A Stolen Heart

Cabot, author of historical and contemporary series (Texas Dreams, Westward Winds), begins the Cimarron Creek trilogy with this entertaining novel about a former schoolteacher in the 1880s who must make her own way in a Southern town highly suspicious of Northern carpetbaggers. Lydia Crawford is heading to Cimarron Creek, Tex., to marry Edgar Ellis, who left Syracuse, N.Y., to make a new life. But when she arrives, she learns that Edgar was already married and has now vanished, leaving behind his pregnant wife with no word of his whereabouts. Sheriff Travis Whitfield notices Lydia when she steps off the stagecoach; he welcomes her to town and reveals that Edgar is missing. Travis also finds Lydia a place to stay with his Aunt Bertha, the town matriarch. As Lydia slowly makes Cimarron Creek her home, Travis searches for clues to Edgar’s disappearance and tries to solve mysterious crimes that plague the town. Readers will enjoy the surprising ending as well as the romance always found in Cabot’s books. This is a fine addition to Cabot’s body of work and a promising start to the series. (Mar.)