Sandy M’s review of Miracle in New Hope by Kaki Warner
Historical Western Romance e-novella published by InterMix 11 Dec 12
Kaki Warner has become one of my favorite authors, after reading just one of her books. Her stories are heart warming, filled with characters you want to know and who overcome the difficulties life throws at them with bravery, stoicism, and honor. When they love, they love with everything in them. Her books are now a source of comfort and warmth with lasting memories of a wonderful journey.
Daniel Hobart has isolated himself in his home away from folks. His grief and pain too much bear, it’s best to be alone with his memories and self-recrimination. He wasn’t there for his family and now he has to live with their loss. Needing a trip into town, Daniel is in the mercantile when an avalanche unleashes on the small village, the store taking the brunt of the hit. While buried in the snow, not knowing if rescue is on the way, he hears a small voice asking for help. Daniel promises the young child he won’t let anything happen and promises to come for her as soon as he’s free. When next he’s awake he’s in the doc’s office with a few injuries and asks about the child. Being told there was no one else under the snow with him doesn’t make sense. He knows he heard the voice asking for his promise. Didn’t he?
At home getting back into his daily routine, odd things begin to happen. He hears a voice again. But no one is there. Even his dog is acting strangely, staring into the forest and refusing to move from the spot where the voice seems to be coming from. The next time it happens, he realizes the little girl he now sees on his land is the same who asked for his promise after the avalanche. Trying to get information from her is nearly impossible, and when she disappears he heads into town to find out what he can, to take the parents to task for allowing their child to run around in rags in such weather.
What he discovers is Lacy Ellis trying to recover from the loss of her daughter from the year before. Her hope is slowly dwindling that she’ll ever see her child again, but when Daniel tells her his tale and decides to go back over the trail her family traveled on their way home when Hannah disappeared, Lacy insists on accompanying him. But every place where they ask questions, every person they talk to is a dead end. Even when at first it seems some new information may lead them to Hannah. Finally Lacy can take no more. Her heart is shattered again by believing in Daniel, and with harsh words to him, she heads home. Daniel vows to find her child, to bring her home with him. You feel finding Hannah is also for Daniel himself as much as it’s for Lacy. He needs to find that little girl to bring peace to both of them.
I like this little bit of the paranormal Ms. Warner has interspersed in the story, something we’ve not read from her before. It works wonderfully well, giving Daniel a time of it while he decides if he’s losing his mind or not. The pull of attraction between Daniel and Lacy is nicely done, and in the end when she believes he’s failed her, you have to wonder if she can ever open her heart to him. I’m anxiously awaiting whatever is next from Kaki Warner. I know she’ll not disappoint in the slightest.
Grade: A
Summary:
Amidst the snowy peaks of the Rocky Mountains in 1871, Daniel Hobart keeps to himself—a man with a hole in his heart that matches the scar on his face. But when Daniel starts having visions of a young girl crying out for help, he begins to fear that solitude may have caused him to lose his mind. Determined to find out the truth about the mysterious girl, Daniel travels into New Hope and learns that she’s the missing daughter of widow Lacy Ellis.
After a year of heartbreak, Lacy isn’t sure what to make of Daniel’s claims of seeing her daughter. But when he sets out to find Hannah on his own, Lacy decides to join him, allowing herself one last chance to hope. And as they retrace the long-cold trail of Hannah’s disappearance, two broken people manage to take some small comfort in each other, and in the possibility of a miracle…
Read an excerpt.
