Stealing Mr. Smith by Tanya E. Williams
Historical Fiction – 1942 South Dakota
From the Author: “I’ve always deserved better. Nobody ever told me so. It is simply a fact I’ve always known to be true.”
After surviving the loss of both her parents one to illness and the other to abandonment Bernice Rosin finds herself at a South Dakota orphanage that will never feel like home. Longing for a life free of poverty and misfortune, she takes matters into her own hands, determined to secure her own happily ever after no matter the cost.
In 1948, a relocation west promises a life rich with upper class pleasantries until a naive mistake shatters both Bernice’s pride and her heart. Convinced she can still rise above her allotted station, she returns to South Dakota to calculate her options.
Desperate for a hero all her own, she singles out John Smith, a simple man with a kind heart and a gentle smile. John appears to be the perfect escape from a life fraught with disappointment. The fact that he comes with the baggage of two children and a past he seldom speaks of, has little bearing on her new obsession. Caught unprepared for such cleverness and deception, John falls right into the path of Bernice’s affection as she has set her sights on changing her last name to Smith, even if she has to steal it.
My take: Well, let me just say that Tanya E. Williams knocked this one out of the park. I had been waiting for Stealing Mr. Smith since the final page of the first book in the series, Becoming Mrs. Smith, and I was not disappointed. Tanya takes her writing to an entirely different level by making her new leading lady the polar opposite of her Book 1 heroine and doing so beautifully. Bernice is selfish and despicable, yet determined and often charismatic, pulling everyone in with her charms and stopping at nothing to get what she wants. She’s the rough and tumble gal you’ll hate to love, love to hate, and will absolutely have you clinging to the edge of your seat right until the end. Her actions made it impossible to stop turning the pages and left me bouncing on my heels in anticipation for Book 3.
My review of Becoming Mrs. Smith can be found here. While each book can be read on its own, it is recommended to read them in order.
More information on Tanya E. Williams’s books can be found here: https://tanyaewilliams.com/
Text copyright 2018 Kelsey Gietl
Kelsey Gietl 
One thought on “Friday Fic Pick: Stealing Mr. Smith”