Full Steam Ahead by Karen Witemeyer
Published: 2014
Publisher: Bethany House
Series: None
Goodreads Summary: Nicole Renard returns home to Galveston, Texas, to find her father deathly ill. Though she loves him, Nicole’s father has always focused on what she’s not. Not male. Not married. Not able to run Renard Shipping.
Vowing to find a suitable husband to give her father the heir he desires before it’s too late, Nicole sets out with the Renard family’s greatest treasure as her dowry: the highly coveted Lafitte Dagger. But her father’s rivals come after the dagger, forcing a change in Nicole’s plans.
After a boiler explosion aboard the Louisiana nearly took his life, Darius Thornton has been a man obsessed. He will do anything to stop even one more steamship disaster. Even if it means letting a female secretary into his secluded world.
Nicole is determined not to let her odd employer scare her off with his explosive experiments, yet when respect and mutual attraction grow between them, a new fear arises. How can she acquire an heir for her father when her heart belongs to another? And when her father’s rivals discover her hiding place, will she have to choose between that love and her family’s legacy?
Nicole was never the son her father wanted. When she returns home she finds him very ill. With him in bad health her family is in danger of losing something very valuable. Her only choice is to set out and find a husband an heir to take over her fathers shipping business. Before she can set out trouble forces her to divert her plans and she ends up working for a crazy young man named Darius who likes to blow up things and nearly himself in the process! Nicole soon finds out there is more to the handsome crazy man then she thought and he might just be the answer to her problems. But her trouble finds her and may ruin everything she is trying to save.
This was a good book and I enjoyed it. I have read a few books with steamboats as part of the plot and find them very interesting.
What I liked: I liked Nicole. She was smart and spoke her mind. She was willing to do what she needed to do to keep her family safe. Even if she was not 100% ready to get married she understood her family needed her. Yet she was still herself and her interaction with Darius was very enjoyable. I liked how they both had to work through personal issues to find they needed each other and Gods help.
What I did not like: The whole idea that Nicole had to get married to protect the family business was kind of silly.
Overall this was a great book and fun read. Definitely one to add to your to read list.
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DISCLOSURE: I was provided a free copy of this e-book from the publisher through Netgalley to review it. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions I have expressed are my own.