The Loyal Heart Book Review

A Lone Star Hero's
Love Story Series

Book One

SUMMARY:  Robert came to Galveston to fulfill his promise to a dying man and look after his widow.  He didn't expect to find love in the unlikeliest of places.

     Robert Truax, former Second Lieutenant and Confederate officer in the Civil War, made a promise to his comrade Phillip Markham.  If anything happened to Phillip, Robert would look after his beloved wife, Miranda.  She was his life, his world, his everything.

     After the war, Robert is left to pick up the pieces and fulfill his pact.  When he arrives at Miranda's home in Galveston, Texas, things are worse that he imagined.  Phillip's name has been dragged through the mud, everyone in town believes him to be a traitor, and his widow is treated as an outcast.  Even more disturbing is her emotional well-being.  Miranda seems hopeless, lost, and so very alone.

     Robert had thought his duty would be simple.  He would help Miranda as quickly as possible in order to honor a promise.  But the moment Robert laid eyes on her, his plans changed.  He's mesmerized by her beauty and yearns to help her in any way he can.

     He makes it his duty to protect Miranda, turn her reputation around, and to find some way to help her smile again. But it doesn't prove to be an easy task - Robert knows something about Phillip that could shake Miranda to the core and alter her view of the man she thought she knew so well.

REVIEW: A secret pact was made between a group of officers while in captivity during the Civil War - anyone who survived the concentration camp would look after the others' families.  I love how these men did not renig on their promise after they were released but honored their word.  In this particular story, Robert has gotten word that Phillip Markam's wife was having some difficulties.  I like how when he realizes just how bad off Miranda is and sees the affect the townspeople's  hatred towards her and Phillip, Robert steps in and makes things right.  I'm not sure I totally agree with him keeping the real reason for his being there a secret but I understand why he did it. 
     Miranda deals with severe depression after the loss of her husband.  With the financial straits and the attitudes of the townspeople adding to her burdens, Miranda thinks there is only one way out.  I like how Robert pulls her out of the doldrums and encourages her to keep on living.  I like how he fights for her.
     This is the first book in this series.  It will be intriguing to read the others as they are released.

This book was provided by Fiction Guild and Thomas Nelson Publishers 

for review without any compensation.

Shelley Shepard Gray is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers' prestigious Carol Award, and a two-time HOLT Medallion winner.  She lives in southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town's bike trail.  She also spends a lot of time online.  Please visit her website:  www.shelleyshepardgray.com.  Find her on Facebook at ShelleyShepardGray.

A Beauty So Rare Book Review

A Belmont Mansion Novel

#2

SUMMARY:  PINK is not what Eleanor Braddock ordered, but maybe it would soften the tempered steel of a woman who came through a war - and still had one to fight.

     Plain, practical Elanor Braddock knows she will never marry, but with a dying soldier's last whisper, she believes her life can still have meaning and determines to find his widow.  Impoverished and struggling to care for her ailing father, Eleanor arrives at Belmont Mansion, home of her aunt, Adelicia Acklen, the richest woman in America - and possibly the most demanding, as well.  Adelicia insists on finding her niece a husband, but a simple act of kindness leads Eleanor down a far different path - building a home for destitute widows and fatherless children from the Civil War.  While Eleanor knows her own heart, she also knows her aunt will never approve of this endeavor.

     Archduke Marcus Gottfried has come to Nashville from Austria in search of a life he determines, instead of one determined for him.  Hiding his royal heritage, Marcus longs to combine his passion for nature with his expertise in architecture, but his plans to incorporate natural beauty into the designs of the widows' and children's home run contrary to Eleanor's wishes.  As work on the home draws them closer together, Marcus and Eleanor find common ground - and a love neither of them expects.  But Marcus is not the man Adelicia has chosen for Eleanor, and even if he were, someone who knows his secrets is about to reveal them all.

REVIEW:  First off, even though this book is the second in this series, you wouldn't know it.  It stands very well on it's own.  There are a couple of references to the first book but explained well enough that you don't need to read it to fully understand this story.

     I like Eleanor. Even though she is bombarded with being told what is right and acceptable for someone with her familial background and influences, Eleanor still tries to follow the path God laid before her.  She sees the widows and their fatherless children who have nothing and struggle with living day-to-day and doesn't turn away.  Instead of opening the restaurant she'd dreamed about, she begins to meet some of the needs of this community by providing a hot meal for these families.  I like how, even though her personal funds are limited, Eleanor pays for the food out of her own pocket instead of asking her very wealthy aunt for money.  As she gets to know some of the families and realizes they do not speak English very well, she tries to reach out to them by learning German, their native language, and not ostracizing them like so many others in the community.  Eleanor is also a caring daughter who does what she thinks is best for her father, who suffers from dementia, even though it sometimes breaks her heart.  

      The author does a great job in keeping the attraction between the main characters from progressing too fast.  Even though there were times when I wished things would speed up and they would just recognize what they meant to each other, it was nice to see that things did not get out of hand

     This is a good book with lots of interesting twists and turns, keeping the reader's attention.

This book was provided by Bethany House for review without compensation.

 

Tamera Alexander  is a USA Today bestselling novelist whose deeply drawn characters, thought-provoking plots, and poignant prose resonate with readers worldwide.  She and husband make their home in Nashville, not far from the Belmont Mansion.  You can visit her at her website at www.tameraalexander.com or her blog at www.tameraalexander.blogspot.com.