A Trusting Heart

by Mary Andersen

Will the horrors of the past ever allow him to trust her without reserve? The untimely death of Susannah Smith’s dear husband left her fumbling to pick up the pieces and mend her broken heart. With her financial situation growing increasingly desperate, Susannah finally determines to sell her late husband’s candle shop. Never could she have anticipated what she would find within its walls when she entered the abandoned building. Nor could she erase from her mind the image of the stranger’s dark, haunted eyes staring back at her. Will he prove to be the answer to her prayers, or the cause of her complete and utter destruction? Josiah Richards is a man with a past. The horrors he has seen and endured shadow every step he takes. When a vibrant, young widow tries to heal his wounds and his black heart, the pain is nearly unbearable. Will he ever be able to trust her with his darkest secrets? Or will his past catch up to him and end his only chance at happiness and love?

488 pages, Paperback

Published June 18, 2014

About the author

I was raised on a farm in northern Alberta, Canada. Some of my fondest memories are of time spent with my parents and siblings hauling hay, working with the cattle, or just goofing around. We would often gather around the piano and sing together, and sometimes neighbors and friends would join us in this, and we would sing into the wee hours together. We didn't have running water or indoor plumbing, and, for quite a while, we also did not have electricity, but it did not matter a whit to any of us. Those are not the kinds of things that really matter. In the evenings sometimes we gathered around the kitchen table and had contests of who could do math questions in our head and get the answer the quickest. Our accompaniment was the whir of the gas lantern. Such great memories! Sometimes, even now, I light a kerosene lamp and turn the other lights off, just for the comforting atmosphere of it. We spent a lot of quality time together, and I think that's one of the reason's we're such a close-knit family.

My love of traveling started very early on. Most of our relatives lived in the States and so we would take a road trip to visit them in the summertime whenever we could. If the 5-day forecast called for rain so that we couldn't be out haying, Dad would announce that we were to pack up and that we would be heading out the next morning. I always loved those trips. That probably had a lot to do with my eventually moving to the US. I spent almost 5 years down in southern Nevada in a wonderful, irrigating farming valley, and that is where I met my dear husband. We eventually ended up back in Canada, and now live with our three children near my childhood farm in Alberta.

As for how I became an author, I guess it started with writing blurbs about my ancestors. I'm big into genealogy, you see. It wasn't long before I ventured past the names and dates, and started trying and determine what their lives might have been like. I also read a lot of inspirational romance novels. One night, after finishing such a book, I had this strong impression that I needed to get out of bed and start writing a tale of my own. I did so, and that book (A Willing Heart) is now complete, and the next in the series is done as well except for some editing. I have grown to love the characters and it amazes me to think they would not exist, for me or anyone else, if I hadn't started typing that night. It has been a beautiful journey so far.