Becky Wade's Undeniably Yours is a novel about a rich girl who meets a poor boy. More than wealth is separating them; the stigma of boss and employee connecting romantically with each other is a source of concern for the two of them.
Meg Cole is under a lot of stress. With the passing of her father, she has become the head of the family business, Cole Oil, and numerous other business endeavors. Meg is no business woman. She had been happily working as a museum curator in Tulsa, returning to Texas only because of her family obligations. She is trying to reduce the scope of her responsibilities so that she can concentrate on Cole Oil, and this means that she must lay off people and close down or sell the other businesses. One of these is Whispering Creek Ranch. Bo Porter is in charge of the ranch which is located on the family estate.
Bo, an ex-marine, is the manager of the horse ranch, and knows that Meg means to get rid of it. He persuades Meg to give him six months to turn the business around so that it becomes profitable. He knows that Meg has every intention of closing the place down, even after the six months are up. He is also aware of the attraction between Meg and himself, but refuses to use it to convince Meg to keep the ranch operational. In the meantime, Meg becomes aware that spending time with Bo gives her peace from all the turmoil from the other areas of her life which threaten to overwhelm her. She wonders at the attraction between them, but is reluctant to act on it because of a previous relationship that causes her to mistrust all eligible men and her own judgment about people. Bo slowly chips away at that distrust; however, circumstances arise that causes Meg to question whether Bo is using her for her money, just as the person from her previous relationship had.
I loved this story. It was romantic. Bo is sigh worthy material. The man is honest, honourable, handsome, and besides being a horse whisperer, he can also charm crying babies. Becky Wade writes with humour in her style. The babysitting episode made me smile.
I also liked that both protagonists were believers who earnestly wanted to listen to and follow God. I found it interesting that Meg knew a fair bit of Scripture about her identity in Christ, and was able to see Bo as an equal, disregarding how the rest of the world saw the disparity in their socio-economic circumstances. However, she wasn't able to translate that knowledge of how God saw her into accepting herself; she seemed to be constantly insecure about her looks, body image, and abilities. As a female who is no longer in the bloom of my youth, I can relate to the struggle that Meg has in seeing herself as an acceptable person in a society that prizes physical attractiveness and worldly success as high measures of worthiness.
Undeniably Yours is the first installment of the Porter Family saga. The following two novels in the series, Meant to Be Mine, and A Love Like Ours, covers the stories of Bo's brothers, Ty, and Jake, respectively.
