The Heart of an Agent

This author was new to me, but I enjoyed her historical novel. As I read the backstory smoothly woven in, I wondered if there was another book that came before this one since it included so much information about the past. You do not have to read the first book in the series to appreciate this one. Her smooth writing style and just the proper amount of details carries the reader along on a refreshing journey. We experience the lovely Adirondack setting (which I didn't even know was in New York), and the prose makes it easy to picture in our mind. This story gives a fine glimpse into life in that time and place. The characters seem realistic and their struggles genuine. The premise is interesting too, with a former female Pinkerton agent trying to start a new life. I received a copy from Celebrate Lit. All opinions are my own.

The Heart of an Agent is the sequel to A Changed Agent, which centred on the romance of Pinkerton agent Will Benton and schoolteacher Elsie Mitchell. Lily Handland was a minor character, Wills Pinkerton partner. Now Lily has left the Pinkertons and wants to settle down in Heartston. Start a fresh life.

But Lily needs a job, and shes not cut out to sew seams or serve in a boarding house restaurant. The banker suggests she consider investing in a local Great Camp, owned by widower Owen Murphy. The camp used to bustle with day visitors and vacationing guests, but it has fallen into ruin since the death of the perfect Rebecca Murphy.

The setting of one of the Great Camps of the Adirondacks was fascinating.

Ive heard of the Adirondack chair (hasnt everyone?). I may even have read a previous book set in an upper class camp in upstate New York. But that was just the setting. In The Heart of an Agent, the Great Camp is almost a character as the repair and resurrection of the Great Camp reflects Owens personal journey of healing and finding love again.

The one anticlimax was when Owen found out Lilys big secret. It felt to me like he overreactedpossibly because wed known her big secret almost from page one (that she was an ex-Pinkerton agent, and worked under cover as a saloon girl). It might have seemed fitting if hed thought she was a gently raised choir girl, but shed already told him parts of her past.

No matter. The conflict was short-lived, and we were able to get back to the main event, the romance. The Heart of an Agent was a classic Golden Age romance that achieved the difficult task of bringing a widower out of his slump, and focusing almost more on the characters and setting than the romance. It was all the better for that slow build.

Recommended for fans of Christian historical romance with a Gilded Age setting, from authors such as Jen Turano and Karen Witemeyer. Thanks to NetGalley and Waterfall Press for providing a free ebook for review.

This historical romance was a story of a lady Pinkerton ready to settle down and her new partner has no inclination to help her. I enjoyed this story about a strong lady, her toughness, her kindness and how she deals with hard situations. Love, faith, secrets and a little romance.. I liked it and I think you would like it too! I was gifted a copy and my review is voluntary.

The Heart of an Agent was simply a delightful read about a young woman who formerly had an unusual career, that of a Pinkerton agent. Lily just wants to start a new life and be herself, no more going undercover and masquerading around as someone she is not. As this takes place in the 1890's there was not a lot of job opportunities for women that did not have to do with sewing, cooking, or teaching school. However, an opportunity arises for Lily to become partners with widowed Owen Murphy to help him get his Great Camp back up and running and prosperous again.

The setting is in the Adirondack Mountains and I have never heard of these Great Camps before so that was an interesting location and bit of historical information I did not know about. I have not yet had the opportunity to visit the Adirondack Mountains, but the author's vivid descriptions of them make me want to go and hopefully find a Great Camp, if they still exist anymore, and stay for a little while.

This story really touches on letting grief run its normal course and not holding on to things of the past longer than we should. It is neither healthy, helpful, nor do I believe our dear loved ones would want us to become a shell of what we once were. And we can oftentimes put them on higher pedestals then they ought to be, thus not allowing any room for new love to come in. This was a sweet and slow developing romance of letting go and learning the joy of loving again.

I received a copy of this book for free. I was not required to post a positive review and all views and opinions are my own.

3.5

"Lily knew she should look away, but she couldn't."

The scene out her window was heart breaking, one solitary man grieving vigorously over a loved one's gravesite. "She knew sorrow could bring even the strongest person down", having lived it firsthand. Lily Handland had overcome her tenuous beginnings, being given a second chance to redeem herself during her years as a Pinkerton agent. The time had come to give it up and start anew in the lovely Adirondack Mountains, but would her past find a way to haunt her at the most inopportune time?

Owen Murphy's life unraveled with the tragic death of his young wife. Allowing their Murphy Great Camp to fall into disrepair during his months of solitude, he is shocked beyond reason when a lovely young woman practically demands that she invest in a partnership to restore the resort to its former glory. Lily Handland's stubborn resistance to his gloomy temperament is a testament to her iron will, and slowly, but surely, Owen's life begins to travel a path of normalcy, but to what end?

What a satisfying sequel to " A Changed Agent" with just the right blend of history and romance!