Tony Bryant Morgan was disowned by his father who left the entire business of Morgan Oil Company to Tony’s half brother, Darius. Tony left home and traveled to Corsicana to start at the bottom of the labor pool for Sullivan Speckelmeyer’s business. Sullivan, Essie’s father, had turned more of the business over to Essie after the death of his wife. Tony Bryant (as he became known) had never worked for a woman and had certainly never seen a woman such as Essie. Essie did not like Tony and did not want him working for her. Her father intervened and, in the midst of both their apprehensions, Tony started working at Sullivan Oil.

Ms. Deeanne Gist has once again written a delightfully humorous historical romance. After reading the first book in this series of two, I was anxious to get my hands on this one. Let me tell you, I was not disappointed. Ms. Gist has done a great job of creating her characters so that the reader can feel part of their lives. Essie has learned some new tricks, but Tony was new to Essie’s world. Not only was the primary couple fabulously written, so were the supporting cast. Her father, the young people, and the older women of the town were all incredible and superbly written.

Not many of the historical romances I have read have been comical. This one runs the range of emotions. I shed a few tears and I laughed out loud. I did not, however, want it to end. It is a spectacular, feel-good story which I highly recommend. You will definitely be glad you read it.

Overall rating:
Sensuality rating: Sweet

Reviewer: Brenda Talley
April 28, 2008