In His Arms

A continuation of the story of three immigrants who arrived to view the Statue of Liberty together and went their separate ways. This one, a colleen with the Irish brouge and lift in her words which was almost musical, the accent so appealing as were her physical looks. She proved to be a strong woman with many problems caused by loving the wrong man. She ended up at a "den of iniquity" quite by chance and found that late hours come with the territory. We are born to look the way we'll look as we age. Mary was an orphan who followed her intended husband and her brother to America to start a new life. Instead, she found "bitterness in cold company." The quest for money can make people do strange things. Time, however, can do what words cannot. Dreams help, too. The sheriff was a practical man, the sort who lived by the rules and hard facts and reality. The lady of his dreams had a secret and made sure that no one was privy to her "sin" of long ago. She was in his arms, where she belonged. A woman should have a special supper on the night she received a proposal of marriage and all it entails, roots plus obligations, family and a real home. Her guilt kept her unwed until she learned the truth the hard way and almost lost her life in the mine. There was mutual animosity with the mine owner and she couldn't change the past but could her future. The "crime" she ran from didn't have the consequences she feared and ran from. The ending was worth some of the trivial day-to-day happenings. Waiting to be rescued from the silver mine, she started humming a melody; she couldn't remember the words or even the title, just the tune. Mark whistles; on the Greyhound, I also hummed to blot out an offensive cell phone conversation. "Get behind me Satan," to the enemy. Another miracle as happens in all of Robin Hatcher's and answer to a prayer.

I read only Christian novels and this is an excellent example. I look forward to more books by Robin Lee Hatcher. She's great.

Mary Emeline Malone is looking for everyone else is seeking - love, family and a place to call home. When in Ireland she gave her heart and body to a man who said that he loved her and promised to send for her once he got settled in America with a job. They were to be married and live happily ever-after but the situation changed when Mary discovered that she was pregnant and couldn't wait to hear from him. She set off for America on her own to search for her to-be-husband only to discover once she arrived that he had already married another and had died in a miner's accident. Now Mary is left in New York to raise her baby boy on her own. But when an employer makes advances towards her with plans to make her his mistress, Mary does the only thing she knows to do and that is defend herself from him by hitting him on the head one afternoon when interrupted from cleaning in his study. Now she fears going to jail for murder and rushes to get her baby and head get out-of-town on the next train. While on the train, she meets up with a Madame who owns a saloon in Whistle Creek, Idaho but is dying of cancer. Trusting her instincts, Mary is offered a place to live and a job as bookkeeper at the saloon and Mary agrees. The first person Mary sees when she gets off the train is Sheriff Carson Barclay of Whistle Creek and Mary realizes that she is going to be running from the law the rest of her life. She has to avoid the sheriff or possibly be arrested for murder. Sheriff Carson Barclay has nothing for the saloon/whore house and "sees red" when he realizes that the beautiful woman with a son thats getting off the train is a new "girl" for the madame. But no matter how hard he tries to stay away- Carson is drawn to her only to lose his heart to a head strong woman with an Irish lilt and a past that is soon to catch up with her. It was my first RLH book to read and is a good one though a little slow at times. The characters came to life for me and I really liked Mary and Carson but I also enjoyed the sub-characters as well. Yes, its a good story and one I would recommend it to read.

IN HIS ARMS is a wonderful book.....as always, Ms. Hatcher delivers a great story and characters!