Review: A Warm, Sweet Love Story Set in the 1950's
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 9, 2011
No Other by Shawna K. Williams is an inspirational historical romance published by Desert Breeze in May of 2010. This is the first novel I've read by this author, but I can't wait to read the sequel In All Things. It takes place in the aftermath of WWII, and Jakob Wilheimer has returned from the war and found it necessary to reenter high school to earn the diploma he wasn't able to while serving his country. So, he's no ordinary high school boy, and the war has made a man out of him. He didn't count on a teacher he knew who was slightly older than him, Meri Parker. Meri's life is distracted and controlled by her mother and father to the point that they want to tell her who to marry. They plan for her to marry a rich man who can take care of her in style. After all, her father is the mayor, and a suitor must be fitting for the mayor's daughter. Meri is not interested in the man they choose for her. Though she tries to deny her attraction to Jakob, she ends up living  next door to his brother and finds it harder than she thought it'd be to think of him as only one of her ordinary students. Jakob discovers the control her family wields and wants to save her. Will he be able to avoid temptation and help Meri discover God? He invites her to Bible study after Bible study, and she turns down all his invitations, but he doesn't give up. Can Meri overcome her family's control, or will she be forced into a marriage only to make her family happy? This is a warm, sweet love story, and a fast-paced read. I enjoyed it so much, I know I'll continue to read books by this author. She knows how to evoke feelings and emotions to create realistic characters and keep the reader turning pages. Though Jakob and Meri make a mistake, and they're not perfect, Jakob struggles to be a man of God and turn Meri into a woman of God, and he refuses to give up. I loved his character. He's some hero. The author also does a fabulous job with description of Jakob's old family home and evokes the readers emotions when he revisits it. In my book,  No Other  is a five-star love story, and I'm sure In All Things, it's sequel will be, too. So if you're a fan of romance or historical inspirational romance, grab these two novels and curl up for a great reading session.