Book review: Banking on Temperance by Becky Lower

Blurb:

When beautiful Temperance Jones and her mother enter Basil Fitzpatrick’s St. Louis bank, the handsome ladies’ man believes he’ll only be conducting a monetary transaction for the down-on-their-luck Jones family.  But Fate intervenes, and that first meeting becomes so much more to both Temperance and Basil.

 Dying of consumption, Preacher Jones extracts a promise from his daughter Temperance that she will do whatever it takes to get the rest of the large family to Oregon. With the threat of civil war looming, he wants to see his sons safely away from conflict.

With Basil’s help, the Jones family begins to put down roots, and the faraway dream of traveling on to Oregon loses its luster for everyone but Temperance.  She knows she must go on, no matter what—if not for her promise to her father, then to protect her own heart from Basil—for she has loved him since the moment they met.

Is Basil ready for a permanent commitment? To love Temperance would mean taking on the burden of providing for her mother and siblings, as well—a tall order for a man who, up to now, has only looked out for himself. Drawn to the tiny spitfire like a magnet, Basil must decide if he’ll let Temperance travel the Oregon Trail with another man, or will he gladly spend the rest of his life BANKING ON TEMPERANCE?

My Review:

Basil and Temperance have one of the most stubborn-filled claim-your-person-already stories I've read in a long time!  So much so, there for a minute I was almost ready to start rootin' for the other man in Temperance's life.  hahaha!

While stubbornness and determination can serve you well, such blind devotion can definitely cause heartache - which, of course since this is a romance story, we know the heartache will be overcome... eventually.

I adored Temperance's devotion to her family and how she remained true to herself.  Watching her fall in love with Basil and work through those emotions was a sight to see.... even if I wanted to shake her sometimes.  I appreciated how even though most of these feelings were new to her, she owned up pretty quickly that Basil was hers, even if she didn't know what to do with that knowledge.  As the eldest child, Temperance was a strong leader in her family, however she had some growing up to do and lessons to learn.

Same for Basil - that man had some heart-wounds in his past to process, but then despite being a successful business owner and a leader in the community, he also had alot of growing up to do and needed his own wake up call (or two... or three.... or....).  He needed someone like Temperance in his life who would make him work for and earn the good stuff, not just keep coasting on surface level deepness and having things handed to him without much effort.  Some of the road-blocks for him, while I could understand it, it also hurt me to feel that pain for Temperance.

I loved the small side story we got with Temperance's mom (actually, I'd really like to read a book from her pov from when they first set out from PA and then what happened in St. Louis during this story) and getting to know Ginger (Basil's sister) and Joseph (from an earlier book in this series).  Ginger was a hoot and I had to agree with her opinion of her brother on several occasions! lol

If you enjoy a slow burn with lots of heated attraction kinda story, this is a good one to pick up.


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