DiAnn Mills, Lanterns and Lace

Lanterns and Lace

DiAnn Mills

Barbour, September 2006

ISBN: 1597893560

In 1895, in Cleveland, Jenny Martin learns that her fallen dove sister Jessica passed away, leaving behind a two year old daughter, Rebecca. She travels to Kahlerville, Texas to bring her niece home with her. The trek on the Union Pacific is stifling and difficult, with Jenny obtaining no sleep and little to eat. In the small Texas train station, Jenny faints; hitting her head as she is ill. Fellow passenger Aubrey Turner, who knows all about her and her sibling, sends for Dr. Grant Andrews, who arrives to help Jenny.

Jenny soon learns that Grant has adopted Rebecca, and with the help of his housekeeper Mimi, is raising the child with love. Ready to contest custody, Jenny realizes that her niece is contented living with Grant and Mimi. Still, though she reluctantly accepts that Rebecca needs to remain with Grant, she still wants to be there as a loving aunt; besides which, she likes the town and its residents. As Jenny and Grant begin to fall in love, their differences over the role of God in their lives keeps them apart; whereas he has found the Lord, she was raised to believe solely in science. Meanwhile, Aubrey insists he and Jessica were an entry, and that she died hiding a treasure of his that he demands Jenny find, or else people she cares about will die.

This superb western romance is a terrific inspirational tale that interweaves its message of have faith in the Lord, whether things are going good or bad, into the exciting plot, so that sub-genre fans first and foremost obtain a strong late nineteenth century Texas tale. Jenny and Grant debate faith vs. Darwinism, until she eventually finds religion in the "foxhole". Readers will enjoy this action-packed storyline, which brings to life this bygone "Wild West" era.