Heart's Delight

When Molly O’Brien left Ireland to live with her brother and his wife in Delight, Wisconsin she never dreamed that in a short time she’d be raising not only her brother’s two girls, but two other little ones left behind by their parents. Making ends meet by keeping up her brother’s farm, producing the most flavorful cheese from an old family recipe, Molly takes care of herself and her girls.

Just as United States Marshal Hodge Egan is about to take in the proceeds of a winning poker hand, one that will enable him to settle down with a fancy lady in San Francisco, he’s called to help capture a thief and murderer by the name of Eli Otto. Instead of arresting Eli, Hodge is almost killed by him. The good news is he does about the same amount of damage to Eli.

Heading home from Delight with her brood of girls Molly stumbles on both men, near to death on the open range. With help from the girls she manages to get them into her wagon and home where she proceeds to nurse them back to health. As she heals the unconscious, badly injured men, before it is too late, she must figure out which is the Marshal and which is the outlaw. When one steals her heart, she can only hope it’s the right man.

Ruth Ryan Langon’s HEART’S DELIGHT follows the tried and true formula: a single woman raising a brood of girls who aren’t her own – she does need to be untouched when the hero takes her to his bed – trying to get by. Hodge Egan is a man of the law who is about ready to retire. Eli Otto is a thief and murderer who doesn’t care who his next victim is. While billed as a western, because of its formulaic characters and story line, HEART’S DELIGHT could take place in any time period from ancient Greece to far into the future. The premise of having to figure out which man is the good guy and which is the bad has much potential, but is lost with the constant quips of Flora, one of the little girls, constant reminders that Molly’s brogue is more pronounced when she’s nervous/stressed, and constant glasses of tasty buttermilk. Terminology such as “soul mate” take the reader out of the mind set of a western, making it seem like a more modern story. Add in the thread that Hodge can barely stand and make his way, crawling bit by bit to the parlor and then suddenly he’s able to make love to Molly several times through the night. His almost instantaneous recovery because he had sex is a tad difficult to bite.

What is almost lost because of the formulaic threads is the fact that Ms. Langan is an excellent writer. This reviewer could see the parts where Ms. Langan let her own innate talent flow. Those scenes were refreshing and most enjoyable.

If you enjoy stories that “star” children coming of age and/or being wise beyond their years, HEART’S DELIGHT is an excellent choice. If you are one for factual accuracy and credibility, it is not the best choice.

March 2008