A REASON TO BELIEVE

Author: Marueen McKade ISBN: 0425216624 8/2007 HISTORICAL Publisher: BERKLEY SENSATION
Time Period: 1860's Texas

How do you pick up the pieces of a shattered life? To escape her angry father, Dulcie McDaniel got pregnant—but lost her husband in a fatal accident. Penniless, she returned home with her little girl—only to have her world shattered once again. Lonely and filled with regrets, Dulcie struggles to provide a decent life for her daughter. Then a handsome stranger arrives... Dulcie, usually shunned by proper folks, is suspicious of Rye Forrester, a drifter offering to work for his keep. But after he helps harvest the crops, her feelings toward the handsome stranger turn into a consuming mutual passion. Although Rye wears the brand of an army deserter, Dulcie is thrilled to be with such a good man. But Rye has his own secrets. He can't understand why his late friend cheated on such a beautiful wife—or how he can now ask Dulcie's forgiveness for his part in her husband's death. Love is one thing—acceptance and forgiveness another. When their tragic pasts catch up with them, these two wounded souls must fight for the love that will keep them together for a lifetime...

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

A REASON TO BELIEVE by Maureen McKade is such good, solid storytelling that I honestly hated to see it end. Set in Texas after the Civil War, it tells the story of a man who feels the need to atone for his own failings and a woman who tries desperately to make up for being let down too many times.

Dulcie McDaniel has returned to her childhood home to make some sort of life for her young daughter. There she's pulled into the center of a town drama that includes the hanging of her own father. When Rye Forrester shows up to help her on her farm, she's suspicious but lets him stay—in the barn!

The characters are so well-written that I felt as if I could actually see and hear them. Madeline, Dulcie's daughter, is so sweet and openly looking to make a connection with someone besides her mother, that I nearly cried every time she grew closer to Rye. The anguish he feels over his past was tangible, as is Dulcie's trepidation regarding her own situation. This story is vivid and rich in details, and it deftly draws the reader back in time.

Maureen McKade has written a heartwarming story, and I loved every minute of it. A REASON TO BELIEVE is heartwarming and clever, a truly wonderful read!

Kay James