Title: Healing Hearts: A Proper Romance (Savage Wells #2)
Author: Sarah M. Eden
Pages: 336
Year: 2019
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
My rating is 4 out of 5 stars.
Gideon MacNamara is desperate. He needs a nurse quickly before he drops from exhaustion. He is the only medical help for hundreds of miles around and often travels to many out of the way places, leaving his hometown of Savage Wells and nearby residences without any medical care. He is also lonely. He figures he might get one woman to fill the two roles. He contacts an agency who places nurses looking for employment with doctors looking for nurses with his requirement of a nurse willing to be a bride. However, the woman who the agency sends is decidedly not a fan of matrimony.
Miriam Bricks is a nurse who is also desperate, but for a very different reason. She has secrets that no one must discover. She is looking for employment in an out-of-the-way location. She has no dreams of marriage or children; she just wants to work and be left alone. She thinks the agency has found her the perfect job. She arrives and is escorted to the church that is decorated for a wedding. She wonders who is getting married and why she is there. She soon makes a startling discovery of the bride’s identity. Will or can two people still work together and maybe care for one another, even though there is no future for them?
I liked this second story in the series better than book one. My only negative is that there is very little mention of God or faith, which I think should be part of a Christian novel as this novel is marketed under this genre. I liked Gideon’s sense of humor and compassion for his patients. Miriam also had a depth of compassion for her patients enhanced by her own horrendous experience. The mystery presented was a bonus subplot. I was glad to get reacquainted with some of the eccentric characters presented in book one of the series, as well as return to Savage Wells in the Wyoming Territory in 1876. I thought the author managed the issue of mental health in that time period authentically.
Note: The opinions shared in this review are solely my responsibility. ( )

Not a Christian fiction just a clean fiction ( )

I can see why this would be a "beloved" book. It's charming and touching. Miriam Bricks is a fighter. Gideon MacNamara is kind and caring. It's quite black and white, goodies and baddies. The small Wyoming town of Savage Wells has decent caring people, who can tell who is good, and jump to defend and support them.

It's an impressively easy pleasant read, due to the admirable, likeable characters and the touches of romance and humour. It reminded me of a Hallmark movie, with no sex and barely any kissing, but there's something about it that made it fresher and something I can't find the word for right now, than a Hallmark movie. ( )

A doctor looking for a wife, a nurse looking for a job. Sounds simple right, this story is anything but. Gideon MacNamara, knowing that it will be hard to get a wife living out west and he hopes that a matchmaking organisation can help him obtain what he is looking for. After being rejected a few times he hopes that this time works.

Miriam Bricks gets off the stagecoach and is greeted by a bevy of townsfolk. She is whisked away to the schoolhouse where the town is there and a preacher upfront along with Dr.MacNamara. This seems strange to Miriam as she is there for a job. All of a sudden she realizes that it is a wedding and it appears that she is the bride. She.Runs.

Because she ran she is greeted with unhappy towns people. She does the best she can and starts work as the nurse she was hired for. She and Gideon sidestep each other but soon begin to have a working relationship. Miriam has a past and little by little it comes out and she soon begins to trust Gideon. But her past is catching up with her and she finds that she has to run again. Eventually with the trust she has gained with the town and their appreciation for her in her nursing skills, things start to work out for both her and Gideon.

Like I said before, this is typically not a book I would have picked up to read, but once I started reading it, I was immersed in the story. This book had a readable storyline and likeable characters that I found to like a lot. A clean romance that should appeal to anyone looking for a book to just entertain. Nothing too deep but that is a good thing.
I highly recommend it. ( )

As clean reads go, Sarah M. Eden is one author I know I can’t go wrong with. And Healing Hearts has touches of everything I love about Eden’s books—a small town, history, romance, a sprinkle of intrigue, and a smattering of humor.

Miriam arrives in Savage Wells, Wyoming expecting to start a nursing position but instead finds herself at a wedding. Her wedding. Dr. Gideon MacNamara (aka the groom) is unlike any of the men Miriam has known and as they work together, Miriam learns that this particular man has a very good heart.

Eden gives readers a book that not only takes them through the highs and lows of falling in love but also a commentary on the misconceptions and mistreatment of those whose heath issues were misunderstood at the time.
Travel to 1876 Wyoming with Miriam and meet the loyal townspeople of Savage Wells who will draw you in with their caring hearts and protection of those they consider their own.

Disclosure statement:
I receive complimentary books from publishers, publicists, and/or authors, including NetGalley. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255. ( )