Lone Star Book Blog Tour: Winning Maura’s Heart by Linda Broday (review & giveaway)

“There was a great deal to be said for grabbing every second of life and finding joy.”

Linda Broday has taken a few historical facts and crafted a stellar beginning to what is definitely a must-read new fictional series. How does Linda keep delivering such fantastic romantic westerns time after time? I haven’t a clue, but I hope she never stops!

Winning Maura’s Heart by Linda Broday is the first book in The Hangman’s Daughters Series. This story starts off with a yellow fever epidemic in San Antonio, Texas, in 1867 and then progresses quickly into a wild chase, flying bullets, bags of money from a bank heist, and identical twin brothers running for their lives: Jonas and Cutter Calhoun―one an outlaw and one a lawman.

Twenty-eight-year-old Maura Taggert and her younger sister, Emma, are daughters of an infamous hangman, Lucius Taggart, and by association, they are just as despised and shunned as their father. But the sisters are used to being outcasts and relying on only themselves for companionship. When the mayor of San Antonio unceremoniously demands they hightail it out of town, Maura and Emma leave and take the many unwanted children who became orphans after the yellow fever stole their parents and their future. The sisters and the children find refuge with some sweet nuns in a nearby Spanish mission, discovering that their drunkard Uncle Max has been residing at the mission as well. When Maura stumbles upon the almost lifeless bullet-riddled body of a handsome man near the mission, the story takes off with a vengeance.

One Calhoun brother is recovering from bullet wounds at the mission, and the other brother is missing and presumed dead, but did Maura rescue the lawman or the outlaw? Linda Broday does an excellent job keeping everyone in suspense, with many clues along the way pointing to both brothers. Either way, this Calhoun brother is a keeper because no one at the mission can apparently resist his charms, especially Maura.

At the heart of Winning Maura’s Heart is acceptance, kindness, and purpose, with the well-developed characters showing that age-old duality of humanity: good and evil. And while evil often appears to have gained the upper hand, good eventually prevails but not without hardship, doubt, and a gang of outlaws determined to recover the stolen loot and whatever treasures the mission hides. The pacing is naturally quick because the action never really lets up, which means you will reach the end way too soon. Good thing more of this thrilling series is on the way!

Love in Winning Maura’s Heart comes in many forms: family; friendship; and, of course, courtly romance. Respect for human life and second chances are other major themes here, juxtaposed nicely with the narrow-minded townspeople in San Antonio and a few other bad actors all portraying just the opposite. If you like your westerns laden with treasure, romance, highly electric action, a handsome man with secrets, rescued children who will steal your heart, a puppy named Gunner, and many other dynamic characters (Uncle Max is my personal favorite), then Winning Maura’s Heart is the book for you.