Reviewing: Heart On The Line By Karen Witemeyer

It's late autumn and Grace Mallory has been in hiding for nearly a year.  She holds the secret her father carried before he was gunned down before her eyes on the streets of Denver.  Greed is at the heart of the  matter when a mine owner learns his fortune is at stake. Heart On The Line by Karen Witemeyer is set in 1894 in the old west, making it a good book to sit back and enjoy with a nice cup of tea.

Our heroine is a telegraph operator who has been "on the line" after hours with one Amos Bledsoe forming an innocent, yet warm friendship.  One night as they were "chatting", their discussion is interrupted by an urgent telegraph message that Grace's whereabouts have been discovered. She enlists help from the local lawman but help comes from another surprising source. Amos "overheard" the coded message and swiftly moved everything to catch a train then rent a stubborn mule to come to her aid.  What followed is a tale that has the flavor of the late 19th century, colorful for its innovations.

I liked the book for the sense of adventure; a young woman in hiding, rescued by an unlikely hero.  Amos was a mild mannered, bespectacled man who lived with his mother. A telegrapher by trade his preferred method of transportation was a velocipede. Amos made no secret he would rather ride a bicycle than a horse and this caused enough curiosity among the town that added fun to the story.

For every wonderful young man with a good heart there is a handsome rake that can turn women to putty in his hands.  This man was wearing the badge of a Pinkerton; one who seemingly searched long and hard for Grace.  Under the guise of protection, he assured her he was sent to personally carry out what her father intended to do before he was shot.  Justice would be served.

The man who killed her father is not one to letting sleeping dogs lie.  Although he didn't personally pull the trigger, Chaucer Haversham had men on his payroll who would do anything to keep the man's fortune from slipping to a long thought dead sister. Deception and relentless determination tested Grace's resolve.

In the end, I think one should pick up a copy of Heart On The Line to solve the mystery and see who wins the heart of Grace Mallory. From the bicycles to the parallel of chatting on the wire to online chatting I think the author brought 1894 up to speed with 2017.

Many thanks to Bethany House for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.