Her Good Name, by Ruth Axtell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

BOOK DESCRIPTION: In the 1890 thriving coastal town of Holliston, Maine, the leading lumber baron's son, Warren Brentwood, III, returns from his years away at college and traveling to take up his position as heir apparent to his father's business empire.

Esperanza "Espy" Estrada, daughter of a Portuguese immigrant fisherman and a local woman, lives on the wrong side of town, surrounded by a brood of brothers and sisters and a careworn mother. She is unable to pretend she is anything but "one of those Estradas." When she overhears of a position to clean house at a local high school teacher's home on Elm Street, she jumps at the opportunity--to be able to run into Warren Brentwood now and again, but also to imbibe of the culture and intellectual atmosphere of the Stocktons.

Soon, scandal and drama rock Espy's world, and she must make decisions about her future--decisions that will affect many more people than herself.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Ruth Axtell has published 13 romances under the name Ruth Axtell Morren with Steeple Hill/Love Inspired Books. She will have a single title regency out in March 2013 for Baker/Revell Books. Her books have been translated into Dutch, Italian, Polish, Czech and Afrikaans. She was a Golden Heart finalist in 1994. Her second published book, Wild Rose, was a Booklist "Top Ten Christian Fiction" selection in 2005. She is a member of ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) and RWA (Romance Writers of America).

Ruth studied comparative literature at Smith College with a concentration in French and English literature, and spent her junior year in Paris. Since then she has lived in the Netherlands and the Canary Islands. Shortly after college, she committed her life to Christ. Fourteen years later, she committed her writing to Him.

Currently, Ruth lives on the down east coast of Maine with her three children and two cats. She enjoys the challenge of vegetable and flower gardening in a cool, foggy climate, long walks, reading and doing historical research for her novels.

MY THOUGHTS: What a sweet book! I couldn't stop until I'd finished this one. The characters were a bit predictable and I knew where it was going from the get-go, but this was an enjoyable read.  I loved the setting, loved the ending.

PARENTAL RATING:  PG-13.  This is one I will pass to my teen daughters, with a little discussion about how Espy was taken advantage of by her boss's husband.