Review: A Matter of Heart by Tracie Peterson

A Matter of Heart Author - Tracie Peterson Time It Took for to Read - 1 1/2 weeks Rating - 3.5 out of 5 Stars Would I Recommend: Maybe

Texas born and raised Jessica Atherton is a wealthy young woman whose heart was broken when the man she intended to marry wedded another. But her world is upended when two men come into her life and both manage to stir her heart. Harrison Gable is a rich young lawyer who intends to travel the world and live a life of opulence. His ambitions match Jessica's dreams, but her heart has begun to change.

Austin Todd, former Secret Service agent, enjoys working now as a Texas Ranger cattle inspector. But learning of forged gold certificates and missing printing plates, he's drawn back into the world of intrigue and agrees to help solve the case. Austin is well-thought-of and admired in the community. Jessica is drawn to his kind nature and the unspoken pain she sees in his eyes. Will Jessica choose financial security or follow her heart?

What I Loved...

I am a sucker for romance so the bits and pieces between Jessica and my favorite of the two beaus always drew me in. He was my favorite thing about this book.  A clue: she ends up with this beau!

What I Liked...

I always like reading about Texas Rangers and ranchers so this was a real treat and the added bonus of Secret Service agents in Historical Fiction that doesn't directly involve politcians was fun. I found myself drawn to Jessica and her new life and found her a believable character. I enjoyed reading about her.

Other...

The book started out slow for me, although that wasn't the reason it took me so long to read it. But on the other hand, had the book really drew me in I probably wouldn't have slept much in order to finish it. The end of the book did however draw me in and I finished the second half of the book in about 2 days.

I had a hard time following all of the characters at first, which was probably why it took a while for this book to get into my system, so to speak. It is part of a series and I would highly recommend reading those before reading this one and I can imagine it would be a better read that way. A good portion of the book involves the characters from the other books in the series as well as their storyline.

At times I felt like Jessica's story was more of a fill in rather the main story because at times the book seemed to be continuing on from the previous books in the series.

All in all, I think had I read the entire series, I would have greatly enjoyed the book.

By the way, I really like the covered.

My Character Images...

Harrison Gable

Austin Todd

Disclaimer: This book was provided by the publisher through Bethany House. The opinion of this book, is my own and I was not paid or compensated for for my review.