“The Loyal Heart” by Shelley Shepard Gray *historical clean fiction* book review

The Loyal Heart (A Lone Star Hero’s Love Story) by Shelley Shepard Gray

This is not one of the author’s typical Amish fiction books. “The Loyal Heart” is a romantic historical fiction set in the Civil War time period.

Someone starts a rumor in Miranda’s town that her late husband died in prison giving secrets to the enemy. Miranda suffers from depression and even has suicidal thoughts after the death of her husband. Her Inn staff tries to help, but it isn’t until Office Robert Truax comes to visit when things start to turn around for her.

While in prison, a group of Confederate officers make a vow to look after one another and their families in the event of a death. Robert Truax follows through with his vow to Phillip by going to visit late Phillip’s wife in Texas (Miranda).

I loved how honorable Officer Robert was to Miranda and her household; and that honor, respect and a mans word went a long way back in that time period.

Good steady plot-clean fiction. I hope she will have more historical “Lone Star Heros” in upcoming books!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from LitFuse Publicity in exchange for an honest review on my blog and social media-all opinions are my own.

About the book:
Robert came to Galveston to fulfill his promise to a dying man and look after his widow. He didn’t expect to find love in the unlikeliest of places.

Robert Truax, former Second Lieutenant and Confederate officer in the Civil War, made a promise to his comrade Phillip Markham. If anything happened to Phillip, Robert would look after his beloved wife, Miranda. She was his life, his world, his everything.

After the war, Robert is left to pick up the pieces and fulfill his pact. When he arrives at Miranda’s home in Galveston, Texas, things are worse than he imagined. Phillip’s name has been dragged through the mud, everyone in town believes him to be a traitor, and his widow is treated as an outcast. Even more disturbing is her emotional well-being. Miranda seems hopeless, lost, and so very alone.

Robert had thought his duty would be simple. He would help Miranda as quickly as possible in order to honor a promise. But the moment Robert laid eyes on her, his plans changed. He’s mesmerized by her beauty and yearns to help her in any way he can.
He makes it his duty to protect Miranda, turn her reputation around, and to find some way to help her smile again. But it doesn’t prove to be an easy task—Robert knows something about Phillip that could shake Miranda to the core and alter her view of the man she thought she knew so well.

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About the author:
Shelley Shepard Gray is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers prestigious Carol Award, and a two-time HOLT Medallion winner. She lives in southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town’s bike trail.