A Promise to Believe In

A Promise to Believe In by Tracie Peterson, 2008 Bethany House Publishers

     When the Gallatin Girls' father is accidentally killed while some of the local ranch hands are celebrating their weekend the three young women are left to run their Boarding House along the stage's path without a man's guidance or protection. In rural Montana that could spell disaster, but the Gwen, Beth, and Lacy Gallatin are headstrong ladies and women of strong character. They continue to operate their father's business while they struggle to deal with their grief.
     The situation is only compounded when Gwen's dead husband's brother shows up on their doorstep demanding to see the hussy who married his brother then let him die in a measles outbreak. Hank Bishop stays with the girls hoping to find the property his brother had stolen, but the longer he lives and watches them, the more he understands Gwen isn't the gold-digging minx he imagined. He comes to admire the women: Gwen mothering her two sisters and holding the family together covering up the belief that she is destined to kill those she loves, Beth's saucy side hidden beneath the innocence of a lady, and Lacy's forthright attitude and stubborn quest to find their father's killer.
     When he finds his family's property and returns it to Mrs. Bishop, Hank must leave the women and land he's come to love. During his absence the greedy neighbor slowly tries to push the Gallatin women and their respectable values out of their home and the growing town. The wilds of Montana grow less wild in leaps and bounds while Gwen Gallatin and her sisters cling to what is theirs.
     With their Christian values and frontier grit, the Gallatin girls are compassionate and persistent. They care for their community, even when the community doesn't care for them. They stick together and stick to their beliefs. Gwen, Beth and Lacy Gallatin are women ahead of their time yet also women of their time seeking love and family through the plans of their Heavenly Father. Readers of all ages will enjoy A Promise to Believe In.