The Pattern of Her Heart (Lights of Lowell Series #3)

The first two books in this series were amazing!!! They were well written and I had a hard time setting them down. However, this book fell flat. I felt that to much time passed between the second book and this one making it hard to close the gaps. Moses and his family were not talked about at all in this story. This disappointed me because Moses was such a large part of the second book. I also thought that Jasmine's story was not enough of the book itself. The other characters like her brother and good friends were given much bigger parts in the story then Jasmine. Overall this story was just okay. I still believe that Tracie Peterson is an awesome author this just wasn't her best book.

This book was in great condition and arrived in good time. I would definely purchase from this seller again.

I received the book in a timely manner in good condition. Thank you!

Those women of Lowell are at it again! The Pattern of Her Heart takes us back in time to the pre-Civil War days when our country was divided by economic dependence on slavery in the south and the morality of using slaves to increase the wealth of the owners. Put a killer epidemic and the burgeoning financial disaster looming in the north in the mix and you have a story of desperation and hope. Our first lady of the story is Jasmine. She and her husband have been very successful in raising horses and selling them. Jasmine's brother works for the Corporation that runs the various textile mills in town. The economic outlook for the mills is bleak. The girls that work in the mills are being laid off, some of the boarding houses are closing and the financially over-extended (Brother) is desperate for money when they get news that a killer epidemic has hit their home in the south and virtually their entire family has been wiped out. With a baby on the way and business matters to tend to, (Brother) leaves it to Jasmine to harvest the cotton crop and sell the plantation. All he wants is his money when it's settled. Jasmine arrives in Mississippi and tells all of the slaves that she is freeing them and if they would like, they can stay on to harvest the final cotton crop for wages to give them a fresh start in the north as free men and women. At first the slaves are skeptical but when they are handed their papers of freedom, they know they can trust Jasmine and her husband to stand by their word. When the other slaves hear that Jasmine's slaves have been freed and are now working for wages, there is unrest among the other plantations. So much so that Jasmine and her family are run out of town, the sale of the crop and plantation virtually worthless. When she returns, her brother takes matters in his own hands making deals with those who thwarted the sale in the first place. There is also lots of romance in The Pattern of Her Heart. Elinor Brighton, a boarding house matron, is determined not to fall in love again. She has loved and lost too many times and never wants to feel the pain again but when the newly widowed preacher comes to town that familiar flutter catches her by surprise. It also catches the preacher's rowdy daughter, Reggie, by surprise making her think Elinor befriended her only to close to her father. Reggie is determined to find out if Elinor is truly her friend or just using her to get to her father as many other women have tried. Then there's the Irishman, Paddy, who works for Jasmine and her family. When they had to venture to Mississippi to take care of the estate they left Paddy in charge of the horse business. While he was in charge, he caught the eye of an Irish girl new to Lowell, Mary Margaret. She was an independent girl working in the mill and living at Elinor's boarding house. Paddy thought she was a snob for not living in the Acre with the rest of the Irish folk but will these two ever turn the electricity between

In 1857 Lowell, Massachusetts Nolan and Jasmine Houston pray everyday for a miracle as their five years old daughter Alice Ann struggles to recover from Scarlet Fever. When Dr. Hartzfield deems the little girl is healthy enough to celebrate her birthday that passed three months ago, the Houstons rejoice that their beloved child has healed. Not long afterward, attorney Forbes tells Jasmine and Nolan that her father, her brother and most of her other relatives died from Yellow Fever at the family Mississippi plantation, the Willows. They need to decide what to do with the slaves and the property. Nolan and Jasmine head south to free those slaves who survived the epidemic. In Mississippi their abolitionist philosophy anger their neighbors and the few surviving relatives until someone burns down the Willows leaving Jasmine and Nolan to wonder how to keep their family and themselves safe while doing the right thing for the slaves they want to free. THE PATTERN OF HER HEART showcases how violent the country was over slavery just prior to the Civil War. The Houstons meet derision and hatred for wanting to free her family slaves. However as noble and obvious as that seems, the pair soon find how complicated that can be. Several of those they want to liberate have no economic means of survival as they have been dependent on their owners and when the Willows is destroyed causing the Houstons to flee for Lowell they ponder how to protect those they left behind from an angry local populace. Book Three of the Lights of Lowell series is a fabulous insightful Antebellum historical. Harriet Klausner