Heart on the Line
Amos Bledsoe is an atypical Western hero, more likely to ride to the rescue on a bicycle than a white horse, but it’s precisely the disarming, unaffected charm of this telegraph operator that makes him the endearing star of this new tale from Karen Witemeyer. Return to old friends in Harper’s Station where shy, Grace Mallory, has struck up a cautious, if anonymous, friendship with Amos over the wires. But the potential romance is put on hold when Grace, in hiding from those responsible for her father’s death, learns her whereabouts have been discovered. Now, all that matters is keeping one step ahead of danger, even as Amos arrives unbidden, determined to help.
Secondary characters provide suspense and fodder for future books, while the contemporary theme of online dating, here replicated in a historical setting using the telegraph, provides situational humor. Christian themes keep the novel firmly grounded in the genre. Witemeyer concludes the series with “The Love Knot,” a novella in the anthology, Hearts Entwined (along with historical romance authors Mary Connealy, Regina Jennings and Melissa Jagears), released in January 2018.
