Heart's Delight
Ruth Ryan Langan
Berkley, Jul 2007, $6.99
ISBN: 9780425216330

In 1890 Wisconsin, U.S. Marshal Hogan Egan looks forward to capturing killer Eli Otto so that he can claim the reward and quit his dangerous occupation. Thirty year old spinster Molly O'Brien runs the family farm while raising four orphans, her nieces and family friend Flora.

However, Molly and her young female horde are stunned when they find two near dead males on their land. She knows one is a Marshall and the other a cold killer, but she has no idea who is who. Each claims to be the lawman, but Molly's heart reaches out to the man she believes would never harm the children or her. She is proved correct when Otto kidnaps her niece to use as a hostage pawn to escape.

This is an entertaining late nineteenth century Americana romance starring likable lead protagonists who know their responsibilities must come before their attraction. Interestingly when Molly faces the Hobson's Choice between the "Lady and the Tiger", she lets her heart decide for her as she believes that the tender and caring he gives towards the young ones is the real Hogan. With a nod to What's My Line, fans will know that Hogan and Molly make this western romantic suspense a HEART'S DELIGHT.

Harriet Klausner