More Than Words Can Say by Karen Witemeyer

The town council has told Abigail Kemp that she may not own and run her families bakery. She must either go in business with a man or close her business down. Abigail refuses to give up her business that easily. Abigail comes up with an idea to keep her business and have a man's name on the deed without giving up her freedom to run it the way she wants.

Zacharias Hamilton is enjoying his freedom. Having raised his adopted brother and sister from the time he was 13 Zachary is enjoying his crusty bachelorhood with nobody demanding anything from him. When Abigail comes to him with a proposal he is all set to tell her NO, until her sister comes to him and begs him to change his mind. Zach tells himself he can't resist helping a woman in distress, but Abigail's dimples don't hurt the deal much either.

It doesn't take long for Abigail's business deal with Zach to turn into affection and caring on both their parts. But does their relationship even have a chance with both of them keeping secrets?

First off I really love Zach and Abigail. I love how Zach wanted to take care of Abigail and her sister from the beginning. He was honorable and treated her well. Abigail in turn did the same for Zach. She fed him, made sure he was comfortable, supported him. She even cared for his spiritual well-being in that she wanted to help him heal from his childhood. I did have a few issues though with the story. I felt like a lot of time was spent on the two characters wanting to cement their relationship physically but things kept getting in the way. And then I really had an issue with Zach's referring to God as The Big Guy or The Big Man. It is a huge pet peeve of mine to have God referred in such a casual or cavalier way. It is so disrespectful and dishonoring and Zach's character did it a lot. I understand that he was unpolished etc. but as I said, it is a pet peeve. Moving on. I also had an issue with the author constantly referring to Abigail as too curvy or pudgy or round or any reference to her weight. I understand that that is what was part of Abigail's insecurity, but it seemed a trifle over-done. The rest of the story I totally enjoyed. I found myself getting very angry at the antagonist of the story, former friend Sophia. I could never have been as patient as Abigail was, but I loved the way she finally found her confidence to stand up to her. I loved seeing Zach's brother and sister from MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE and seeing how they were doing. I hope there will be another book in the series so that we can find out how Abigail's sister Rosalind does as she leaves the nest. A sweet romance, a bit of danger and a happy ending, made this reader very content.

Check out my review of:

More Than Meets The Eye

**I received my copy from NetGalley. All opinions are my own**