Healing Hearts (Proper Romance Western)
Eden returns to her beloved town of Savage Wells, Wyoming Territory, where Gideon McNamara, the town’s doctor, hires a matchmaking service to send him a nurse and wife. Miriam Bricks, fleeing a mysterious past, is a competent and eager nurse, but she never agreed to marriage. When Gideon hires her despite her jilting him at the altar, Miriam must work extra hard to win over the cautious, reserved townsfolk and hide her secrets from the perceptive, handsome young doctor. Working to heal bruised bodies and ailing minds builds a fragile bond between them, but then Gideon discovers the secret that made Miriam run: she has epilepsy, which in 1876 was considered a form of madness, and she recently escaped the horrifying confines of Blackburn Asylum. Gideon wants to help, but when a scarlet fever epidemic hits the town and, on the heels of it, Dr. Blackburn comes to reclaim his errant charge, defending Miriam will risk everything he has. Brushes with the law, a thrilling court scene, and a dash of melodrama add verve to this sweet, placid, well-plotted romance about family, trust, and tolerating people in all their flaws.
