A love discovered

Marybeth Kruger's life has been full of losses. First she lost her mother, then both her stepmother and best friend, Janie, in childbirth. She was entrusted with the care of her beloved two-year-old half-sister Carrie after they lost their father. Almost immediately after her father's passing, the local minister pressures Marybeth to give Carrie up. Thankfully, Marybeth is friends with Edward Vogel, a former Union soldier and Janie's widower, and their friendship has deepened through their losses. He is offered the opportunity to become a law enforcement officer by a friend in Cheyenne, but is told a married man might be more suitable. As Edward also wants to help Marybeth, he asks her to marry him "in name only" and come with him. Together, they face the dangers and harsh conditions of the West. Edward must confront his fear and his anger at God, while Marybeth reflects on how her own emotions and attitudes about God have been shaped by loss. Petersen's readers and those who enjoy Mary Connealy and Janette Oke's books will appreciate this novel.

Peterson (Knowing You) kicks off her Heart of Cheyenne series with a crackling romance set against the backdrop of a bustling, crime-riddled frontier town. It's 1867 when 20-year-old Marybeth Kruger's father dies in a wagon accident, leaving her the sole caretaker of her one-year-old sister, Carrie. To make matters worse, the local pastor pressures Marybeth to let a wealthy couple adopt her baby sister. Marybeth's friend, kind widower Edward Vogel, proposes a platonic marriage to save Carrie and give her a stable life. The three start afresh in Cheyenne, an "end-of-the-rails" frontier town in Dakota Territory, where their bare-bones life involves sleeping in a tent in frigid temperatures and avoiding a veritable sea of criminals, especially the fearsome brothers Hank and Emory Garlow. As Marybeth and Edward adapt to the town, they yearn for more than a platonic relationship, though trouble--in the form of a run-in with the Garlow brothers that ends in gunfire--threatens to snuff out the pair's chance at happiness. Peterson adeptly balances a propulsive story line with Marybeth and Edward's slow-burning romance, which is woven through with deeply felt meditations on letting go of grief and embracing unexpected love. This spirited series launch will whet appetites for the next installment. (Mar.)