A LOVE OF HER OWN by Maggie Brendan

This is book 3 in this "Heart of the West" trilogy and by the time you finish the book you will be familiar with the folks in Lewistown, Montana and feeling right at home there.  I especially liked Miss Margaret who runs a boarding house in the town with her two daughters.  She is a woman full of wisdom and love.  And she will need to use both in dealing with April McBride.

April arrives in town almost late for her brother Josh's wedding.  Then he and his bride leave on their honeymoon and April sticks around until they will return.  She is very hard to like until you get about half way through this story and then the Lord begins to work in her life.  Romans 12:3 will become real for her: "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."  A good verse for us all, but one especially good for April who was always thinking way to highly of herself and treating others so bad that I almost felt she was beyond liking.  Don't give up on her though, the Lord will do a work in her life.

Wes is trying to become a better person (you meet him in book two, The Jewel of His Heart") as he trains and sells horses on his ranch near town.  He is learning how to treat the ladies with respect and be a gentleman around them, but April makes it very hard for him to practice what he knows is right.  They don't exactly hit it off at first, but over time they both will see the good in the other person.

This was an enjoyable series of stories.  This one you could read as a stand alone book, but you would miss out on a lot of the background you would gain from reading the stories in the order they were written.  I encourage you to sit back and enjoy these folks who live in the "Heart of the West".