Fancy Pants

What a great book this was. I really enjoyed it. It brought a smile to my face many times and a tear to my eye a couple times. Some book you just wish had a part two this was one of them.

In FANCY PANTS, veteran author Cathy Marie Hake (BITTERSWEET) spins a cutely-conceived historical comedy, lush with romance, of a high-bred lady who disguises herself as a man and journeys from England to Texas to work on an uncle's ranch. It's a catchy idea (even if it's been done in variations before). Hake begins her story in 1890 with the orphaned 20-year-old Lady Sydney Hathwell still mourning the death of her father a year previous. She travels with her chaperone Aunt Serena Hathwell from England to New York to meet her fiancé, the despicable Rexall Hume. Hake ensures that readers will despise him from the very first page (his scowl, in the first sentence, would rival "a gargoyle's"). Rexall is after her title and the business she will bring his way, although why she will is never really convincing. Nevertheless, readers will cheer when Sydney decides to escape his clutches by dressing up as a man and disappearing. Her Uncle Fuller, who she has never met --- and who believes Sydney is a boy! --- has promised her a position on his Texas ranch until Sydney can decide what she'll do next. Employing different points of view, Hake uses the first half of the novel to let Sydney masquerade as a boy, then the second for her to "come out" as a woman. Few females can pull off disguising themselves as men for long, and the housekeeper/cook sees through Sydney's ruse from almost the first moment. However, she helps keep Sydney's gender a secret. The tough Tim Creighton, who runs the ranch in her uncle's unexpected absence, is both exasperated and put off by the "fancy pants" prissy fop foisted on him. The other ranch-hands --- Bert, Pancake, Juan, Boaz, Gulp and Merle --- are also concerned. Tim puts Sydney to work doing the worst ranch tasks: shoveling manure, plowing a garden with a horse. Lots of fun lurks between the covers of this book, from Sydney being taken out for a night on the town with the boys (in which she must navigate too much beer and a brothel) to having to fend off the attentions of a passel of local and eager eligible women. Romance with the right guy is telegraphed from the early pages, so readers won't be surprised by the novel's concluding nuptials. Hake is a competent writer, and the story unfurls with just enough events to keep the narrative moving. However, a little judicious shortening and tightening would have helped the pacing; by page 300, you already know who Sydney is going to end up with, and you'd just like to see it happen. Lines such as Sydney wearing "lady's boots that constricted her feet only a fraction as much as Tim's words constricted her heart" are a little over the top. And for a historical novel, this is more heavy on romance and lighter on the historical details. Readers who like their inspirational novels to clearly and thoroughly outline the plan of salvation will appreciate the lengthy section toward the end of the book where Tim helps Sydney understand the difference between formal "go-through

An adorable book. The heroine was relatable and human. I alternately giggled & cried as I came to really care about the characters. I read the book very quickly because I was dying to know how it would work out in the end.

This is a great book! I love reading Cathy Marie Hake's books. Very funny too! Out of the ordinary plot and a great ending!

Cathy Marie Hake has done it again. I have read several of her books and not once was I disappointed. She had me laughing out loud at points all through this book. She inserts little tid bits of history throughout, too, that are quite fascinating. That in addition to the normal history part of a book such as this. I wish I could give it more than 5 stars. It was spiritual and funny at the same time. After all, the Bible tells us in Psalms, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine." Buy this book!

In 1889 following the death of her father, Lady Sydney Hathwell, escorted by her Aunt Serena leaves England to join her American fiancé Rexall Hume in New York. However, he agrees to her insistence of an acceptable period of mourning before they marry. One year and one day later, Rexall demands they wed, but Sydney knows they do not suit. Sydney receives a telegram from her Uncle Fuller, who was unaware he had living relatives until he got her note. He invites his nephew to live on his Forsaken Ranch in Gooding, Texas where he explained no human females reside. With Hume's unknowing help disguised as a boy she goes to the ranch. Her uncle is away and the ranch foreman widower "Big Tim" Creighton thinks his boss will be disappointed with his foppish nephew. He decides to change this "FANCY PANTS" into a real man though he also hopes to drive his lordship back across the content and ocean. Instead Lord Sydney begins to fall in love as she sees the vulnerable caring side of Big Tim, but fears once Uncle Fuller learns he has a niece he will kick her out, leaving her vulnerable to Rexall. This is a terrific amusing inspirational historical romance. Sydney is a fabulous nephew as the ranch hands led by Big Tim struggle to toughen up the girly boy going so far as to take her to a brothel. Big Tim in many ways is the more interesting protagonist as he began to fall in love with her when she was an English sissy. The story line is intelligent and fun to read because Hume is not a nasty villain as he persists in marrying Sydney although she rejects them as unsuited (could his story be next?). Cathy Marie Hake has written a droll late nineteenth century tale that sub-genre readers will cherish. Harriet Klausner