Review by Booklist Review
Charlotte Aldrich knows her heart will always belong to Micah Hamilton, even if he only sees her as his best friend's little sister. When tragedy strikes their families, Micah is burdened by a dark secret, and withdraws into a shame that threatens to destroy him. As Charlotte and her resolute mother face the hardships of ranching and local prejudice, a chagrined suitor arrives determined to stake his claim on both Charlotte and her inheritance. In an act of selfless love, Charlotte sacrifices her own heart to protect Micah's secret, awakening Micah to the even greater enduring love of God's healing embrace. Tracie Peterson opens her new Hope of Cheyenne series with a historical Christian romance about restorative hope and healing. Set amid the aftermath of Wyoming's 1886 Great Die Up, a devastating winter, A Constant Love compassionately addresses the stigma of suicide within the faith community and offers a spiritual perspective on tragedy. It features a close mother-daughter bond, themes of equally yoked marriage and truth, and overcoming hardships with God's ever-present strength and love.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The brutal realities of 1880s Wyoming frontier life undergird this action-packed series opener from Peterson (A Truth Revealed). Charlotte Aldrich, 21, bitterly resists her father's efforts to marry her off to lawyer Lewis Bradley--she's long been in love with her brother's best friend, Micah Hamilton, who still sees her as a little sister. After Charlotte's father and brother freeze to death in a snowstorm, Charlotte's consumed by guilt, and Micah's father, who found the pair, kills himself. Both families keep the suicide a secret to avoid the community's judgment, and Micah sinks into a deep depression, rejecting God and numbing the pain with alcohol. A year later, Charlotte's mother recruits a still-miserable Micah to help out on their ranch, and as he spends more time with Charlotte, he begins to heal and to see her in a new light. But trouble still lurks in the form of Lewis Bradley, who's increasingly determined to marry Charlotte, even if it means getting Micah out of the way first. The propulsive plot surges along as Peterson throws hurdles and hardships into her protagonists' way, though wooden exposition flattens their characterizations (following her father's death, Charlotte bears "the truth and guilt alone"; " how she'd treated , she told herself she didn't deserve to be happy"). Still, there's enough drama here to keep readers turning pages. (Mar.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
No one is prepared for the winter of 1886--87 in Cheyenne, WY. Unimaginable blizzard conditions and subzero temperatures, following a summer of drought, will cause many cattle and people to lose their lives, and the season will come to be known as the Great Die-Up. Micah Hamilton and his father brave a February blizzard to find their friends and neighbors, but the devastation of their ranching livelihood later drives Micah's father to take his own life. Fearful of judgment from neighbors and the church, Micah and his friend Charlotte cover up the death, attributing it to the wicked weather. Years later, they are both still dealing with the shame and grief from that terrible winter, but Charlotte's persistent-to-the-point-of-harassment suitor Lewis Bradley forces them to confront the matter head-on. VERDICT Peterson ("Heart of Cheyenne" series) always finds something new to highlight about the western United States, even with her prolific repertoire. She pens excellent villains who serve as foils for her romantic heroes, and each book is like a deep dive into the human psyche. Suggest read-alikes by Amanda Cabot and Sandra Dallas.
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