Heart of Goldby Robin Lee Hatcher
Paperback, 304 pages
Published February 14, 2012 by Thomas Nelson Publishers
E-Copy from BookSneeze for honest review
Premise: Ganked from author's site:
The truest treasure is found deep in the heart.
Life in Grand Coeur, Idaho, is so different! Back in her beloved Virginia, Shannon Adair loved nursing injured soldiers back to health. But in this rough-and-tumble place where her father has been called to lead the church, she’s not sure where she fits in. Then a critically ill woman arrives, and Shannon knows her place at last: to care for this dear woman and ease her pain.
Matthew Dubois is a stagecoach driver through and through. But his widowed sister is dying and he’s about to inherit his young nephew. So he takes a job at the Wells, Fargo express office in Grand Coeur until he can find the one thing he needs to get back on the stage: a wife!
What neither of them knows is that someone is at work behind the scenes. Someone who cares for them both, and knows exactly what these two need: each other!
My Review:
Incredibly CUTE – as in home-cookin’ comfortable. This book was like eating my childhood favorite comfort food.
For one, Shannon is NICE.
She means well, although she has a few faults, like stubbornness and
independent thought – which was a “fault” for the time period. Her father was
SO nice, he was almost unbelievably nice, letting his daughter grow at her own
pace while seeking to fulfill his destiny, praying constantly to God and
talking to his deceased wife out of familiarity. The wonderful Matthew is a
wheelbarrow-full of NICE, too. His only fault is former thoughtlessness, which
he repents of almost from page one.
So, there’s a lot of super-nice people tossed into a
dusty, dirty town, which also appears NICE. Yea, there’s ruffians and some "fisticuffs" resulting in stitches and black eyes, but it’s all delivered so
NICELY… because the writing style is NICE. Sometimes it was so cute, I paused
and reread the line wondering at the confidence of the writer to just spit out
such layers of cute on top of each other. Lol.
There's more. I found beautiful
outfits, fine dancing, delicious fried chicken and pensive thoughts about the
civil war from the perspective of the confederacy. Shannon has brilliant red hair and green eyes. Plus she's just coming to "marriageable age". Whereas dating was fun before, suddenly she feels heart
throbbing. Too cute.
I found two nuggets of gold in this mining town
historical Christian romance:
The relationship between Shannon and Matthew is absolutely delightful and skillfully unfolded. There’s no guessing with love triangles or confusion about what sort of struggles will come up, it’s all very laid out, clear from the beginning (with one small surprise, which doesn’t take away from the trail but for a chapter). But it’s adorably cute. Mashed potato with sour cream tastefully spiced CUTE. And plenty of butter. CUTE. It’s worth reading the book, the romance is so darn cute.
The relationship between Shannon and Matthew is absolutely delightful and skillfully unfolded. There’s no guessing with love triangles or confusion about what sort of struggles will come up, it’s all very laid out, clear from the beginning (with one small surprise, which doesn’t take away from the trail but for a chapter). But it’s adorably cute. Mashed potato with sour cream tastefully spiced CUTE. And plenty of butter. CUTE. It’s worth reading the book, the romance is so darn cute.
The second nugget is Matthew’s sister, Alice, is dying from
cancer, and I can’t call her progress “cute” but it’s heart-tugging. Oh yea, I cried…
that delicious sort of “I know, but that’s sad” sort of cry.
If you’ve ever read a historical Christian romance that you
liked – you’ll definitely like this one, too. If the idea of “historical” and
“Christian” makes you hesitate, that’s probably a good call. Unless… you have
secretly wished to be a southern belle transported to an old mining town
shopping for totally CUTE dresses with lots of petticoats and falling in love
with a tall, strong, broad guy with dark hair and brilliant blue eyes who steps
into the middle of a fight to save a stranger from getting picked on, well,
then you should read this book, too. :-D
Cover Commentary: Perfect. Looks like a Christian romance set in pioneer days - wala!! The title is amazingly appropriate - like too cutely perfect for words.
My Rating: Cute lands a solid, enthusiastic 3 in my world, but the romance was 4 without question, so I'm giving Heart of Gold a 3.5 - definitely worth the time.
The Author:
Robin enjoys being with her family, spending time in the beautiful Idaho outdoors, reading books that make her cry, and watching romantic movies. She is passionate about the theater, and several nights every summer, she can be found at the outdoor amphitheater of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, enjoying plays under the stars. Her main hobby (when time allows) is knitting, and she has a special love for making prayer shawls. Robin and her husband make their home on the outskirts of Boise, sharing it with Poppet, the high-maintenance Papillon, and Princess Pinky, the DC (demon cat).
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Heart of Gold, Women of Faith Series By Robin Lee Hatcher / Thomas Nelson Wells Fargo driver Matthew Dubois isn't sure the lovely Shannon belongs in Idaho Territory, but he is a desperate man. His widowed sister is dying and leaving her young son, Todd, in his care. If Matthew ever wants to return to driving coach for the express company--and he does mean to return to it--he'll need a wife to look after the boy when he's away. Shannon is determined not to lose her heart to a man who is neither a Southerner nor a gentleman. But love stakes its claim. Now, will her heart survive learning the truth behind the courtship? |
