This is book # 5, in the Henderson's Ranch series.  This book can be read as a standalone novel.  While entertaining, the whole make up of the story and characters will make more sense if read in order with the Nightstalkers series as well.

Patrick is learning he loves to be a cowboy.  He had planned to make films, but the best laid plans tend to go awry.  He loves his current job and location.  Now he is falling for someone who may not need him and may not stay.

Lauren is having to adjust being former military.  After disaster struck, she is brought to the ranch to meet some familiar characters.  (Mark & Emily)  We learn that while she is trying to adjust to civilian life just days after discharge.... there may be more options than she is aware of.  Falling for a cowboy was not in the plans but - plans change.

This was such a great read!  I loved having my favorite and familiar characters here.  It felt like home.  I was so pleased to see how some of them were doing after the Night Stalkers series.  This series is great on its own, and has some stellar characters to love also.  I give this book a 4/5 Kitty's Paws UP!

***I received a free copy of this title from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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. He makes it his duty to protect Miranda, turn her reputation around, and to find some way to help her smile again. But it doesn’t prove to be an easy task—Robert knows something about Phillip that could shake Miranda to the core and alter her view of the man she thought she knew so well.

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Three years after the close of the Civil War, widow Miranda Markham is still trying to adjust to life as an independent woman in Galveston, Texas, continuing to mourn the husband she lost in a prison camp. Struggling to make ends meet, she decides to turn her home into a boarding house, renaming it the Iron Rail. However, it seems no amount of hard work and up & up business practices will be able to repair her tarnished reputation. Shortly after her husband Phillip's death, gossip spread that Phillip was a traitor, spilling valuable information to the enemy while he was imprisoned.

 

Captain Monroe exhaled. "Don't forget...no matter what, we need to continue to stress that Phillip Markham was nothing more than one of my lieutenants who happened to have a very good seat on a horse."

 

"Yes, sir. And, uh, let us not forget he was a gentleman who really loved his wife."

 

Captain Monroe smiled. "That will probably be the truest thing we've ever said during our time here. Phillip seems to be fairly sure that the sun rises and falls on his Miranda. The man is still smitten after several years of marriage."

 

"Do you think any woman can be that wonderful?"

 

Monroe looked at him sadly. "I would like to think there is at least one woman who is. If Miranda Markham loves Phillip even half as much as he loves her, I shudder to think how she is going to receive the news of his death."

 

Guilty by association, Phillip's wife got her own share of whispers, most suggesting that her business was a front for illicit activity. Miranda's employee, Belle, suspects most of the gossip is coming from those wanting to keep fingers pointed away from their activities. Additionally, Miranda continues to periodically receive anonymous letters, threatening that she needs to leave town "or else".

Just about the time Miranda is stressed and scared to her limit, in to town walks former Second Lieutenant of the Confederate Army Robert Truax. What Miranda doesn't know is that Robert was imprisoned with her husband and in fact made a vow to the dying Phillip that he would look after Miranda... just took him a few years to get around to keeping that promise! All Miranda knows is she has a customer in front of her and she definitely needs the business. While Robert's initial intention may have only been to keep a vow, it doesn't take long for him to be pulled in by Miranda's beauty and her blend of quiet strength and vulnerability. Robert then makes a renewed promise to stay by her side and protect her until her good name has been rightfully restored. But about that reputation... well, turns out there might in fact really be a secret lurking within Phillip's story. 

 

"Jesus, why?" she whispered. "I thought you suffered so much so I wouldn't have to. Why do I have to keep being reminded of how hard life is and how fleeting the feeling of security is?"

When I first started reading this novel, I somehow missed the connection that the author is the same Shelley Shepard Gray who wrote the Chicago World Fair series I reviewed in mid-2016. As it turns out though, even though we're talking about completely different time periods, there were some notable similarities between this book and that series! The initial scene between Belle and Sheriff Kern in this novel I found strangely echoed (almost movement for movement at times) that of the first conversation in the police station between Katie Ryan and Detective Owen Ryan in Deception On Sable Hill (Chicago World's Fair Mystery #2). Likewise, the parlor scene involving Viola & Ruth Markham (Miranda's sister in law and mother in law), Robert Truax and Captain Monroe -- the way it was staged, the dialogue, everything -- reminded me of the "big reveal" scene between the police and the Sloane family at the end of Secrets of Sloane House (Chicago World's Fair Mystery #1). Thirdly, there was the scene with Miranda being nabbed and taken to the abandoned fishery, similar to that of Rosalind being held against her will in one of the abandoned fair buildings, also in Secrets of Sloane House. I don't mean these observations as knocks against the writing of Shelley Gray at all, simply stating similarities I noticed. 

While the general premise of this story -- friend looks after pal's grieving widow, falls in love with the girl -- has been done dozens of times over, Gray does bring her own unique touches to the idea. First off, you don't often get to see characters killed off by gangrene!  But then again, we are talking Civil War era. Then there was the overall tone... this novel got waaay darker in parts than I was expecting! Both Miranda and Robert admit to battling bouts of deep, dark depression... to the point of actually attempting suicide. Again, given the time period this story is written around, you expect some post-war emotional trauma but I honestly wasn't expecting the topic of suicide to come up within a Christian-based historical novel. But I appreciate the layer of realness it brought to the characters and the overall story. I was also touched at Miranda's rememberances of her last moments with Phillip before he went off to war. Gray writes those scenes with a respectable, unvarnished honesty. 

At story's end, I didn't necessarily find myself strongly, deeply moved or disturbed by the lives of these characters -- as I said earlier, this story idea has been played out a bit by previous authors -- but there was enough here that left me curious to see how the next installment of this series turns out. 

FTC DISCLAIMER:  TNZ Fiction Guild kindly provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions above are entirely my own. 

I loved that this one was set in Galveston. I got a little history lesson as well as being entertained. I had no idea that the Tremont and the Strand had been a part of the Island that long. Although I'm sure it all had been rebuilt after the storm of 1900 or was it 1906? Whenever it was, I know there was a huge storm that no one knew along this time period. This was also the first book that I had read that was set in the America's during this time period. It was kind of shocking to me that the whole town had turned against the widow Miranda just because of some rumor.

I won't spoil it for any other readers, but it was pretty much obvious who was behind the letters. One reason was apparent, but the other reason was a much deep, darker, creepier one.

I loved that Miranda's war unit soldiers were there for her and helped her to alleviate a lot of her problems. Namely the big one that her husband was a traitor before he was killed in the war. While this book was rife with helpless women, the main ones stood up and held their ground in a time when it was not becoming. That was another source of the rumors that Miranda had to deal with.

I felt this was a very entertaining read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned one major basic thing. I would not have wanted to live on Galveston Island during these times. HA!

Huge thanks to Thomas, Nelson, Zondervan for my big box of books. I know you said I didn't have to read them all. However, I have most of them very interest and enjoyable. A big plus when your sending out presents for people you don't know. As usual, I have posted my reviews on all my major sites.

A bit of mystery, peril, a widow in need and men of honor, along with an interesting secondary cast of characters.  This romance is lovely and heart-felt, and I loved every minute of this story, surprisingly even the POW camp flash-back scenes. What stood out most for me, though, was how well Miranda's depression was portrayed, along with the way the story highlighted the continued importance of reputation in the post-Civil War Reconstruction years.

I am so looking forward to An Uncommon Protector, the second Lone Star Hero's Love Story, in early 2017 and I highly recommend The Loyal Heart for those who enjoy a story of regained hope, faith, and love.

This review refers to a free review copy received from Thomas Nelson and Zondervan's Fiction Guild.  All opinions expressed are my own. My full, unedited review can be read at http://wp.me/p5Tcfi-1AE

The instant attraction between Sophia and Brandt made my heart happy. It was not just love for each other but a love of horses and nature as well. With the fear of war, renewed or new, it is great to feel love can still grow despite everything. I highly recommend this book and look forward to the next one.