Maid to Match [Versión Kindle]

It was really nice to be able to read another Deeanne Gist novel, especially after having one in February, her book, Beguiled, written with another author.
This one is extremely rich in detail about Biltmore House in Asheville, NC. She has done some remarkable research and it is absolutely fascinating. However, that is just one aspect of the story. I never give away any plots of the books I review, but this one is full of all the goodness of a Deeanne Gist book. Mack Danvers is a wonderful man, caring of women and children in a time when they were mostly considered property. Tillie wants to spend her life as a ladies maid, not even thinking that maybe God has another plan for her life that includes love and a family all her own. That's all I'm giving away, but this book is rich in history and God's love, guidance and direction. And also a good measure of healthy, clean romance thrown in. Don't miss it.

*****
This lovely romance is set in Ashville, NC at the Biltmore estate at the turn of the century, and is rich with intriguing details about the estate, the servant class, the social order of the time, and so much more. The author, Deanne Gist, goes to great lengths to make the story historically accurate. Reading this novel is an adventure, exploring a portal to a world that none of us would normally know much about. Today we are in many ways class-less, but at the time this novel takes place, opportunities were carefully circumscribed by social class. The Vanderbilts (who built the Biltmore) differed from many other wealthy people in that they cared for their servants and treated them as people. Still, to be limited by one's birth was hard and this experience is explored in this novel.

It is the story of Tillie, the head parlormaid at the Biltmore, a young lady who has been raised and educated to fulfill a high position in the home of the wealthiest people in the area--an amazing opportunity. When she falls in love she must choose between this dream of her entire life and the man she falls in love with. She must also discern what God's will is in her decision.

Although this is technically a Christian romance, I would call it a "Christian lite" romance, as faith does not have an overt role in the story line. I would expect that this is a novel that would appeal to all fans of historical romance, no matter what their faith leanings.

Highly recommended.
*****

I don't think I'm saint-like enough for this book. It was difficult for me to relate to Tillie and Mack. Tillie constantly put helping other people at the top of her priorities for the future. It just baffled me that she put such heavy weight into being able to give other people monetary aid as a high motivation to keep her job. (It never seemed to strike her that she could give of her time if she had a different job.) Conversely, one of the reasons why she wanted to keep her job was because of the status and prestige. It felt like too big of a contradiction for me. Besides that, I found her to be a very weak and at times, a stupid character. She didn't seem to put much thought into how much she would like being a lady's maid. She completely ignored her motion sickness problems and put too much emphasis on what her mom wanted. She didn't think very logically about her decision and took way too long to make it.

I actually did enjoy the first half of this book. It was fun reading about Biltmore and the life of the servants. The romance between Tillie and Mack was sweet and realistic. However, once the orphanage came to be a main part of the storyline, I lost interest and started skimming. The characters involved with the orphanage were very thin and the villain was a caricature. I couldn't understand why he didn't work the kids like slaves to keep the house clean. He had no qualms about beating them. It just seems like that would saved him and his wife work and made them look better if someone happened to want to see the back of the house.

I couldn't comprehend Tillie and Mack's sacrifice at the end of the book. The obstacles that they would have faced would have been incredible. It wasn't all that happy of an ending for me. The first half of the book was a 3 or 4 star rating and the second half was a 2 star.