No Other Will Do

Back Cover

 She trusts him for the job, but can she trust him with her heart?

Men are optional.  That was the credo Emma Chandler's suffragette aunts taught her and why she established Harper's Station, a women's colony that offers a fresh start to females in need.  But when a dangerous and shadowy assailant tries repeatedly to drive the women out, Emma is forced to admit they might need a man after all.  One who can fight.  And there is only one man she trusts enough to ask.

Malachi Shaw has finally earned the respect hes always craved by becoming an explosives expert for the railroad.  Yet when Emma's telegram arrives, he rushes back to Texas to repay the girl who once saved his life.  Only she's not a girl any longer.  She's a woman with a mind of her own and a smile that makes a man imagine a future he doesn't deserve.

As the danger intensifies, Emma, Mal, and the ladies of Harper's Station must choose safety or whether to risk everything to fight for their future.

Review

Karen Witemeyer's newest book is another excellent western tale invoking the elements that fans of the author have come to love:  humour, romance, interesting plot, a strong heroine, and a male lead akin to a knight in shining armor.  And in this particular novel, there is an added element of danger coupled with a thread of mystery as the characters try to determine who is the villain.  Is is someone from one of the ladies' past?  Someone who just doesn't want to see the women succeed?  Or is there a traitor in their midst?

No Other Will Do follows a tried and true plot:  a knight in shining armor sets out to rescue a damsel in distress, except this knight is wearing plaid and sporting dynamite instead of a sword, and the damsel is a mayoress of her own town with a head for "figures" instead of a kingdom's princess looking forward to the next ball.  But despite the familial plot structure, the story itself is unique, making my little foray into Harper's Station an enjoyable experience.  As this is the start of a new series for Karen Witemeyer - "Ladies of Harper's Station" - there will be more trips in my future to Harper's Station: one that I greatly look forward to.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.