I remember reading Deanne Gist's very first book, A Bride Most Begrudging, and falling instantly in love with her writing style, her humor, her way with characters and her story lines.

I have since enjoyed all of her books and was thrilled to review her newest book, It Happened at the Fair.

This book reminded me of Siri Mitchell's newest book, Unrivaled. Not because they are really anything alike but because they cover interesting, new and fun topics. They both captured something different in scenes and characters and situations that you don't see often in fiction.

Where Unrivaled was about candy making, this book was about the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago.

I absolutely loved reading and learning about this historical event! Deanne Gist provided a wonderful account of the fair, allowing me to experience the fair through her characters.

As the reader, I could tell that she had done quite a bit of research. She shares that research through scenes in the book but also through actual historical facts and pictures throughout the book. I especially loved Deanne's notes at the end of the book clarifying where she took some liberty and sharing with us her timeline compared to the real timeline of the fair.

Apart from the fair aspect of the book, Deanne wrote about two incredible people. Cayden and Della are perfectly set for each other and their story is well-written, deep and intriguing. The real life pressures and struggles of living through that time in history is a huge part of the development of their stories. The things they learn about themselves, about their families and about each other will touch the heart of every reader.

It Happened at the Fair is a must read this spring!

I am not normally attracted to reading romances books. But I love historical fiction and this book did not disappoint. Even the romantic storyline became appealing as the characters were sensitive, warm and just plain easy to love. I would say this book was a great read for someone looking for a book on the lighter side and yet a book which contained some historical content. And there were some touching moments to really attract the most sensitive reader.

Risking it all including the family farm, a father's confidence in a son's dream sends Cullen McNamara to the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. His purpose is to display and sell his invention, an automatic sprinkler which was motivated by his mother's untimely death. But because of all the noise in the fair's Machinery Hall and his failing hearing, it becomes almost impossible to communicate with potential buyers. Unwilling to let his father down, he decides to hire Della Wentworth, a teacher of the deaf, to tutor him in the art of lip-reading.

While the romance was quite charming and humorous at times, what really made this book a great read was the historical details she paints into her story. Photos from the actual event were included at the beginning of most chapters. And her attention to detail really transports the reader back and makes us feel like we are actually at the fair. For those of us who seek to define fact from fiction, at the end of the book is a synopsis of what was historically accurate and what she included as artistic license to make her story flow.

Ms. Gist also includes the controversy that surrounded teaching deaf students lip reading versus sign language. It was quite interesting how she incorporated Cullen's increasing deafness into the story line as a way for us to experience the prejudice and misconceptions that were often encountered by deaf people during the time period. Over all, "It happened at the Fair" is a very entertaining and yet has a lot of content making it well worth reading.

I really enjoyed the historical aspects of this story and the pictures the author included. The emotional bonding that took place between characters over various incidents that occurred at the fair was well done. I appreciated the insight the author had into a number of issues. One had to do with how the belief in someone's abilities and admiration of them as a person will increase their feelings for each other. Especially men. They want the woman they are attracted to also believe in them as a person and what they can do, not just the length of time they had known each other. That makes for a stronger kind of love; one that leads to a passionate marriage rather than just a comfortable one.

The hero, Cullen, was very likable, but also quite manly. The description of his physique was quite hot, actually. I enjoyed how the author used the need for him to learn how to lip read as a way to meet the woman he became attracted to and make it difficult for him to learn from her by putting them in a number of private situations. That was great when it came to developing tension between them. His fierce protectiveness of her made me love him more. He was a good guy and cared deeply about a number of things, including loyalty. One of his most intense issues was his need to put out fires to save lives. He got to the point where he had to rely on God to see him through some tough issues. I loved that he grieved along with Della during a tragic time at the fair. It helped bond them even more. That was very well done.

The heroine, Della, was a sweetheart as well. The way her feelings slowly developed for the hero was touching. The scene with the little girl in her class was a tear-jerker, but it really made Della think about what the kids experienced from being separated from their parents. Della had her own frailties, but she was a tough lady. Her response to seeing the hero's buff physique made me smile. I felt like I was touching those ripped muscles. And that first kiss... whew! Great romantic tension. She got a bit skittish at times when she felt like she couldn't trust him, but she came around and that made me admire her more. Very enjoyable story.

I have enjoyed all of Deeanne Gist's books and It Happened at the Fair was no different. It Happened at the Fair transports us back to the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. Before traveling to the fair, we meet Cullen McNamara, a farmer from North Carolina, who has dreams of being an inventor. His father pays his way for him to go to the Fair to try and sell his invention of the automatic fire sprinkler. Before leaving, Cullen gets engaged to his childhood sweetheart, Wanda. Cullen is swept away in the enchantment of the fair but he is greatly discouraged when he tries to sell his product and runs into several roadblocks, including his inability to hear some of his potential customers over the loud noise of the fair. Not only are the noises too loud, but Cullen is starting to go deaf as well. In his desperation, Cullen hires Della Wentworth to teach him how to read lips. Of course, Cullen didn't expect his teacher to be an attractive young lady. Della agrees to teach Cullen, but is still very reluctant in opening up to him and has several suspicions about him. As their lessons progress and tragedy strikes the fair, their friendship deepens and an attraction starts to grow as well. Cullen must soon choose between his love for a girl he's always known, or this new girl who seems to have captured his heart.

As I mentioned before, I greatly enjoyed this book! The descriptions of the Fair were very detailed and it brought the Fair to life for me. The author also included pictures at the end of each chapter so you could see what some of the exhibits looked like. The author did a great job of telling the story of Cullen and Della but also showing us what the fair was like. I also really liked reading about Della teaching Cullen to lip-read. I felt like I was being taught right alongside Cullen. It was also interesting the way the author jumbled up some words when someone was talking to Cullen, so that we had a hard time understanding them as well. At first I thought there was a lot of spelling mistakes, but then I realized that we were "hearing" the way Cullen was. I would definitely recommend this book to my friends! One more thing, I know a lot of people sometimes skip over the Author's Note at the end of books but I definitely recommend reading the Author's Note in this book because the author gives more interesting information about the Fair and more historical details. I hope this review was helpful and that you'll enjoy the book as much as I did!

I received a free ecopy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions stated are my own.

This was such a fun adventure to read about by Deeanne! I am purely amazed at how she describes so wonderfully and realistically! I felt like I was at the fair, but I just couldn't touch anything (which would have been so cool)!

My favorite part of this novel was by far the detail of everything! It would have been amazing to see some of the events and exhibits that Cullen and Della saw! I was really appreciative of Dee including pictures at the beginning of almost every chapter so I could have a real-life picture/drawing of the fair!

The only thing I was bummed about was how fast I felt the ending was! The novel has a slow moving pace which I was content with, but when a certain event happens (which will remain nameless) it quickens a lot faster then I expected! It really caught me by surprised and made me feel that the ending was too rushed for me to really enjoy!

However beside that, I loved this novel! I thoroughly enjoyed Cullen and Della as well as their outings! I learned so much about an important part of the history of America that I would strongly recommend this novel to history lovers! It left me wishing I could travel back in time and thanking God for the wisdom He gives men!

I give It Happened at the Fair a 4.5 out of 5 stars!