Fair Play by Deeanne Gist

Fair Play by Deeanne Gist

Genre: Fiction/Christian/Historical 

Pages: Soft Cover

Publisher: Howard Books 

Reviewer:  Jean Eastwood

Jags: 7

Set in 1893 at the World’s Fair in Chicago, IL, this love story will keep you reading until you are finished with the book. Dr. Billy Jack Tate is a woman doctor in a time when women as doctors were unheard of.

Dr. Tate tried to get in the Women’s building at the fair where she was to give a speech through the front door, but the Centurion guard would not believe she was a lady doctor and refused to let her in. Some women took her around to the back, to the basement window and propped it open for her to sneak in that way. After managing to get in without hurting herself, she finds herself face to face with another Centurion guard (Hunter Scott). She manages to get away from him and up the stairs to the room where she delivers her speech. She has no idea that this guard she ran away from will find her again and fall in love with her, and she with him.

The guard (Hunter Scott) is a Texas Ranger, temporarily on duty as a Centurion guard at the Chicago’s World Fair when he finds an abandoned infant boy. He turns it over to Dr. Tate to see if she can find the parents and/or provide a home for the child. They both took him to the Hull House which served as a temporary orphanage for some of the children, but it was in the slum areas of Chicago. Hunter and Dr. Tate soon took an interest in cleaning up the slum area and built a playground for the children. The infant boy whom Dr. Tate called “Joey” was adopted one day and Hunter did some research to find the boy was adopted by a millionaire. 

Hunter and Dr. Tate get involved in saving and adopting a 9-year old boy (Derry) who was wrongly accused of murder. Hunter and Dr. Tate get married and move to Texas with the boy. They have a total of 5 children and Hunter becomes a sheriff in a small town in Texas. Dr. Tate still practices medicine in Texas after a prominent person puts in a good word for her with the locals.

The author has a way to keep you interested by subtle humor from the main characters, both adults and children alike. I enjoyed it very much!

The Jag Review has received a free copy of this book from Howard Books, for our honest review. The opinions expressed here are our own.