It Happened at the Fair: A Novel

Loved it, loved it, loved it! Really what else do you need to know? ;) Okay, maybe a little bit more so you can decide if you would love it too.Deeanne is one of my all-time favorite authors. She puts a lot of research into her books and it shows. I loved the historical background: the old pictures, the actual world fair setting, the descriptions of the buildings, rides, clothing, basically all of it. I felt like I was really pulled back to that time. It wasn't super descriptive, or what I mean to say is that she doesn't always tell you everything, but lets her characters show you. This, to me, is the best way to do it. I've never read about the fair, so this picked up my interest in learning more about it as well.I loved the characters! They weren't perfect, but this made them feel more realistic. They both have things they are struggling with and things they need to do better. Cullen is definitely swoon worthy and I loved a lot of the conversations between him and Della. There was plenty of wit, humor, and attraction. Oh, the mortification of this teaser (from p. 124-125):She slapped at his arm. "Let me go," she hissed, her voice quiet. "I'm on your lap."Leaning his head against the wall, he closed his eyes. "Hush. Just be quiet and be still for one second so I can catch my breath. Please."With a huff, she waited, then thrummed her fingers on his arm. "How long do you need? I thought farmers were supposed to be strong, what with all that shoveling of hay and digging of rows and pushing of plows."He held out his free arm. "Grab my upper arm.""What?""Just grab it."She did.He flexed his muscle.The thrumming stopped. Twisting slightly, she placed one hand beneath his arm, then smoothed down his jacket with the other. "I'd have thought it'd be a lot bigger."Sighing, he picked her up, plopped her beside him, stripped off his jacket, removed his cuff, and shoved up his shirtsleeve, Once more, he flexed.Her eyes widened. "Good heavens, that's huge. Are they both like that?"That wasn't the end of it either.One thing that Deeanne always does well is create these magical and humorous scenes. There are always several in every one of her books and that was the same for this one as well. I enjoyed every single one of them!For those of you who might not normally pick this up because it is in the Christian genre, let me just say that there is no preaching in this. Deeanne (I would say in all of her books) doesn't preach. There might be a reference to God or a brief reference to scripture, but it's not very often and more in the context of the culture at the time. It doesn't feel forced, unnatural, or unrealistic. I think there might have been two brief references in this one and nothing that diverted from the story. I would say that her books are more general historical romances.I highly recommend this if you are looking for a very well written historical romance with some wit and humor.I originally had an egalley copy from NetGalley, but pre-ordered this as well and ended up reading the finished copy. It is definitely worth having a place on my shelf as I'm planning on re-reading it in the future.Content: CleanGenre: Christian Historical RomanceSource: NetGalley and boughtOriginal review posted here: [...]

I am a huge fan of Ms. Gist and have read all of her novels thus far. I eagerly downloaded my copy to my kindle shortly after midnight on the release date. While the story itself is captivating, as usual (I've already read 25% in less than a couple of hours), there seems to be some strange problem with the kindle version. Interspersed throughout the book thus far, there are words written in italics that are missing several letters, usually vowels. For example, when it should say sprinklers, it says sprklrs. I have no idea why it is like this, and have never come across this before on my kindle. It was like this for the first 2-3%, then stopped for awhile, then started up again around 15%. It is very strange. I'm hoping they will fix this ASAP.As for the book itself, I am thoroughly enjoying it, and would probably give it 5 stars once I've finished it. I have never been disappointed in any of Ms. Gist's novels. I would highly recommend this for fans of historical fiction.****UPDATE****I just finished the book and thoroughly enjoyed it. Someone pointed out to me, and it was confirmed by the author at the end of the book, that the gaps in words were intentional to show Cullen's hearing loss. I figured this out about halfway through the book. I understand why the author did this, but I still find it very, for lack of a better word, annoying. I initially thought it was an error on my kindle version because as we all know, lots of kindle books have errors and typos.That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the story itself. She has written the heroine as a very strong, smart woman, and I can appreciate that in the world of romantic novels when so often this is not the case, and the main character can be tedious. This is a very sweet romance story, and throughout the book you learn so much about the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893. I would still highly recommend this to fans of Ms. Gist and fans of historical fiction. If you can look past the word gaps, you will find a delightful book.

I liked everything about this book. It was extremely well written - I felt as if I was transported to 1893 and visited the Fair myself.I love the characters - Della and Cullen. Their story felt real. This was a sweet book. I definitely recommend it. It was lovely. I'll be keeping an eye on this author!