Review: Leah's Peace by Sophie Dawson
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 31, 2013
Leah's Peace by Sophie Dawson is a very good historical novel set in the West shortly after the War Between the States. Leah Daniels was fifteen years old when the war began and since her mother had recently died she convinced her surgeon father to let her accompany him to the battlefield for she could not bear to be away from him. The news was that the war would be over in four or five months but five years later, the war ended and Leah was finally out of the nightmare. During the five years, Leah ended up doing everything that a doctor would do including amputations. Shortly after the war, Leah's father died so she traveled to Stones Creek, Colorado to be with her only living relative, her cousin Sara Cuttler. Leah had plans for her life and the first order of business was to get her dress shop established. Then her greatest desire was to get her life in order and to have peace of mind and heart. Shortly after arriving in Stones Creek, Leah met Eli Steele, the town's doctor. She immediately recognized him but he did not remember her. Eli was drawn to Leah but could not figure out why she was so distant to him and made every effort to avoid him.Leah discouraged the advances of a cowboy from the Chase ranch and as revenge he had four of his friends help him kidnap Leah and Eli. The people of the town spent two days searching for the couple and were having a meeting to plan what to do next when Nugget Nate and his wife arrived in town in their private railroad car. When Nate learned what had happened he told his wife to get all the details and he left to get on his "war" clothing. When he came back to the meeting he was dressed as a mountain man with his pistols on his hips, his hatchet and knife on his belt, and his rifle in his hand. After listening to what had already been done, Nate left and two hours later he had found the couple. Since Leah and Eli had been alone in a cave for two days and nights, the only way that Leah's reputation could be saved was for the two to marry.  After the marriage, Leah finally admitted to Eli why she had been so distant to him. She also told him of all her horrible experiences during the war and Eli was able to help her let go of the memories and find peace.The author did a great job of making the characters come to life. During the entire time I was reading the book, a little movie was taking place in my head and I was right in the middle of the action. The dialogue was right on the mark and the plot had several very interesting twists and turns. The author's description of what Leah endured during the war was so real that I felt sick at heart. There were several very sad scenes in the book, a lot of humor, a good deal of suspense, and of course there was romance.I highly recommend this book to everyone who likes an historical, western novel with suspense, fun characters, romance, and Christian values.Thanks to the author, Sophie Dawson, for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.