The Preacher’s Daughter by Cheryl St. John

Title: The Preacher’s Daughter

Author: Cheryl St. John

Genre: Historical Romance

Royal rating: 3 crowns

From the back cover:

Lorabeth Holdrige longed for life and experience! Cloistered by her strict father, her world was confined to chores and prayer. Her chance of escape came when she took a job as a housekeeper to a boisterous family. Lorabeth reveled in her newfound freedom. And when Benjamin Chaney visited, she felt the stirrings of her first crush.

Jaded and cynical, Ben found it hard to trust , though Lorabeth’s sweetness soothed his battered soul and taught him joy. But he would have to face the demons of his past to find a glorious future in Lorabeth’s arms!

Review:

The back cover doesn’t give much information about the actual story. If I had read the back cover first, I’m not sure I would have picked it. Instead the book was recommended to me, so I thought I would give it a try.

Lorabeth is indeed the preacher’s daughter. The beginning of the story centers around her desire to broaden her horizons and escape from the stifling world of her very strict father. For quite awhile she had been working for a family as a mother’s helper and housekeeper. Lorabeth convinces her father that her employers need her to live with them full time because of the imminent arrival of a new baby. Her father agrees and Lorabeth’s new life starts.

Ben is the brother of Lorabeth’s employer. He, his sister and brother had a hard life growing up, and it has left Ben wary of relationships. When he discovers he is attracted to Lorabeth he fights the feelings with everything in him.

Although the story purports to be about Lorabeth’s search for freedom and independence, the story actually focuses more on Ben’s coming to terms with his past. This makes for an interesting contrast in a romance novel.

Thoughts:

The story was sweet. I liked all the characters, although Lorabeth was a bit too naïve for my taste much of the time. This worked, however, because she was a sheltered preacher’s daughter. Some of the plot elements seemed a bit historically wishy washy to me for late nineteenth century Kansas. I felt like the author may have taken some liberties to fit the story.


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