I have read several books by Pamela Morsi and haven't found a bad one yet. She writes wonderful stories about ordinary people that might have lived in your own town. Her stories make me feel good.

The heroine in this story is Esme Crabb and she has to be the practical one. Her dad is the laziest man in the entire county and seems to be proud of that fact. Her sisters, who are twins, are a little lacking in brains so the burden of providing for the family falls on her. She is determinded to make a better life for her and her family so she makes up a plan to snare the richest man in town for a husband.

Esme's not beautiful, she thinks, and so she has to use her brains to capture the attention of Cleavis Rye. Esme has been raised a "hillbilly" and Cleavis is an educated store keeper. She has to think of a way to gain his interest and so begins to follow him around and insinuates herself into his life. Before he knows what hit him she's wormed her way into a job in the store, driving him crazy, and making him lust after her.

Esme is an honest and funny person and it was enjoyable to see her lose her cool while trying to snare Cleavis. He calls her "Hillbaby" and gets all hot under the collar while trying to ignore her. This book is a really fun read and nothing really bad happens in the entire book. Morsi has a gift for turning even the worst of the characters into a real person. This, like all of Morsi's books I have read, is the perfect book to settle down in your easy chair with.

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Esme Crabb is a Tennessee Mountain girl who has the responsibility of feeding and caring for her father...the laziest man in the county...and her two feather-brained sisters. So, Esme sets her sights on general store owner Cleavis Rhy, following him around the town and insinuating herself into a job at the store.

Cleav doesn't want anything to do with Esme, but can't seem to get rid of her. She is constantly "fixing" her stocking and showing him her legs...so he decides to give her some garters. But when the town finds out about the gift of intimate apparel, Cleav must marry Esme in order to save her good name and his mercantile business.

Great story with some hilarious moments. My rating: 5 Stars.

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Esmeralda Crabb (Esme), the youngest daughter of the laziest man in Tennessee, is responsible for taking care of her older twin sisters and her father. They currently live in a cave and meals are sparse. Esme decides that things have to get better; she will go out and find herself a husband.

At first, I wasn't impressed with Esme until I realized she was desperate, not conniving. She sets her sights on the richest man in town, the storekeeper of the town mercantile. Cleavis Rhy, the man Esme sets her cap for, is cultured, punctual, handsome and well-spoken. He also has a lovely girl friend, Sophrona Tewksbury, a Bible verse-quoting, well-endowed, woman.

Because Esme isn't good looking, like her twin sisters and Sophrona, she decides to make herself indispensable to Cleav. She starts working in his store, helping customers, dusting and restocking shelves. She is everywhere Cleav is and the town starts to notice.

Esme routinely hikes her skirts to fix her stockings â because she can't afford garters. As an act of kindness, Cleav gives her a pair of garters; little does he know that such an intimate gift will doom him.

Cleavis must make amends by marrying Esme to save her reputation and his business. This sets off a chain reaction of events and reactions. It takes the rest of the book to resolve the situation. Esme is fun and plain-spoken; in turn, she frustrates and confounds poor Cleavis.

This story is beautifully told and is a rare treat.

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