What Fills The Heart

Irish/Cherokee half-breed, Davey Devaney and his brother Johnny are refugees stationed at Fort Gibson under the Treaty of New Echota.  Life at the Fort isn't always welcoming and a threatening fever has swept through.   When Davey discovers his brother has left, he goes in search of him. He finds a cabin that Johnny now calls home with his new Irish wife Sabetha.  Davey also battles alcohol but, as he struggles to overcome it, he begins to see life with new eyes.  Then, he meets Jenny, a Scottish woman in the neighboring town, and falls hard! Times are tough but Davey looks forward to finding love and starting a family just as his brother has.

A clean romance with unique ethnicity of characters has this story starting well. Davey is caught up in his own personal hell but manages to show a soft side that makes the reader like him. However, Sabetha, with her kindness and open heart is the star of the story. Her circumstances become thrilling as the story continues. There is some knowledge of the characters past but it misses  the depth required for the reader to become fully connected. The transition from beginning to middle of the story is also somewhat abrupt.  Once in the middle it does become more interesting and easily keeps one's attention. While the plot focuses on Johnny and Sabetha, it leaves Davey's love story disappointingly non-existent.  A creative romance that, with a little tightening, could be a winner!

Margaret Faria