Wild at Heart
by Vickie McDonough
Series: Romance in the Badlands #1
Published by Mountain Brook Ink
Publication Date February 10, 2021
Genres: Historical Fiction, Christian Fiction, Western, Clean Romance
Setting: North Dakota Gilded Age – US – 1875 – 1900
Written for: Adults
Pages: 142
Synopsis:
Mariah is a woman in a man’s world.
Under the pen name Drew Dixon, Chicago native Mariah Lansing writes dime novels detailing hair-raising adventures of heroines in the Wild West. But then she receives a letter from a rancher in the Badlands of North Dakota who takes exception to her meticulous research. When Mariah finds her fiancé in the arms of another woman, she accepts the rancher’s invitation to visit his ranch and flees Chicago.
Adam McFarland has a dream—to travel the West and document its people and beautiful landscape with his drawings. If only he weren’t tied down to the family ranch in North Dakota. When dime novelist Drew Dixon makes repeated mistakes about his beloved West, he invites the author to visit his ranch. But the author who shows up isn’t exactly who he was expecting. Will Mariah and Adam be willing to share the secrets they are keeping? Or will they allow false perceptions to continue to hinder the plans God has for them?
I would like to thank Mountain Brook Ink for giving me a copy of this book. This gift did not influence my opinion or review.
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“Fancy Feathers”? Adam’s nickname for Mariah was so cute – it came from the annoying way the feathers on her hat found their way to tickle him on his head as he sat behind her on the train. It was fun that he continued to think of her that way, even after they were properly introduced.
Mariah made me laugh. She so wanted to be an independent woman and yet she didn’t have the skills to be the heroine of the dime novels she wrote. Learning to drive a team of horses by observing the man from the livery didn’t quite work out as she had planned! She was ignorant about so many more aspects of ranching than she realized.
Wild at Heart is an enjoyable, lighthearted story with a touch of drama. The author points to the importance of faith in Christ – and in fact, I loved the way she used Mariah’s ignorance about Jesus and the questions she asked to stir Adam’s heart to turn back from his bitterness.
While much of the story was well written, there were parts that seemed to lack depth and places where phrases were overused.
I recommend Wild at Heart to readers who enjoy Western romance.
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About Vickie McDonough
Bestselling author Vickie McDonough grew up wanting to marry a rancher, but instead, she married a sweet computer geek who is scared of horses. She now lives out her dreams penning romance stories about ranchers, cowboys, lawmen, and others living in the Old West. Vickie is a best-selling author of more than 50 published books and novellas, with over 1.5 million copies sold. Her novels include End of the Trail, winner of the OWFI 2013 Best Fiction Novel Award. Whispers on the Prairie was a Romantic Times Recommended Inspirational Book for July 2013. Song of the Prairie won the 2015 Inspirational Readers Choice Award. Gabriel’s Atonement, book 1 in the Land Rush Dreams series placed second in the 2016 Will Rogers Medallion Award. Vickie has recently stepped into independent publishing.
Vickie has been married for forty-one years to Robert. They have four grown sons, one daughter-in-law, and a precocious granddaughter. When she’s not writing, Vickie enjoys reading, antiquing, doing stained-glass projects, watching movies, and traveling
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