"If the Boot Fits" by Karen Witemeyer

If you love fairy tale retellings, make sure you check out this Cinderella-inspired story. With a little gender-swapping and a lot of Texas flair, you'll be swept along on this epic adventure.

Samantha Dearing returns from finishing school in Boston, ready to settle back into the ranch life she loved as a girl. Much to her dismay, her father seems intent on marrying her off to a wealthy suitor as soon as possible, but Samantha isn't going to stand for this.

Asher Ellis is dismayed to learn his stepmother has been evicted from her home, and he sneaks into Samantha's ball in order to search her father's home for evidence of corruption toward his tenants. When things go wrong, he ends up making a hasty escape and leaving a boot behind in the process.

In order to resettle into her community, Samantha begins to get involved in charity work. This leads to her tutoring Asher's younger brother and helping a friend who has fallen into dire circumstances. This allows Samantha's personality to come to life and show the compassionate side of her passionate nature. But it soon becomes clear that someone is out to cause her serious harm. Who could it be? Asher becomes one of her protectors as they try to find the man with ill intentions.

This book has strong faith themes and encourages helping those in need. Overall, I felt the story was a little lacking for me personally. I never quite connected to the characters, and there's a journal that is discovered toward the end of the book that contained a twist I really wish had been handled differently. Was it necessary? It was pretty disappointing to me. However, the Cinderella aspects of the story were top notch and often brought a smile to my face. It was fun to find familiar names and see classic scenes playing out in a unique way.

I received my copy of the book from the author. All thoughts in this review are my own.