I honestly thought that the ENTIRE book was going to be about this stupid dress so I wasn't going to read it. After my sister suggested it to me I decided to actually read the description and give it a go. I read it in one sitting; I stayed up until 3:30 in the morning doing so. And I loved it. I never thought I could love a Western/Romance, but I DO. I felt so sappy after reading this that I had to go listen to screamo to remind myself that I'm a strong, independent woman who don't like sappy stuff. Update: I'm a strong, independent woman who does actually like sappy stuff.**MAJOR SPOILERS** Laramie (or Burke, but I prefer Laramie) is the "son" (you'll get that if you read the book) of a gang of bandits. His dad thinks he's too soft because he won't kill a man, so he does the "logical" thing and kidnaps a girl for him. He was hoping that Laramie would, like, kill for her. Poor Ariana, the poor school teacher who just happened to be the girl that gets kidnapped. Through it all she remains strong and keeps her faith in God; and learns a lot about trust along the way. Then, of course, they actually do fall in love (predictable: yes. but there's several twists) unfortunately for Laramie's pa... things don't go as planned. An overall great read, I just might go and read more of Janette Oke's books...
I liked this better than the other two "Women of the West" books I've read. This book reminded me of two other books -- "The Long Winter" (I think that's the right one), where Laura Ingalls is a young schoolteacher, and "The Wedding Dress", where an orphan's only link to her birth mother is a wedding dress that was carried in an old trunk via wagon train.It's an interesting story of small towns, frontier life, love and God's care, with a little "Stockholm Syndrome" thrown in for good measure. Something that popped into my head while reading was how difficult it is to trace family lineage without computer access!I appreciated Laramie's relationship with White Eagle, in light of the way he was raised to hate all indians. The best thing is that their relationship is reciprocal; not just the white man helping the indian, etc. . .
Having officially horrified Sarah or Rebekah or one of those people because I had never read this book, apparently an ultimate classic, I picked it up at the library. Normally, I would have avoided it. My only experience with Janette Oke has been to stand with my Dad in horrified avoidance of the Love Gets Chucked Through the Window movies. Perhaps I should give them a try.While I didn't love A Gown of Spanish Lace, it wasn't terrible. It was very clean. And I liked that, most Christian romances tend to get a bit much for my taste, and I don't think Oke's characters even kiss. Otherwise, the plot was dramatic, implausible, predictable, very Christian, and very sweet. I might just possibly some day give Oke another try. Maybe.
—Amy
Thoughts on the entire series.Overall, Women of the West is my favorite series (that I’ve read so far) by Oke, where I really reveled in what the author had to bring in all of her sweet, warm, and simplistic glory. However, the books aren’t only warm fuzzies, as Oke does deal with some tough, and even some potentially controversial, issues, giving the reader some points to chew on but doing it in her warm style.I’ve read most of the books in the series more than once (maybe even three times, with The Measure of a Heart), and while not each of them are individual favorites of mine, the series as a whole took me places I’m so grateful to have gone.
—Nadine Keels
Ariana loves her life as a schoolteacher in a little frontier town. But after classes are done and she prepares to head home, a band of rough outlaws abduct her and take her away. Trapped in a small shack, Ariana prays and waits, her emotions swinging between terror and boredom as days stretch into weeks. Still, the outlaws refuse to tell her why they've taken her or what they plan to do.Then the boss's son appears in the doorway of her cabin. He seems different from the others, but can she trust him?
—Gabrielle W.
