AUTHOR: Karen Witemeyer
DATE: 2017
PUBLISHER: Bethany House
STARS: *****
Grace Mallory is tired of running, of hiding. But when an old friend sends an after-hours telegraph transmission warning Grace that the man who has hunted her for nearly a year has discovered her location, she fears she has no choice. She can't let the villain she believes responsible for her father's death release his wrath in Harper's Station, the town that has sheltered her and blessed her with the dearest friends she's ever known.
Amos Bledsoe prefers bicycles to horses and private conversations over the telegraph wire to social gatherings with young ladies who see him as nothing more than an oddity. His telegraph companion, the mysterious Miss G, listens eagerly to his ramblings every night and delights him with tales all her own. For months, their friendship--dare he believe, courtship?--has fed his hope that he has finally found the woman God intended for him. Yet when he takes the next step to meet her in person, he discovers her life is in peril, and Amos must decide if he can shed the cocoon of his quiet nature to become the hero Grace requires.
When you read “The End” and sigh, not only because the story was so satisfying but also because you want another story just like it, you know you’ve got a good book. Heart on the Line made me sigh. And laugh, smile, and wipe my eyes more than once.
Grace is thoroughly admirable and likeable. A quiet and lovely young woman hiding from a murderer, she manages to carve out a useful and fulfilling life as a telegraph operator in a small colony of women (plus one or two men). While at her station, she strikes up a friendship with Mr. A, who charms her with his tales of his family and life in general—a frontier “online” relationship.
Amos is a wonderfully unusual hero with his bookishness, quiet demeanor and slender build. When their relationship is pushed to a closer level by the threat to Grace, I could not put this book down. Their faith urges them to trust God when everything looks hopeless, a reminder we all need.
A joy to read, I give Heart on the Line five stars. I absolutely loved this book and will look for more by Karen Witemeyer. Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.