Tracy’s review of Romancing Olive by Holly Bush

In 1891, spinster librarian, Olive Wilkins, is shocked to learn of her brother’s violent death at a saloon gaming table and her sister-in-law’s subsequent murder, traveling far from her staid life to rescue her niece and nephew, now orphans. She arrives to find the circumstances of her brother’s life deplorable and her long held beliefs of family and tradition, shaken.

Accustomed to the sophistication of Philadelphia, Olive arrives in Spencer, Ohio, a rough and tumble world she is not familiar with, facing two traumatized children. Her niece and nephew, Mary and John, have been living with a neighboring farmer, widower Jacob Butler, the father of three young children of his own and a man still in pain from the recent loss of his wife.

Real danger threatens Olive and Mary and John while Jacob and his own brood battle the day-to-day struggles for survival. Will Olive and Jacob find the strength to fight their battles alone or together? Will love conquer the bitterness of loss and broken dreams?

Olive Wilkins heads to Ohio to pick up her niece and nephew when she finds out that her brother and his wife have been killed. She is a spinster from Philadelphia and expects to pick them up and take them home in the blink of an eye. When she arrives at the homestead of the man who took them in after their parents were killed she finds a mouthy and obstinate 10 year old girl, Mary and her brother John who is younger and hasn’t spoken a word since he witnessed his mothers murder. Olive is shocked to learn the circumstances of her brother’s life and sooner rather than later resigns herself to the fact that she will have to stay in Spencer and get to know her relations before they’ll be willing to leave with her.

Jacob Butler who has been caring for the children is a widower and has 3 children of his own. He is trying to do the best he can at taking care of them and his crops but it’s very difficult. He’s none to pleased to have a pruny looking spinster invade his house but feels that he must be kind and offers her a place to stay.

Olive takes over the running of the house, the taking care of the children and giving the kids lessons. Jacob has a problem at first when Olive buys food and material for clothing for his kids but eventually gives in. After three months of living with Jacob, coming to know and soon love him Olive decides to stay in Spencer permanently. She becomes a much different person than she was when she arrived and has seen a different part of the world and her life than she thought even existed. She has a house built for her and her small family but will Jacob let her go once he finds out how much he misses her?

This was an interesting story. It has Olive, age 35, who is a confirmed spinster, finding out that there’s much more to life than sitting on a porch and letting life pass her by. The experiences that she has while at Jacob’s homestead are both hard and rewarding and actually end up making her a “younger” person. Jacob, age 25, truly starts to see a lighter side of Olive and their attraction grows. There are kisses in the story but really no sex until the end (and then it’s fade to black) so the story doesn’t rely on sex to get through the emotional barriers that the couple puts up. But I thought that really added to the overall effect of the romance in the end.

Olive got to realize that she could be someone who was deserving of love and Jacob figured out, eventually, that he could love another woman besides his deceased wife and still keep living. Happiness was something he believed died with his wife and it was a revelation to see him come to terms with his feelings for Olive.

I really liked the story as it had a true to life romance – not overblown or unrealistic. I loved Jacob and Olive getting to know each other and learning to be friends before they became anything else. There’s also some drama in the story and that added a bit as well. There is a slight bit of a Christian undercurrent but not so suggestive that it pulls away from the story.

Overall a very good read.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

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This book is available from BookBaby. You can buy it here or here in e-format.