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Dulcie McDaniels couldn’t wait to leave Locust and her abusive father, so she picked out a good looking soldier, got pregnant, married and left town. Five years later, after losing her husband in a senseless accident, she’s returned home struggling to make a life for herself and beloved four year old daughter on the run down farm she’d grown up on. Shunned by the townfolk who had hung her father for a murder Dulcie knew he did not commit, she kept to herself. When Rye Forrester, a drifter, offered to help her out on her farm for just room and board, she remained skeptical, but needed the help so badly she agreed. Eventually Rye would gain her trust, but secrets he held of his tragic past would be revealed threatening to shred the fragile bonds of love and trust they’d managed to find. *** If one is looking for emotional historical westerns that will grab you with real-life characters who race straight into your heart than you should definitely look up author Maureen McKade’s novels. As in most of the novels I’ve read by this author she writes of people who have had their share of hard luck, and through strength of purpose are able to find their way out of misery to find hope and love at the end of their personal journeys. In A Reason to Believe the author introduces Dulcie and Rye who have both made life changing mistakes. Although for the wrong reasons, Dulcie purposely got pregnant but wouldn’t begrudge and thanked God for the gift of her daughter Madeline who basically gave her the strength to become a better person. Likewise, Rye who had once turned to whiskey after the loss of wife and child also made a horrendous mistake that took the life of a man he once considered a friend. In trying to make up for being the cause of a man’s death, Rye vowed to help Dulcie to succeed with her farm, in spite of her bad reputation and ill feelings of the town folk towards her. With the inclusion of Dulcie’s darling four year old daughter Madeline, and the young spunky orphan boy Collier, the author wrings both smiles and tears with depictions of the young innocence of youth bringing two emotionally starved and wounded adults to reevaluate their lives and carry each other through the pain of their torment. One note of warning must be given, before you start this, have a full box of tissues nearby! This is one fabulous story and a tear jerker.
Marilyn Rondeau – Reviewers International Organization (RIO) |
A Reason to Believe
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