Review: Tender Trust by Tanya Stowe

Tender Trust

 

Tender Trust by Tanya Stowe is the second book by this author that I have read and I have really been enjoying her stories.  This one takes place in California in 1867.  Penny Marsden is running a saloon to try to support her daughter and give her ragtag makeshift family a home and a better chance of life.  Her husband, Alex Marsden went off to fight in the Civil War and she has had no word of him for five years.  Then one evening in he walks into her saloon and like a rocket the story really takes off from that point on.  Alex has changed through his experiences and injuries.  He has become a better man for it and he has been searching for his wife and child for the past few years.  He is ready to pick up where he and his wife have left off, however, Penny does not believe in happily ever after anymore.  Living in fear that something will take her husband away from her again, she distances herself from him and continues to try to live without him.  I do admit that sometimes I wanted to shake her, but with Alex we slowly find out what she is truly afraid of.  This was a sweet romance of a man trying to show his wife how much he cares and truly loves her, their daughter, and the friends she has picked up along the way.  The secondary characters and their stories were also done well.  We have Jewel who is running from a very bad man, Inga and Jann, her teenage son, who are immigrants, Tom a gifted piano player who has turned to the bottle, even the saloon owner next door.   As Alex tries to reconnect with his wife and daughter, he also sees the hurting of these others and attempts to help them all to a better life.  I very much look forward to more stories from Tanya Stowe.  I received this book from The Book Club Network (TBCN) and the opinions are my own.