SHOTGUN WEDDING

Author: Maggie Osborne ISBN:0804119910 11/2003 HISTORICAL Publisher: IVY
Time Period: Late 1800's/Turn-of-the-Century

Annie Malloy is in a fix. She's gotten herself into the worst kind of trouble, and there's really only one way out. It seems the town's handsome new sheriff Jesse Harden, has taken a shine to her--and has offered her a way to end the scandal once and for all. Marriage, she hopes, even a hasty one to a virtual stranger, will put an end to the gossip and return her life to something like it was before. But Annie soon finds that the quiet life she once lived has been exchanged for one full of chance, desire, and the breathtaking possibility of true love. Jesse John Harden has always followed his instincts and has no doubt that he can turn this marriage of convenience into a true marriage of the heart. With each day that passes the bond between him and his pretty new wife grows stronger and the spark between them gets hotter. But Annie is hiding a secret that could destroy their delicate happiness. Now Jesse must convince Annie to let him stand beside her to face the past so they can have a chance at a happy future. More information can be found about Ms. Osborne at the Ivy Authors website: http://ivyauthors.com/

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

What a thought-provoking love story this is. Only Maggie Osborne could take a subject such as unwed motherhood and weave it into a heart-rending and yet tender love story.

Annie is a young woman who, like many other young women of her time, is caught up in the philosophy of the suffragette movement. She's trying hard to become the "New Woman" of the age in her way of thinking and in exploring her own curiosities, both mentally and physically. When she finds herself suddenly pregnant and unwed, she decides against marrying the outlaw father--but at a cost: she must face the stigma and censure of her family, friends and neighbors. Not to mention that the father-to-be doesn't take kindly to her rejection.

Jess, the local sheriff, is a man who's had his eye on Annie for quite a long time. A quiet man who's used to being a loner and has never been good with words, by the time he gets up his nerve to approach Annie about courting, it's only to find that she's been in love with someone else and is now pregnant with what looks to be no husband on the horizon anytime soon.

The trials and tribulations that Annie goes through are so masterfully written that it was hard not to become emotionally immersed in this story. From the time Annie makes her fateful decision to remain unwed, to her telling her parents of her pregnancy and their reactions to it, to Annie's first feelings of the "flutters" of little hands and feet inside her, Maggie Osborne bonds us to Annie in a way that few other authors can. Jess's portrayal as a mature, intelligent, New Age thinking man, who seems to be way ahead of his time in his views on the freedoms and rights of women, is the perfect hero that you know must save the day in the end. Add in the rejected father-to-be who's a bad apple to start with and just can't take the word "No" for an answer, and you've got all the elements that make up an excellent read.

SHOTGUN WEDDING is a wonderfully penned story of love, forgiveness and acceptance, as well as a lesson in the social views and moralities of an era long past, written as only Maggie Osborne can write it. Once again, and to my pleasure, she stands alone--and delivers.

Nancy Davis