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 than 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.
Shelley Shepard Gray might usually write Amish romances,, but she has the golden touch with historical fiction, too. I love the way that she created a backstory for this book that sets up the entire series – and developed some seriously awesome men to play the main characters.
Beyond that, the setting is a bit unusual. Set on an island in Texas in the years following the Civil War, the townspeople were loyal to the Confederacy and shunning one of their own. Gray’s setup makes for a seriously suspenseful story, though, with lots of personal drama. The high action keeps the story moving and the kindness of Robert and Miranda gives the reader a vested interest in their lives.
Gray builds that high action with a wide cast of characters and multiple villains. With several subplots in addition to a few romances, there’s not a dull paragraph in the book. Gray keeps that tension high throughout the entire story and builds a great lead-in to the next book in the story.
Gray is an expert at building that tension and keeping the reader turning pages – even when the story has ended. I can’t wait for the next book to be released, and while I’m frustrated at having to wait, if it’s anything like The Loyal Heart, it’ll be well worth it.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
