If the Boot Fits. Karen Witemeyer. 2024. 368 pages. [Source: Review copy]
First sentence: She'd only been home from school for two weeks, and already her father was trying to marry her off. Silently fuming, Samantha Dearing yanked open the door to her father's study and stepped inside.
Premise/plot: If the Boot Fits is the second book in the Texas Ever After series by Karen Witemeyer. Samantha Dearing is the daughter of a "cattle king" and her father is anxious to see her wed. Samantha wants to marry sure enough, but not just anybody and definitely not someone just of her father's choosing. She wants to follow her heart and marry for love.
The novel opens at the close of a party--a "ball," if you will--Samantha has not found her one true love. But she has caught someone sneaking around her father's property. And that someone--somehow, someway--has left a boot behind. In his flight, however, he does take time to save Samantha's younger brother, Clint, who is in pursuit.
Asher Ellis has no love for Mr. Dearing, but, his daughter on the other hand seems oh-so-charming and quite lovely. Not just on the outside, but a GOOD person through and through. She's teaching Asher's younger brother to read, and he is teaching her to ride a horse.
As she settles into the community, it seems someone in the community wants her dead....can Samantha survive long enough to see if the boot fits her one true love?
My thoughts: I'm not sure if I'm all the way committed to the notion of this being a Cinderella retelling. It is clumsy--in my opinion--if that is the sole determinator of the book's success. However, if you remove that somewhat gimmicky premise, the book is definitely worth reading. I do love Asher and Samantha; individually and together, these two are easy to like/love. Both are genuinely good people. The book has plenty of drama--though none from stepmothers or stepsisters. In fact, I'd argue that Karen Witemeyer has taken the intensity level completely off the charts. If you want DRAMA that goes all the way--full force on dangerous predicaments and true life-or-death peril--then this one delivers.
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