Dinca’s review of Heart of Mine by Michelle Beattie
Historical Romance short story ebook published by Michelle Beattie 12 Apr 12
These characters are well developed for a novella. I was drawn in immediately and thoroughly enjoyed the storyline. This could have been a great fully fledged novel but instead is it an enticing, romance-packed short story.
Jake Evans is everything a girl could want, along with everyone else in town, all who want something from him. He has resigned himself to loneliness instead of being used for what others can get out of him. Being the wealthiest guy around has its drawbacks. As for women, he’s already been burned once and it will be a cold day in hell before he lets it happen again. Well, hell has arrived in the dead of winter.
For the first time in her life, Laura Gibbs’ father told her to do something she actually wanted to do. Being married to Jake Evans was her heart’s desire, but trapping him into matrimony was not how she wanted to do it. Her other option was to be sold off to an old man. With this hanging over her head, she does as she is told and slides into Jake’s bed. When Jake finds her there, he does the honorable thing and marries her.
After a rocky start, Laura blossoms as a person in Jake cares for and refuses the demands her father makes on her. This puts her in greater danger and it is up to Jake to save her. Knowing how unrealistic people act out of fear, this story line is very believable. The ending gets a very heartfelt “Ahhhhhhhhhh.”
Grade: A
Summary:
To avoid a forced marriage, Laura Gibbs has little choice but to go along with her controlling father’s plan to deceive the man she’s secretly loved for years.
Jake Evans has been burned in the past and has learned the hard way that nobody is interested in him, only his money. So when he wakes to find Laura in his bed, he’s convinced that she’s yet another in a long line of women who only wants his share of his recently inherited gold mine. A fact soon confirmed when her father storms in the room and demands Jake make an honest woman out of Laura, lest he be charged with rape and hanged.
As Laura gains freedom from her oppressing father, she also gains courage. Determined to make a real marriage with Jake, she refuses her father’s demand that she steal from her husband and instead concentrates her efforts on showing Jake the woman she truly is.
Despite Laura’s deceptions, Jake can’t deny his attraction to her. With the physical attraction sizzling between them, Jake begins to believe he’s finally found the woman for him.
But there’s trouble brewing. Hugh, neck-deep in gambling debts with no money in sight, seeks drastic measures that won’t only risk Laura and Jake’s marriage; it’ll risk her very life.
No excerpt available.
