The Proposal by Lori Wick

     The Proposal is the first book in a series of three books called The English Garden Series.  The story takes place in England in 1810 where three children ages twelve, ten, and six are suddenly orphaned by their father.  The custom of the time is that the children are to be sent to the closest living relative who happens to be William Jennings, a well to do bachelor who is used to having his own way.  When the children first arrive, Jennings is forced to put their needs ahead of his own.  He is quickly taken with the two boys but hires a nanny to take care of the girl he would rather have nothing to do with.  But his focus quickly changes when Jennings discovers that the children have ran away because the boys have learned that their sister’s nanny has been abusive towards her.

     Jennings finds the children and then seeks the help of his estranged sister.  Lydia Palmer has been praying for her brother ever since he decided he didn’t want to have anything to with her and her family on account of their faith in Jesus Christ.  After seven years, God has answered her prayers and brought Jennings back into her life.

     The longer the Jennings is around his sister the more he learns to be open with his feelings towards people, especially the children and Lydia’s best friend, Marianne.  Lydia and Marianne have been helping Jennings with the children and the more time Jennings spends around Marianne, the more intense his feelings for her become.

     Marianne loves the children but will not consider a relationship with anyone who does not share her faith in Christ.  Jennings needs to overcome his prideful ways and submit his life to Christ in order to open his heart and love Marianne the way that she deserves to be loved.

     This book was a very predictable book with very little conflict.  There really wasn’t much left to discover about the story than what was already written on the back cover.  It is quite possible that since this is the first book in the series the author’s main focus was just to introduce us to the characters before going any deeper.