Gabriel’s Atonement

Gabe Coulter regrets having to kill the desperate cowboy who attacked him after losing everything at the gambling table. To assuage his guilt, Gabe tries anonymously returning the money to the man’s widow. Strong frontier woman Lara Talbot, however, refuses to take what she sees as charity, though her family dearly needs it. She would rather help her grandfather gain a tract of free land in the upcoming great land rush. Without revealing his role in her husband’s death, Gabe befriends and assists Lara. Their feelings for one another are complicated by his deception and fear, her stubbornness, and the constant danger from land-hungry “sooners” and revenge-minded thieves. McDonough (Whispers on the Prairie) paints a compelling portrait of the spirit of the 1889 Oklahoma land rush. Themes of faith, forgiveness, and guilt are woven realistically into the characters’ motivations. Secondary characters are a bit flat, and the subplots are left open, perhaps in preparation for a sequel. Regardless, Frontier-fiction fans will find this inspirational and heartwarming. [em]Agency: MacGregor Literary Agency. (Jan.) [/em]