A Treasure ~ Heart of Gold by Robin Lee Hatcher ~ Review

The latest addition to the “Women of Faith” fiction line is a treasure, just as the title assumes. I fell in love with the cover first, but the story quickly measured up to how lovely the outside promises.

            A western romance, it brings so much into the story, angst from a Civil War still raging, affecting relationships and emotions even states away. I loved how the historical culture affected and played a role in the characters and their growth.

            Characters were likeable, even though Shannon starts the novel with a stuck-up mentality, she quickly becomes a giving and loving character, growing and changing with the flow of the plot. The romance presses upon the characters, due to circumstances, but I loved seeing Shannon and Matthew find attraction in the other…almost without realizing it.

            The actual writing of the book is warm and inviting me to indulge in “just one more chapter”. It’s the kind of story that nearly left me in tears at one point and anxious for the characters to work out their differences and struggles.

            Finely crafted, well written, it doesn’t have a great deal of suspense or I guess, for lack of a better word “worry” for the reader, but I nonetheless found enjoyment within its pages. Characters and situations alike made for a quick, welcoming read.

            This review is my honest opinion. Thanks to the publishers for my copy to review.

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More about the novel...

The truest treasure is found deep in the heart.

Back in her beloved Virginia, Shannon Adair loved nursing injured soldiers back to health. But in Grand Coeur, Idaho-the 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 the fastest and most reliable stagecoach driver on Wells Fargo's payroll. 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 to driving: a wife to care for the boy.

What neither of them knows is that God is at work behind the scenes-and is lovingly bringing them together to discover the true desires of their hearts.