Teena in Toronto: Book ~ "Spare Change" (2013) Bette Lee Crosby

From Goodreads ~ Spare Change is the story of Olivia Westerly, a woman whose father disowned her when she tossed her nose in the air and left home in pursuit of a job he considered scandalous. He expected that she'd marry and settle into having babies as her friends had done; but Olivia simply couldn't tolerate the thought. Why just the mere mention of children sent chills up her spine.

Believing that children weigh a woman down like a pocketful of stones, Olivia avoids such entanglements for over forty years ... but then she meets Charlie Doyle and everything changes. Even though Charlie has a son and a grandson he's supposedly never seen, Olivia is blinded by love and happily says "I do."

That happiness is cut short when Charlie dies before the honeymoon is over and Olivia returns home to find eleven-year-old Ethan Allen Doyle sitting on her doorstep. His parents are dead and only two people know the truth of what happened - Ethan Allen isn't talking and the murderer wants to make sure he never does. Olivia is the only one who can stop it from happening.

In 1923 when she was 25-years-old, Olivia got a job switchboard operator rather than finding herself a husband, which was the right thing to do. Her father disowned her a year later when she accepted a promotion. In the spring of 1929, she accepted the proposal of Herbert ... but kicked him to the curb when she realized his plans for her were to be be a wife and mother. When she was 58, she met and married Charlie after whirlwind courtship of a few months. Alas Charles, who was ten years older than Olivia, died on their honeymoon. Olivia headed back to their apartment and mourned him.

Benjamin had a tumultuous marriage to Susanna. Benjamin was happy being a farmer but Susanna dreamed of heading to New York and becoming a singer. One night both end up dead and their son, 11-year-old Ethan, has nowhere else to go but to find his grandfather who he has never met. Unfortunately his grandfather is Charlie who had just died. Olivia took Ethan in until she could figure out what to do with him.

This is the first book I've read by this author and I enjoyed it. It was well-paced and kept my attention ... I wanted to keep reading more. As a head's up, the language at times is for mature readers.

I liked the characters. Olivia was tough and strong ... good for her for standing up for what she believed in! She wasn't buying into being a wife and having kids just because others thought it was the thing to do. When she and Charlie found each other, they fell head over heals in love but she still resisted because she thought he might want to have kids and she wanted no part of that. Once he told her that that wasn't part of his plan, they got married. I felt really bad for her ... she had finally found the one after all those years and then he died. Though Ethan was a kid, he wasn't annoying. He recognized the faults in his parents but accepted that that was just the way they were. Olivia neighbours were wacky but supportive.

I would recommend this book and I look forward to reading others by this author.

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