>by Serena Miller
Katie Calloway flees her Georgia home with her 8 year old brother, Ned.  Harlan, Katie’s husband, wants her dead so that he can marry a rich widow and rebuild his war torn plantation.  He blames Katie for letting the Union soldiers burn down the home that his grandfather had built.  While Harlan is gone, Katie takes his horse and his money to get as far away from him as possible. 
In Bay City, Michigan, Robert Foster is looking for a cook for his lumber camp.  When he tastes Katie’s apple pie, he offers her the job.  Katie believes the lumber camp deep in the Michigan forest is the best place to hide from Harlan.  Although the work is hard, the accomodations are sparse, and the injured camp cook, Jigger, doesn’t want her there, Katie gets to do something she loves.  The lumbermen greatly appreciate her cooking, which is something Harlan never did.
While Katie’s boss is a perfect gentleman and extremely handsome, Katie is still married.  She is determined to keep her place as cook for the seven months as she agreed.  But then she must find another place to work, because it is just too hard to be near Robert.
This was a fast read, maybe because I just couldn’t put it down.  The lumbercamp was a new experience and the extra’s that Serena Miller added, a starving sqaw & infant, Roberts sister & kids, made the journey with Katie fun.  If you like Kim Sawyer, Lauraine Snelling, Mary Connealy, or Karen Witemeyer you’ll like The Measure of Katie Calloway.