Kudos to Amanda Cabot for what I believe is her best book yet—A Stolen Heart. I have read all her contemporary stories and most of her historical books, and this book grabbed my heart from the get-go with a very likable, sympathetic heroine—Lydia Crawford. She takes a stagecoach to a new town, where she knows not a single soul. Everyone seems to be against her since she is a Northerner in Texas fifteen years after the Civil War. The townspeople distrust Northerners because they remember what the Carpetbaggers did after the War. And, some of the townspeople have been injured, or had family members killed, by Northern soldiers
Lydia is also very disappointed to find her fiancé whom she traveled so far to meet up with is now missing. Has he left her like her Pa left her mother years ago? Things keep getting worse and worse for Lydia, although there are two townspeople who become her champions—the sheriff and an elderly woman who offers her free room and board. To keep her faith in God and see what He wants her to do, she reads her Bible.
She has many more disappointments along the way, but her faith grows and stands strong, and she continues to work hard and trust God. The town is full of mysteries, and Lydia is determined to help the sheriff solve them. That causes even more trouble, but I don’t want to give away any more, so I hope you will read this book for yourself. I can’t wait to read the second one in this series. While you are waiting, do a search for Amanda Cabot and order some of her other great series—Texas Dreams, Texas Crossroads, and Westward Winds. Can you tell she loves Texas? You will, too, after you read her books and her lovely descriptions of the Texas Hill Country.
I did receive this copy from the publisher for review purposes but the thoughts and words are all my own.
