Ginny Aiken in her new book, "For Such A Time As This book coverFor Such a Time as This" Book One in the A Women of Hope series published by FaithWords brings us into the life of Olivia Moore.

From the back cover: Olivia Moore has been praying desperately to God for guidance. Drought and plagues of insects have devastated her family's farm in Hope County, Oregon and her parents don't know how they'll survive the winter. Deciding to ease their burden, Olivia applies to be the new nanny to the children of handsome widower Elijah Whitman, the president of the Bank of Bountiful. Since the death of their mother, Luke and his sister, Miranda, have been increasingly wild and have driven every governess back East. Having helped raise her brothers and sisters, Olivia convinces Elijah she's up to the job.

As Olivia works to win over the children and settle into the Whitman household, gossip begins to spread throughout the town about Olivia and Elijah. For the sake of her reputation, it seems Olivia will have to leave Hope County, until Elijah proposes another solution: Marriage. It would be a purely business relationship, and Elijah's one emphatic condition is that she promise never to interfere with her work. She accepts, but when the Bank of Bountiful forecloses on the Moore's farm, Olivia is torn between her duty to her husband and her love for her family.

The railroad is coming and it will bring prosperity back to Hope County as the drought is casing havoc with the farms and finances. In an effort to just hold on until the railroad comes in the farmers mortgage their land. Now it is a question of time; will the drought break and the farmers produce a crop or will the railroad line get there or will the bank foreclose? Olivia is married to Elijah, the bank president who is doing the foreclosures, but this is a marriage of convenience and she has no real power and he doesn't want her advice in his business. What is she ever going to do? I think Ginny Aiken did a wonderful job with the names of the places. They live in the town of Bountiful in the County of Hope. That gives you the idea of what the town should be doing and what everybody should have. Ms. Aiken has also done a marvelous job of bringing the Biblical story of Esther to a Western community. Olivia, Elijah and the other characters play out so well on the pages you would think you had known them all your life. "For Such A Time As This" is a great read that I was sorry to see come to an end. The good news is Ms. Aiken has a new story coming next year with new characters that we can grow to love as well.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from FaithWords. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Times have always been tough out west, especially in the 1800's for families looking to make a living and a new start, especially along the Oregon Trail. Hope County, Oregon is definitely no exception, but after years of no rain and now grasshoppers eating whatever farmers can grow, most families are barely able to put enough food on the table for them to eat and have been forced to sell off their livestock.

The Moore family is no exception and it doesn't help Olivia, the oldest daughter, to overhear the anxieties that are facing her family, during the late night talks between her parents. They have already mortgaged as much of the farm as they can and if things don't change soon, they may have to sell everything. It's through a chance encounter on the streets of Bountiful that Olivia feels God's calling to help her family. When a group of wild boys chase and tease a group of girls with a stolen pig, Olivia handles the situation with grace, patience and manners of a lady well beyond her years. Mr. Elijah Whitman, president of the bank, witnesses the entire display and soon learns that his son, Luke is part of the group of boys.

It seems that once again, Mr. Whitman wishes he had someone to help him raise his son, Luke and daughter, Miranda, but he can't seem to find a nanny that will stay and put forth the effort to teach them some manners. Being president of the bank, calls him out of town quite a bit and unless something changes, he has no other choice but to send them both off to boarding schools. Luke suggests that Ms. Olivia Moore would make the perfect nanny for them and soon Olivia believes that God is pointing her toward hope in helping her family out in the process by getting a job.

In the novel, For Such A Time As This by Ginny Aiken, the storyline gets interesting when Ms. Moore takes the position as a child companion, she dislikes the title of nanny and the children believe they don't need one since nanny's are for babies, especially Miranda. At first the children resort to their old tried and true favorite pranks they have used to "rid" themselves of having someone to care for them including "Cooky" the household cook who is used to being ignored. Yet none of them were prepared for the fact that Olivia has had experience dealing with her younger brothers and sisters and therefore, can see a teaching moment in everything. She knows she has to do something they aren't expecting in order for the children to see her as their ally and someone who is there to help them grow. Along the way, the children begin to fully appreciate what Ms. Moore brings to the household but not before the town can begin to gossip and it causes her reputation to be called into question.

I received For Such A Time As This compliments of Faith Words Publishers, a division of Hachette Book Groups for my honest opinion. I completely feel in love with the character of Olivia Moore. She wants to do whatever she can to aid her family and along the way finds her true calling in helping to raise the Whitman children where none had succeeded before. She relies on God to help her through difficult times when she feels like throwing in the towel and simply going home and that shows the true character of strength and perseverance in trouble times. I rate this one hands down a 5 out of 5 stars as the first book in the Women of Hope series and can't wait to read the next one! Ginny Aiken has answered the called of my heart's genre!

Olivia Moore's family is struggling to make ends meet during a drought. She decides to take matters into her own hands and take a job as a nanny for the local banker, widower Eli Whitman. When the town starts buzzing about her living in the banker's home, they marry. Even though they both have feelings for each other, neither one knows it. Olivia focuses on transforming her new husband's rambunctious children while Eli runs his bank and keeps the business private. As the romance begins to blossom, so does the suspense behind some crooked business dealings. Olivia has to risk losing her place in Eli's life in order to save his business–and her family's farm–from a potential scandal.

I enjoyed For Such a Time as This thoroughly! The characters were very real and relatable. The attention to detail allowed me to instantly jump into the setting. The main thing I loved about this book was how it mirrored the story of Esther in the Bible. It reminds us that we all have a calling, and no matter how big or small, it is important. We can all make a difference when we allow God to use us.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a review.

Slow to start, but a great ending.

Olivia Moore's family is suffering from the drought, barely able to put food on the table, when Olivia gets the opportunity to work as a nanny for banker Eli Whitman and his two rowdy boys. But when the town begins to speak against her, she finds herself facing marriage to Eli in order to save her reputation. Can a marriage of convenience become a marriage of love?

This book started off in a fun interesting way, but then slowed. I guess I found the situation rather unrealistic, because Olivia's reputation should have been fine because Eli had a cook who was always there. But besides that I liked the book, Olivia was able to form strong bonds with the two kids. For most of the book, I guess I was wondering when Olivia and Eli's relationship would pick up because for most of the book they really weren't together.

The Esther allegory didn't come in till about over halfway, and it was kind of funny because it was like "Aha! That's why its called, For a Time Such as This!" Because for the longest time I didn't really see it.

Overall I guess I would say that this book was slow to start, but had a very climatic ending, full of action. I felt like it took awhile for this book to really get where it was going, but after I got past that I came to enjoy the story. There's a little mystery and I liked how the Esther theme played out. I really liked the way that Olivia handled the kids and how she won their hearts, in my opinion Olivia bonding with teh kids was probably the winning relationship in the story. So in the end a great book, after I got past the slow beginnings and tidbits I found hard to believe.

I received this ebook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thanks!

Olivia Moore's family and farm face financial danger following the devastation of drought and grasshoppers in 19th century Bountiful, Oregon. As the eldest at home, she seeks a way to help her parents' burden. She winds up as the nanny/companion for widowed bank-owner Elijah Whitman's challenging son and daughter. Just as Olivia seems to be making progress in taming the children and making the Whitman home more hospitable, ugly rumors threaten her future.

Eli's solution seems the best choice but his restrictions still inhibit the Moores' future. How can Olivia maintain her promises yet help both the households she loves? One quote from the novel may contain an answer: "If you let your emotions guide you instead of waiting for the Lord . . . might could be a mistake. . . . God's plans are always perfect, even when they don't quite look to a man like they make much sense" (p. 176).

This is the first of the Women of Hope series (set in a fictional Oregon county). Readers' faith and trust can grow along with those in this touching tale loosely based on the biblical story of Esther.