Following her husband’s, death Nancy Pritchard finds herself in an entangled mess of race issues and criminal activity. She has to protect herself from dangerous men threatening her for information about her late husband’s affairs. Her childhood friend and lawyer, Seth Carpenter, comes to her aid.

Secrets of my Heart is installment #1 in the Willamette Brides Series by Tracie Peterson. We get to follow Nancy Pritchard’s struggles following her husband Albert’s mysterious death.
He is found dead in the river and seems to have been involved in criminal activity selling fire arms and whiskey to Indians. Now his dangerous accomplices come after his wife Nancy and threaten to hurt her family if she doesn’t do as they ask. Nancy’s childhood friend and lawyer, Seth Carpenter, comes to her aid offering to deal with the late husband’s legal affairs; only he doesn’t tell her the truth about why he is really in Portland. I did not know much about racial issues in Oregon in 1800s. This was the first time I got opportunity to read about it in a fictional work, which I found very interesting. I particularly enjoy books set in the Western USA. Being European I find these plots exotic

Nancy Pritchard became a widow under mysterious circumstances. Her life with her late husband was not a happy one, so she is not grief stricken, but she feels very insecure about whom she can trust. Nancy tries to stay active and get back on her feet, so she starts a boarding house exclusively for women. I can relate to her need to be of use after her husband’s death. I find her a character easy to like and she is my favorite in this story. She struggles with anger towards God and feels He has abandoned her ever since her beloved little brother died.

Gerome Berkshire is Albert Pritchard’s best friend and local politician. He offers a dodgy presence in the story and I really didn’t like him. While I didn’t like his political views at all it was also pretty clear from the start of this story that he was up to no good.

I found the writing flowed well and the dialogue was interesting and well crafted. Tea parties with good conversations on Nancy’s porch appealed to me and they drew me into a feeling of coziness and protection.

My favorite part of the story was descriptions of the 4th July celebrations at the time. They seemed to be so nice and entertaining for all. Quite grand and exotic to me, compared to the 17th May celebrations in Norway.

There is a strong element of faith running through the story with a number of discussions relating to Nancy’s struggles. I enjoyed Nancy’s process moving from struggle to being at peace with God.

Secrets of my Heart #1 in the Willamette Brides Series is a sweet and entertaining story recommended for fans of Tracie Peterson and for readers of historical romance fiction.

Thank you to Bethany House Publishers and NetGalley for this eARC which gave me the opportunity to share my honest review. All opinions are completely my own.
My rating: 4 stars / 5