Heart on the Line (Ladies of Harper's Station Book #2)

A sweet clean romance filled with mystery, grief, love, faith, and strength, the reader finds two romances in this book. Witemeyer's characters live in an all woman town, Harper's Station; the sheriff and goods transporter the only men allowed. I loved how the town, filled with women, supported and loved each other as family. What a unique and original job Whitimeyer gave Grace. Whitimeyer included the inequity of pay and positions for women during this time period. What began as after work telegraph conversation with a telegraph operator, Amos, became much more. It was wonderful how well they communicated. When Amos rushed to Grace's aid, I knew he was keeper. Far from the brawny cowboys of the west, Amos wears glasses and a suit and is insecure as the woman of his town always overlooked him for the handsome cowboys in the area. Amos is the perfect match for Grace; a knight in shining armor who will stand and protect whose who he loves. He was exactly what Grace needed. Each woman in town has a story, some of brutal abuse; Helen was abused by her father and hates all men. She has many issues to resolve. That is until she meets the man God has designed for her. Her story's heartbreaking, however, God has his hands on the controls ready to give Helen what she desires if only she will accept him. Witemeyer has many plot threads to bring together which she did skillfully. A well-written story with well-developed characters, highlighting their faith in God and his goodness, the pace of story never slowed or bogged down. With an original story-line and realistic likeable characters, Additionally, I received this book from the Netgalley and chose to voluntarily review the book with an honest romance book review.

A fantastic book with endearing characters and a story line that will keep you totally engaged from beginning to end. The thing about Karen Witemeyer's books is that her characters come alive, along with the events they are placed in. You put yourself into the story and feel the emotions they feel and are invested in their joys and pains. Also, her characters are so realistic. Such as, in this book, the hero is not some buff cowboy who looks like an Adonis! He's actually a nerdy kind of guy with glasses that rides a bicycle! Unusual when everyone else is riding horses! But, Amos is his own person and comfortable in his own skin. I liked him so much because he was sweet, kind, loved his family and especially, became a hero when he needed to. It was a little scary, but, he stepped up and did it for his Grace, the heroine of the story! Grace is very shy and has a sad backstory. She has come to the women's colony to "hide" basically from her past but it catches up with her. She is a telegraph operator and "meets" Amos over the telegraph wires because he's an operator also, in another city. When he "overhears" an urgent message about Grace that could put her in danger, he thinks nothing of riding to her safety. I love all the characters in this women's colony and each one has a great story. We learn about others too. This book has a suspenseful story going on as Grace is involved with criminals looking for her and the whole town rallies around her to help. As I said, this book is wonderful and you'll not want to put it down! I recommend it!

Karen knocks another one out of the park. It was so much fun to revisit Harper's Station again. I love this series. A town occupied and run by women. The concept might sound questionable, but with Karen's writing ability, you will fall in love with these ladies. And you will find them quit believably. I love the way she gives us a little bit of everything. There is adventure, sweet romance, moral lessons and plenty of humor. There are two story-lines going, Grace Mallory and Amos Bledsoe, both telegraph operators who have met over the telegraph lines. Both of these characters are not outstanding in their looks or their character. They are both very likable and strong in their own ways. The second love interest is between Helen who abhors all men, but happens to save the life of a questionable hunky stranger. There are some unexpected surprises which just adds to the adventure. If you are anything like me, you will not want to put this book down.