Heart of the Mountains

by Karen Cogan

Deborah Palmer arrives in Ouray, Colorado, knowing that, no matter what pain it might cause, the truth is better than the black void that has haunted her all these years. She longs to learn the truth about father's disappearance. And with the help of Sheriff Jake Taylor, she now stands a chance of getting to that truth. However, her plans do not include falling in love with the tall, handsome lawman.
Deborah's feelings are further complicated when her investigation into the fate of her beloved father looks as though the elder Taylor had a hand in his disappearance. Together, she and Jake set out to find the answer only to learn that it lies with an old man and an old mine shaft. Though she and Jake are deeply in love, they must survive the outlaws long enough to learn the truth.

186 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2011

About the author

A native of Houston, TX, Karen spent her early years enjoying life along the Gulf Coast. After high school, she attended Texas A&M as well as the University of Houston where she obtained a
B.S. in early childhood education. She has written numerous articles and stories, books for children and novels for adults. She particularly enjoys writing contemporary and historical romance.
She now lives in the Southwest with her family and assorted pets. For more information go to https://www.amazon.com/Karen-Cogan/e/... or https://www.facebook.com/karencoganfa....

Reviews

[Candace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two reasons I read this book: 1) it’s author is from my hometown and 2) it’s set in Ouray, CO which we visit once or twice a year. This book was a fun little read! I love being able to visualize the places the author uses in the book and to imagine them as they were many years ago. If you’re looking for something that is a sweet, but quick read this is a good pick.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

At 187 pages this was a fast read book. The heroine is a girl from a very poor family that goes to live with her Aunt and Uncle to work in their boarding house in Ouray, Colarado near the Silver Mines. Her father had worked the mines there and disappeared never to return to her mother and his family. She has always worried about what happened to him. She meets the local sheriff who turns out to be the son of her father's partner in mining. It's a sweet love story of how she falls in and out of love with him due to her suspicious mine and the conniving mind of a journalist who wants to court her. I got so mad at the stupidity of the heroine at this part that I almost put the book down. I didn't though I kept reading, deciding that it had to be her youth that made her so stupid and gullible. It was the normal cliche type where they make up at the end and live happily ever after. It was nice for a quick read.

[Miss Pippi the Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deborah travels to Ouray to seek out a new life and forget the old. Yet on her trip to start over, she is led to her past.

Mining, mystery, boarding houses, family, and a handsome sheriff come together in Coogan's novel. The story started our relatively strong and compelled me to continue. Unfortunately the wrap up was too quick. I understand that Avalon Historical stories are usually nice and neat novellas, I would have liked to see Coogan develope her story to novel length. I also believe Joe could have been brought more into the story instead of the very beginning and the very end. I do wonder if Coogan will continue with more stories about Deborah's sister and brothers. We shall see what the future holds


Time Period: Western, 1800's
Location: Ouray, Colorado, USA

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The picture on the front threw me off because you can see vehicles in the parking lot of the building, but this is set in the 1800's. There were a couple of errors in the book that should have been caught too. The characters voices did not sound like they were authentic to that time period either. But overall this was still a cute clean read.