialogue lively and interesting. Emma was a strong, likeable character. I could see how she changed throughout the story. Peter, though a stern and no-nonsense type of man, did have soft-side, though he rarely did show it.
Robby—Peter’s son—was one of my favorite characters. Rarely does an author in this genre focus on developing a child’s character. But this author did a marvelous job of defining the relationship between Peter and his son. Peter wanted Robby to be more like him. However, all Robby wanted to do was read about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. It was interesting that Ginny chose to make Peter so stern. I rarely see that characteristic in fictional male characters in today’s Christian fiction.
The worst fault I can find with She Shall Be Praised was its predictability. Except for a stunning surprise in the beginning(which I was totally unprepared for. Read it yourself to find out what it is;) the rest of the novel was entirely too expected. Even when a crime was unexpectedly committed, I realized almost immediately exactly who had committed it. The one thing that I was disappointed in was that the author did not use much of her extensive vocabulary as she usually does. Almost always when I read one of her books, I need my dictionary handy in order to look up some long, interesting word. I’ve always enjoyed reading her works simply because of the anticipation of growing my vocabulary. She Shall Be Praised did not have one word I did not know.
From reading the synopsis online, I was expecting it to be based on the Proverbs 31 woman. Though there was brief mention of that part of the Bible, Emma never actually resolved to be like that woman that I could see. However, I did find that the overall moral of the book was to trust God in everything--He knows when we don't. And, by trusting in Him, He can use us in remarkable, unthinkable ways.
All in all a worth-while read for any lover of Christian romance, but entirely too predictable. As always, however, the conversations between the characters were smart and interesting. I can always expect to get that when I pick up one of Ginny Aiken’s novels.
I give She Shall Be Praised 3 out of 5 stars.
*I received an ARC copy of this book from the publishers through Netgalley. The opinions and ideas stated are mine and mine alone. My review is an honest opinion of this book.
Note: This book is the last book in the Women of Hope series. But I did not read the other two before this. It does not matter if you read this series out of order or not. Also, for anybody wondering the release date for She Shall Be Praised is January 7, 2014. I encourage you to try Ginny Aiken. She's a very entertaning author.