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Maid to Match

by Deeanne Gist (Goodreads Author)

3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 · rating details · 4,835 ratings · 488 reviews

From the day she arrives at the Biltmore, Tillie Reese is dazzled—by the riches of the Vanderbilts and by Mack Danvers, a mountain man turned footman. When Tillie is enlisted to help tame Mack's rugged behavior by tutoring him in the ways of refined society, the resulting sparks threaten Tillie's efforts to be chosen as Edith Vanderbilt's lady's maid.

But the stakes rise e...more

Paperback, 363 pages

Published 2010 by Bethany House Publishers

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Sep 14, 2010 Anne Osterlund rated it 4 of 5 stars

Tilly has been dreaming her entire life of becoming a lady’s maid. And now she has the chance. If she can keep herself from throwing up every time she gets in a moving carriage, defeat the sneaky girl she is competing against, and avoid falling in love with the new footman.

Mack has no interest in being a footman. Those hideous gloves and fancy shoes. Ugh! He just wants to earn the money to get his sister away from the creep running the local orphanage. And then head back for the space and freedo...more

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May 25, 2012 Gwen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Tillie Reese has been trained to be a lady's maid since she was a little girl, and now she's got her chance. Employed at Biltmore as the head parlor maid, she's given a contest with another maid for the position when Mrs. Vanderbilt's lady's maid turns in her notice. Then mountain man Mack Danver is hired on, and the sparks that fly between them threaten everything Tillie's worked so hard for.

Maid to Match is a sweet, charming story about a maid employed at the historical Biltmore Estate in Ashv...more

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Feb 09, 2011 Kristy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: christian, my-favorites, widget-shelf, historical-love, 2010, all-nighter

I LOVED this book. I have been in a bit of rut the past month or so. I have about 5 books started, and I just can't seem to finish them. I keep losing interest. I don't know if it is because I burned myself out by reading SO much the past 9 months, or if I have just been picking the wrong books lately. Well I could not put this book down. I started reading it last night after the kids went to bed. I read all night. I just loved it.

Tillie's mother had trained Tillie to be a Lady's Maid, so she c...more

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Oct 20, 2012 Sarah rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: thrift-store-finds, 2012-reads

First off, If you like just pure romance books, you will love this book. However, I found it rather a shallow story and wen I closed the book, I felt like I had wasted me time.

Deeanne Gist is a good story teller and the book was well written. The faith elements in the story didn't come to play until the end of the book and felt more like they were added on last minute. Some of the other this I did not like about this story was the fact the girl gets drunk because she doesn't realize a drink is s...more

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Apr 22, 2012 Nenette rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The setting was in 1898. In the author's note, she mentioned that everything was culled out of her imagination except for the details about the Biltmore Estate, the furnishings, how it was managed, its owners (the Vanderbilts), how the maids and help hands were treated so very well.

With all these as the setting, the author has woven a feel-good love story between a maid and a useful man. The fictional part of the story was made very realistic with the author's attestations about the good heart o...more

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Apr 04, 2013 Maggie Boyd rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

I've been working on this book on and off for several weeks and finally finished it this morning while walking on the treadmill.

All her life Tillie has trained for the position of ladies maid. It had been her mothers dream before marriage and children interfered and she is determined that Tillie live the life she couldn't. To her mama, a ladies maid lives in a fine estate, dresses well, eats lavishly, and spends her time visiting grand places, seeing exotic sights and meeting persons of interest...more I've been working on this book on and off for several weeks and finally finished it this morning while walking on the treadmill.

All her life Tillie has trained for the position of ladies maid. It had been her mothers dream before marriage and children interfered and she is determined that Tillie live the life she couldn't. To her mama, a ladies maid lives in a fine estate, dresses well, eats lavishly, and spends her time visiting grand places, seeing exotic sights and meeting persons of interest.

Tillie knows the reality. She cleans a grand house and has simple room upstairs. Her clothes are nice but she works hard for them. The meals are hot and delicious but not lavish and she works them off by running the lavish food to the house guests. In grand places she fetches and carries same as at home. She is around when important people show up but she sure isn't allowed to interact with them.

Her mother's dream is such a large part of Tillie's life that when Mack Danvers comes to the estate to work as the useful man she resists his evey attempt to get to know her. Mack slowly - and I do mean slowly - courts Tillie until she needs to decide what to do. Will she leave her life as head parlormaid, knowing that she may soon have the position of lady's maid? Or will she trade hard labor for love?

The book just took too long to get where it was going for my taste. I loved reading about the Vanderbilts and Biltmore, the estate they owned which Tillie worked at. But the romance was a touch too slow and for my taste it took too long for Tillie to shake off her mother's dream and really look at what the position would mean.

Mack is a great guy just working at Biltmore till he can earn enough to pull his sister out of the orphanage. But his pursuit of Tillie bordered almost on stalking. The story line involving him and the orphanage was interesting but I wondered why he didn't seek more help and from different people. Ministers and newspapermen would have been interested in the goings on at that building too.

I love Ms. Gist's work. This one just didn't capture my interest as well as most of her others have.

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Feb 23, 2013 LG (A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 4-star, historical, inspirational-fiction, read-2010, format-print, acquired-library

I have wanted to read this book for a while. I've only read one other book by Gist, and, I have to say, although I thought that one was pretty good, I liked this one even better. I'm fairly new to Christian fiction in general and Christian romance in particular. Gist seems like a fantastic author to recommend to those who, like me, are used to reading secular fiction. Although "God stuff" does come up in her works, Gist doesn't seem to be too heavy-handed about it. In this book in particular, th...more I have wanted to read this book for a while. I've only read one other book by Gist, and, I have to say, although I thought that one was pretty good, I liked this one even better. I'm fairly new to Christian fiction in general and Christian romance in particular. Gist seems like a fantastic author to recommend to those who, like me, are used to reading secular fiction. Although "God stuff" does come up in her works, Gist doesn't seem to be too heavy-handed about it. In this book in particular, the "God stuff" is actually pretty light. During the first half of the book, it's just about nonexistent, and, in the second half, it's mostly limited to a few "what does God want me to do?" moments on Tillie's part.

As usual, Gist's writing is filled with all kinds of wonderful historical details. My knowledge of servant life is limited to English servants, and even then I don't know very much. The amount of detail in this book was wonderful, and I enjoyed the historical note Gist included at the end of the book.

One of my biggest complaints about Gist's The Measure of a Lady was my frustration with the main character's black-and-white view of the world, which sometimes made it difficult to like her. I didn't have that problem with this book. Both Tillie and Mack were enjoyable, likable characters. Tillie's desire to do good doesn't become too saccharine, and her refusal to believe what she was hearing about the director of the orphanage was perfectly understandable - after all, the entire town saw him as a fine, upstanding citizen, so why would she believe otherwise? Mack was prone to letting his temper get the best of him, getting into fights when he would have been better off dealing with problems in other ways. However, he only ever raised his fists at those he believed deserved it, and never women or children, and he gradually learned that fighting was not always the best way to solve problems. His horror when he realized that his own bad behavior at the Vanderbilt's could result in others, such as Tillie, being penalized, also went a long way towards making him likable.

I loved Tillie and Mack's relationship - there were some fantastic sparks flying between those two! Mack obviously adored Tillie, and there was no artifice in the way he dealt with her - he flat-out told her how he felt about her, and he demonstrated his feelings for her without once ever trying to make her feel jealous or otherwise force her to return those feelings in some way.

I suppose my love of Tillie and Mack's relationship leads to one of my few complaints about this book: the primary conflict keeping Tillie and Mack apart seemed a bit weak to me. It was obvious that Tillie and Mack were great together. It became increasingly obvious that the benefits of being a lady's maid would, for Tillie, probably not outweigh the drawbacks. Being a lady's maid would have been an excellent way to earn more money, which she could have used for the two things in her life that were most important to her, supporting her family and funding good organizations like the orphanage. However, lady's maids only last as long as their looks do, so her career would have been over by her early 30s. At that point, her chances of having a life like that of others in her station, with a husband and children, would be pretty slim, and yet she would not be able to fund the kind of life being a lady's maid would have accustomed her to. Tillie gets sick riding in carriages, so being able to travel would not have been of true benefit to her. Being a lady's maid would also have consumed so much of her time that the only good she could have done for others would have been with her money - volunteering her time for anything would have been impossible. As her father makes clear later in the book, Tillie siblings can support the family by getting jobs as they get older, so her monetary support isn't as necessary. Once Mack is (view spoiler)

One thing about this book that may shock those expecting a gentle Christian story is a fairly dark event that happens near the book. Up to that point, it was very difficult for Mack to drum up enough suspicion about the orphanage director to get a proper investigation going. However, after one of the orphanage's children dies, this changes. The thing that makes this tragedy especially dark is that (view spoiler)

Overall, I really liked this book and would recommend it to any reader of secular romance would wanted to delve into Christian romance but was afraid of anything too preachy or disgustingly sweet. Because of the very light amount of "God stuff," and because of the dark turn taken near the end of the book, this may not be considered an acceptable book for some regular readers of Christian fiction, however.

(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)(less)

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Jun 22, 2012 Peggy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I have never read a Romance novel, but I do like historical fiction. When shelf browsing at my local public library, I found this book. Since I have always wanted to visit the Biltmore House and I loved Downtown Abbey, I decided to give it a try. It wasn't until I got home and looked it up on Goodreads that I found out it was a Christian Romance novel. I was immediately skeptical--about the Romance label, not the Christian. Luckily, I decided to read it anyway.
Eighteen year old Tillie is a par...more

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Apr 12, 2012 Valerie rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read this book 2 years ago in January. I have been trying to remember the name of this book forever because I knew I had to put it on my Goodreads reviews. (Side note, most of the time I do not pay attention to the titles of books I read. This has haunted me for 2 years because I came across a book that I loved that I hadn't been paying attention to the title of. No more haunting for me.)

At that time my friend and I were putting together a trip to visit our other friend in South Carolina. I ha...more

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Oct 19, 2011 Sue rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, fiction, read-2011, kindle

Light historical fiction which I read on my Kindle during a flight from the UK. The story is set in the USA, and features Tillie, head housemaid in a wealthy home. She - at the urging of her mother over many years - hopes in time to become personal maid to the lady of the household. Work is hard, but the prestige and pay seem enticing.

Then onto the scene arrives Mack, twin brother to Earl who is another of the servants in the household where Tillie works. Earl is rather a ladies' man but Mack is...more

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Feb 18, 2011 Kathryn rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 05, 2011 Beth rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: crazy-plotting, romances, little-or-no-sex

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Bethany House publishes "Christian" books (as far as I can tell, this means no sex and a lot of shoehorned religious dilemmas), so I should have known better than to pick this book up in the first place. On the plus side, there was no spousal abuse between the hero and heroine (not the case in the last Bethany House book I read!). Also on the plus side, the Biltmore is very pretty and the author describes it well. She can write a decent sentence.

But whoo boy, this story was all over the place. G...more

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Jul 23, 2010 Nora St Laurent rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Deanne hits another home run with Maid to Match. I was glad to receive a review copy. I loved the first line, “Like a butterfly breaking free from its confining cocoon, Tillie Reese emerged from the barren, tan-colored servants’ hall into the opulence of Biltmore’s main level.”

This author quickly whisked me into the Biltmore, where I wanted to know more about the Vanderbilts, their amazing home and what was required to become a lady's maid. My favorite thing about Deanne’s books is the fact tha...more Deanne hits another home run with Maid to Match. I was glad to receive a review copy. I loved the first line, “Like a butterfly breaking free from its confining cocoon, Tillie Reese emerged from the barren, tan-colored servants’ hall into the opulence of Biltmore’s main level.”

This author quickly whisked me into the Biltmore, where I wanted to know more about the Vanderbilts, their amazing home and what was required to become a lady's maid. My favorite thing about Deanne’s books is the fact that they are educational and captivating. This author goes to great lengths to masterfully craft historical details in every book she writes. I was immediately drawn into the unfamiliar world of 1898 with its class struggles, and was mesmerized by how a Mansion is run. It only took a few minutes to feel compassion for the hopes and dreams of her believable characters.

Deanne writes about strong women with conviction. Tillie is no exception; she has a deep faith in God and has her focus on the purpose for her life. She’s been groomed to be a lady’s maid and she will stop at nothing to achieve it. Tillie falters a little when she meets Mack and the chemistry between them unnerves her. Tillie’s mother has prayed hard for this opportunity. Could Tillie be seeking money and status over achieving the call God has for her life? Everything has lined up perfectly, hasn’t it? People were depending on her; she had to get this job to provide. So, why did she have this nagging unrest in her heart?

God has worked everything out—hasn’t he? She wonders and prays a hard prayer, “I’m listening, Lord. Call to me. Just like the sheep. Just like these animals that you called to the ark. Call to me and I will follow.”

I felt like I was actually there when Mack, a big, strong manly man, dressed in proper attire, tries to serve his first formal dinner with its many courses. I felt myself praying he didn’t spill anything or break a dish. I couldn’t believe how much food they ate and the manner in which it was supposed to be served and eaten.

I was amazed how the Vanderbilts lived and how they cared for their servants. I couldn’t believe what a lady’s maid was required to do for Mrs. Vanderbilt and her guests. It seemed too intimate to let someone else do these things for you. It definitely went against the "personal space" rule we have today. This book is going on my list of favorite picks for book club.

Nora St. Laurent
The Book Club Network www.bookfun.org
Finding Hope Through Fiction www.psalm516.blogspot.com (less)

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Jun 16, 2010 Valerie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, for-book-reviews

I have officially decided I like this author. Maid to Match is my second book of her's (Beguiled was the first) and it was even better than Beguiled.

Maid to Match is set in North Carolina in the late 1890's in the Vanderbilt manor, Biltmore. Tillie is the head parlormaid and is called upon to train the new footman Mack. Mack is anything but polished and Tilly has her hands full making him acceptably refined.

And of course, romance develops.

What I like most about Deanne Gist's writing is that her...more

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Sep 09, 2012 McKenzie rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love Maid to Match. This was maid to match me. It was entertaining, enchanting, engaging, enlightening, and endearing (the alliterations were on purpose).
What really drew me to this story was the servant world that Tillie and Mack lived in. There has always been something very engaging about the servitude world. Deeanne Gist did a phenomenal job, making Tillie's world as a want-to-be-lady's-maid and Mack's short-term journey as a useful man come to life on every page.
Deeanne Gist did a phenome...more I love Maid to Match. This was maid to match me. It was entertaining, enchanting, engaging, enlightening, and endearing (the alliterations were on purpose).
What really drew me to this story was the servant world that Tillie and Mack lived in. There has always been something very engaging about the servitude world. Deeanne Gist did a phenomenal job, making Tillie's world as a want-to-be-lady's-maid and Mack's short-term journey as a useful man come to life on every page.
Deeanne Gist did a phenomenal job about describing every setting I encountered in this book; from the cities with exhaust to the mountains with clean, fresh air, from the rich parlors of the Vanderbilts to the poverty-stricken corners of the orphanage. Everything about this book felt very authentic; the characters, plots, and dialogue.
Several times I wanted to rattle Tillie and open her eyes (I also wanted to tackle her demanding mother). But it would be a tough descision to make, the job your mother raised you to perform and the one you believe you love or the man you know you can not live a day without. Okay, so that's not tough at all. If it was me, I would pick the latter in a heartbeat. But I loved her determination to not be swayed in her beliefs and how she always was willing to help people in need.
I loved Mackenzie "Mack" Danver. Granted, it was a little weird reading a different alternative spelling to my name, but I really loved my name-sake. He always was looking out for the underdog, even when it got him into trouble. He was a great leading-man, and I loved that he had a twin (whoops! was I not supposed to say that?)
I have read this book several times and it just keeps getting better. The title, the cover, the summary, and the plot were enough to make me read it.
Anyways, a delightful read. I would recommend it to anyone over the age of fourteen who loves a great historical, fictional romance. I know that you will find that Maid to Match was maid to match you just as it matched me.

http://thereadingkorner.blogspot.com/...(less)

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Aug 02, 2012 Kristy ConQueso rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, i-want-to-cuddle-it, old-school-you-old-fool, oh-thats-just-my-boyfriend, romantical, southern-living, christian-lit, 2012-has-been-a-weird-year

I live in NC, about an hour and a half from Asheville. Once, on a trip to visit family back in TN, we took a side trip where we passed right by the Biltmore Estate. My sister and I immediately made plans to go back some day for their tours, because even the outside is breathtaking. The original Vanderbilts were pretty well known for their generosity and the attitude they had towards their staff, which was pretty much unheard of back in those days. A pretty interesting family, those Vanderbilts,...more

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Jul 26, 2012 Kathy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, read-2012

This was another one I got forever ago as a Kindle freebie, not sure why I waited so long to read it. I thought this was a very good book. It was interesting to see behind the scenes at what all the serving class had to do to take care of a house and family. Kind of reminded of the one episode I saw of Downtown Abbey. To be honest, just reading about all the work Tillie did made me tired (and a bit guilty since I was curled up reading while she was working). Tillie was a pretty likable character...more

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Jun 13, 2011 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

Title: MAID TO MATCH
Author: Deeanne Gist
Publisher: Bethany House
June 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7642-0408-1
Genre: Inspirational/historical romance

Tillie Reese is dazzled from the day she arrives at the Biltmore. She is now the head parlor maid, and she has aspirations of becoming the ladies maid. But then, the Vanderbilts hire Mack Danvers, a mountain man. Mainly because Mack’s twin brother, Evan is employed there and Mrs. Vanderbilts is thinking of the handsome twin brothers as being footmen. But there’s...more

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Jun 19, 2010 Carly rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have lived in North Carolina for almost three years now and I have yet to make it out to Asheville and the Biltmore mansion, but it is a place I want to see as soon as possible. I loved getting an inside look at life at the Biltmore during the Gilded Age and all the intricacies of running and maintaining the household. To me, the romance between Mack and Tillie took a backseat to the fascination of the Biltmore and the Vanderbilts. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the amount of resear...more

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Nov 18, 2011 Rachel Thompson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: christian, romance, historical

Tillie has spent most of her life dreaming of becoming a lady's maid. The rules of the Biltmore house are strict, but she has always felt the reward is worth it. Such an elevated position would mean more money for her family and the less fortunate, plus she'd get to wear beautiful dresses and travel the world. The only thing that could mess with her plans is Mack Danvers, a handsome footman with plans of his own. Mick has no interest in working at the Biltmore as a footman, yet he needs the extr...more

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Oct 21, 2011 Josee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Cute story. I like Gilded Age-based stories and this one was interesting because it wasn't based in a big city of the Gilded Age, and instead told the story from the servants' point of views.

Tillie Reese, 18-years-old, is hindered by the extreme poverty in the mountains of North Carolina, and feels obligated to help her family put food on the table. She gets the job of her dreams (or her mother's dreams)—a position as a housemaid in George Vanderbilt's Biltmore Estate. Tillie actually likes her...more Cute story. I like Gilded Age-based stories and this one was interesting because it wasn't based in a big city of the Gilded Age, and instead told the story from the servants' point of views.

Tillie Reese, 18-years-old, is hindered by the extreme poverty in the mountains of North Carolina, and feels obligated to help her family put food on the table. She gets the job of her dreams (or her mother's dreams)—a position as a housemaid in George Vanderbilt's Biltmore Estate. Tillie actually likes her duties and she becomes head parlormaid at the house, which is (apparently) quite an honor. When the book starts, she's in the running to become Mrs. Vanderbilt's lady's maid -- but as a lady's maid you don't get to marry, and the best years of your life are given to the service of another. This has been Tillie's mother's dream -- she has trained Tillie since she was a young girl to be a lady's maid (and the positions are few and far between).

While at the Biltmore, she meets Mack Danver twin brother of Earl (a footman). Mack is more level-headed of the Danver boys and will do anything to save money so he can get his sister out of the abusive orphanage and his family back together. He's hired when Mrs. Vanderbilt sees him and Earl together - she wants a "matched set" of footmen for her house. (apparently they are all the rage.) Mack is more of an outdoors guy, and resents the thought of working for the rich. But the wages at the Biltmore can't be beat, so he takes the job -- but just until he can save enough money to get his sister.

The attraction between Mack and Tillie is explored right away, as is her reluctance to acknowledge it and his inability to understand why she'd rather be a lady's maid then have her own life of happiness.

I actually learned a lot from this book -- about the Biltmore, about what kind of people the Vanderbilt's were, and about how the service industry for the rich worked back then (you couldn't pay me to be a lady's maid). I was surprised to learn that if you were a worker at the Biltmore you couldn't be married, but that makes sense because if you're devoting your life to serving others, you won't really have time to have a life of your own. The story made me sad for those in the service industry -- did they chose that? Sure, it's fun when you're young, especially if you have great employers like the Vanderbilt's, but what about when you're 25 or 30 and you want a family of your own?

I liked seeing the servants interact and how they spent their (very sparse) free time and their fun barn dances, parlor games and such. A lot had to go into keeping a house like the Biltmore - it had 250 rooms!

This was enjoyable, despite being a little predictable. Also, towards the end of the novel all of a sudden God starts popping up. I thought it was odd because in the first half, He wasn't mentioned very much. He kind of came out of left fiend. Either He should have been woven in a bit more or He should have been left out. When Mack said he was leaving Tillie in His hands (to show her the way) instead of forcing the issue, it just seemed a bit forced. Nowhere in the first 60% of the novel did Mack or Tillie pray to Him for guidance.

Minus that, it's a good read.(less)

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Apr 10, 2011 Elise Wilson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Deeanne Gist is adept at writing authentic historical fiction. One can readily detect the amount of research done to make the story an engaging read. In Maid to Match the historical detail is seen in the hierarchical relationships between servants and their masters/employers at the Biltmore Estate. I was intrigued by the various levels a maid had to go through to achieve the coveted position of lady's maid. And I was equally horrified at the degradation that accompanied it. As I was also about t...more

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Dec 26, 2010 Arec rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, romance, christian, favorites, own

I was so completely enchanted by this novel that I was sad when I finished. In fact, I didn't even know that I was close to the end until I turned the page and there wasn't any more text. When I requested this novel from Goodread's book swap, I didn't expect to love it so much. I'm not a fan of Christian novels, but I didn't even know that it was such until I looked up more about the author. There were numerous references to the Christian god, and the character's relying on him for strength and...more

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Nov 20, 2011 Jewel rated it 3 of 5 stars

For some reason I thought this was a Christian romance, I still don't know if it is, there was no preaching , nothing in it that bothered me, I think it's more a clean romance.

The book is set in 1898, below stairs which makes it more interesting, Tillie aims to be ladies maid to the mistress of the manor, in comes Mack to the scene, he works as the "useful man", sparks start flying, tension builds up, it's all really well written and develops quite nicely, I find myself feeling it, problem is NO...more

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Aug 10, 2010 Kimberly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: gentle-reads

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I'm so on the fence when it comes to Deeanne Gist's books. I've read five of them now and there are so many good things about each one but then there are so many stupid and unnecessary plot twists in many of them, too. I find myself unable to give any of those five books more than three stars when I really want to give a couple of them four stars because of those stupid plot twists. Take, for example, Maid to Match. This book was running at a solid four star rating until the whole orphanage stor...more

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Nov 06, 2011 Shari Larsen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Tillie Reese is a bright young woman working as a housemaid in the Vanderbilt's Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina during the late 19th century. Her mother has been training her since she was a young girl in the skills needed to be a lady's maid, a position Tillie has been dreaming of, because it would afford her a chance to travel and see the world, and also help her family financially.

When Mack Danver, twin brother of the Vanderbilt's footman Earl joins the staff, Mack and Tillie fin...more Tillie Reese is a bright young woman working as a housemaid in the Vanderbilt's Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina during the late 19th century. Her mother has been training her since she was a young girl in the skills needed to be a lady's maid, a position Tillie has been dreaming of, because it would afford her a chance to travel and see the world, and also help her family financially.

When Mack Danver, twin brother of the Vanderbilt's footman Earl joins the staff, Mack and Tillie find themselves attracted to each other, but since the rules are that lady's maids, and those of the house staff must be unmarried, Tillie fights that attraction. Mack also needs to keep his job long enough to get his teenage sister out of an orphanage, and get his 3 little brothers back together, who were all sent to board with different families after their parents died.

From the title and picture on the cover, it may sound like this book is a lot of "fluff", but it was actually a well done historical romance. The author did well on her research of the life of servants during that period of time, and on the Vanderbilt's and the Biltmore Estate. (The Vanderbilt's were real people and the Biltmore Estate is a real place, but all the other characters in the book are fiction. Some of the things that happened at the estate were based on actual events.)

I enjoyed this book, it was rich in historical detail, and I like that Tillie was portrayed with real emotions and desires; she was a Christian but she was not perfect. I also liked reading about what went on "behind the scenes", learning about all the work and all the people it took to keep the estate running. It was very interesting to read about the duties of a lady's maid too; some of the things they had to help their "lady" with were things I would feel very uncomfortable having done for me instead of doing them myself. I can understand how they needed help with dressing, with all the corsets and things like that, but some of the other duties were just too intimate, and I can understand how some of those things made the maids uncomfortable too.
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Nov 14, 2010 Beverly Frisby rated it 5 of 5 stars

"Maid to Match" is the first of Deeanne's books that I have read. And what a superb book it is!

This lovely romance is set in Ashville, NC at the Biltmore estate at the turn of the century, and is rich with intriguing details about the estate, the servant class, the social order of the time, and so much more. It is evident that Deeanne has done some remarkable research as the book is extremely rich in detail about Biltmore House and the surrounding area. However, that is just one aspect of the st...more

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Oct 09, 2012 April Erwin rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've been a big fan of Deeanne from her very first book. She hasn't disappointed me yet. In her introductory comments, she mentions that all the intellect went to her siblings, if that's the case, her siblings must be off the charts. Deeanne's work is always so well researched, that I feel like I'm living in the moment with the characters. The smallest details are always there, and in such a way that it seems completely natural. Nothing hinders the plot.

Her latest book is just as thrilling. I lo...more

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Mar 21, 2011 Dara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: possible-book-club, christian-fiction, historical-fiction

I’ve read most of Deeanne Gist’s other books in the past and loved them and this one certainly didn’t disappoint. In fact, I think this one ranks up there as my favorite of hers that she’s written.

I loved how quickly and efficiently she introduced Tillie, the main character, and her love interest Mack. Their truly three dimensional and I had to keep reminding myself that I was reading about fictional people.

Though this is classified as Christian fiction/romance, Gist does a great job in making t...more

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Oct 23, 2011 Gail Starr rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone

I loved this book. The setting is Biltmore House in Asheville, NC. For those who aren't familiar with it, it is the home of the Vanderbilts, the largest house in the United States and still owned by the orginial family with the orginal furnishings. I've visited the home several tmes and have family in the area so I'm very familiar with the location etc. This book gave the reader a look at what life was like for the hired help working for the Vanderbilts. When touring the house it is absolutely m...more

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Historical Fiction

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Christian Fiction

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Womens Fiction > Chick Lit

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Inspirational

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About Deeanne Gist

Deeanne Gist—known to her family, friends, and fans as Dee—has rocketed up the bestseller lists and captivated readers everywhere with her original historical and contemporary romances. A favorite among readers and reviewers alike, her popular titles include A Bride Most Begrudging, A Bride in the Bargain, and Maid to Match. Her latest book, It Happened at the Fair, is her ninth published novel.

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Quotes from Maid to Match

“Tillie studied her mother’s face. The face which had seen thirty-seven years of life. Twenty-one years of marriage. The birth of ten babies. The death of one.” — 3 people liked it

“And so you should.” He again assessed the newly replaced windows and repaired roof, then clapped Mack on the shoulder. “It’s a good thing you’re doing. And if you take time to share your knowledge with the boys, it’ll give them much more than a skill. It’ll give them hope.” — 2 people liked it

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Maid to Match

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