Recent Reads - The Captive Heart

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The Captive Heart by Michelle Griep - Eleanor Morgan has been a governess in a fine British home, but after the master of the house tries to force himself on her, her only choice is to flee to the American colonies. Upon arrival in the Carolinas, she discovers that her letter of reference and her money are gone - and with them, her hope of a respectable position as an indentured servant. However, she's taken with her two friends to a little outpost called Newcastle, where they can serve their indenture; and Eleanor learns she is to be the caregiver for the little daughter of Samuel Heath. Samuel is a backwoodsman with little use for the town where he is generally reviled as a savage and even a murderer; but he wants his child to be raised with proper manners, and decides the only way to do that is to take on an indentured servant so little Grace can be brought up with English ways. But of course, it's improper for him and Eleanor to live together in his cabin unmarried, so they agree to a marriage in name only.

Eleanor quickly falls in love with the little girl, but everything about frontier life is foreign to her and she is frustrated by her own mistakes and ignorance that put her and Grace at risk sometimes, and that seem to try Samuel's patience. Little by little, though, Eleanor and Samuel learn to trust each other, and to consider the possibilities of real love and intimacy between them. Just as Eleanor allows herself to admit her growing love for Samuel, he is called on for another mysterious mission in his role with the Sons of Liberty, and she gives in again to mistrust and self-doubt. When another tragedy shakes her to her core, and she fears she cannot trust Samuel after all, Eleanor believes he and Grace would be better off without her. Will she run away from the man she loves? And will Samuel let her go without a fight?

It was easy to be drawn into this story right from the beginning, and I kept turning pages wondering about the details of the characters' past hurts and how the conflicts would resolve. I was a little frustrated at how long I had to wait to get the information on Eleanor's background, and then it was more hinted at than fully explained. I felt rather the same about Samuel's family history. The main characters were interesting, and their internal conflicts and the circumstances they dealt with were complex. This was my first experience reading this author, and I greatly enjoyed the book so I will be interested in other titles from Michelle Griep.

From the publisher:

Proper English governess Eleanor Morgan flees to the colonies to escape the wrath of a brute of an employer. When the Charles Town family she's to work for never arrives to collect her from the dock, she is forced to settle for the only reputable choice remaining to her -- marriage to a man she's never met. Trapper and tracker Samuel Heath is a hardened survivor used to getting his own way by brain or by brawn, and he's determined to find a mother for his young daughter. But finding a wife proves to be impossible. No upstanding woman wants to marry a murderer.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing in exchange for my honest review.

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