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Loving Vigil #2
One Step Enough
How does life go on in the aftermath of tragedy?If it were possible for two lovers to deserve peace, Owen and Della Davis should have been the happiest couple in Utah. But after the shocking deaths of two hundred friends and miners and the dispersal of their widows and children, happiness is hard to come by.Owen has promised Della he is through with mining forever, but he still has to earn a living, and his heart is drawn back to the mines. Meanwhile, Della is wishing for a baby, but her arms remain empty. As she struggles to hold together the pieces of her life—through the resurfacing haunting memories of her father’s death and the heartache of missing a mother she never knew—she wonders if she even wants to reconcile herself to relatives who did her so much harm. Together, Owen and Della must face the secrets of her past as they struggle to build their future.Based on the true events following the Scofield mine disaster in 1900, One Step Enough is a riveting and heartfelt romance filled with suspense, tragedy, and hard-earned love.
287 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 12, 2018
77 people are currently reading
158 people want to read
About the author
Carla Kelly
138 books802 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Although Carla Kelly is well known among her readers as a writer of Regency romance, her main interest (and first writing success) is Western American fiction—more specifically, writing about America's Indian Wars. Although she had sold some of her work before, it was not until Carla began work in the National Park Service as a ranger/historian at Fort Laramie National Historic Site did she get serious about her writing career. (Or as she would be the first to admit, as serious as it gets.)
Carla wrote a series of what she now refers to as the "Fort Laramie stories," which are tales of the men, women and children of the Indian Wars era in Western history. Two of her stories, A Season for Heroes and Kathleen Flaherty's Long Winter, earned her Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America. She was the second woman to earn two Spurs from WWA (which, as everyone knows, is all you need to ride a horse). Her entire Indian Wars collection was published in 2003 as Here's to the Ladies: Stories of the Frontier Army. It remains her favorite work.
The mother of five children, Carla has always allowed her kids to earn their keep by appearing in her Regencies, most notably Marian's Christmas Wish, which is peopled by all kinds of relatives. Grown now, the Kelly kids are scattered here and there across the U.S. They continue to provide feedback, furnish fodder for stories and make frantic phone calls home during the holidays for recipes. (Carla Kelly is some cook.)
Carla's husband, Martin, is Director of Theatre at Valley City State University, in Valley City, North Dakota. Carla is currently overworked as a staff writer at the local daily newspaper. She also writes a weekly, award-winning column, "Prairie Lite."
Carla only started writing Regencies because of her interest in the Napoleonic Wars, which figures in many of her Regency novels and short stories. She specializes in writing about warfare at sea, and about the ordinary people of the British Isles who were, let's face it, far more numerous than lords and ladies.
Hobbies? She likes to crochet afghans, and read British crime fiction and history, principally military history. She's never happier than talking about the fur trade or Indian Wars with Park Service cronies. Her most recent gig with the National Park Service was at Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site on the Montana/North Dakota border.
Here's another side to this somewhat prosaic woman: She recently edited the fur trade journal of Swiss artist Rudolf F. Kurz (the 1851-1852 portion), and is gratified now and then to be asked to speak on scholarly subjects. She has also worked for the State Historical Society of North Dakota as a contract researcher. This has taken her to glamorous drudgery in several national archives and military history repositories. Gray archives boxes and old documents make her salivate.
Her mantra for writing comes from the subject of her thesis, Robert Utley, that dean of Indian Wars history. He told her the secret to writing is "to put your ass in the chair and keep it there until you're done." He's right, of course.
Her three favorite fictional works have remained constant through the years, although their rankings tend to shift: War and Peace, The Lawrenceville Stories, and A Town Like Alice. Favorite historical works are One Vast Winter Count, On the Border with Mackenzie and Crossing the Line. Favorite crime fiction authors are Michael Connelly, John Harvey and Peter Robinson.
And that's all she can think of that would interest anyone. Carla Kelly is quite ordinary, except when she is sometimes prevailed upon to sing a scurrilous song about lumberjacks, or warble "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" in Latin. Then you m
Although Carla Kelly is well known among her readers as a writer of Regency romance, her main interest (and first writing success) is Western American fiction—more specifically, writing about America's Indian Wars. Although she had sold some of her work before, it was not until Carla began work in the National Park Service as a ranger/historian at Fort Laramie National Historic Site did she get serious about her writing career. (Or as she would be the first to admit, as serious as it gets.)
Carla wrote a series of what she now refers to as the "Fort Laramie stories," which are tales of the men, women and children of the Indian Wars era in Western history. Two of her stories, A Season for Heroes and Kathleen Flaherty's Long Winter, earned her Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America. She was the second woman to earn two Spurs from WWA (which, as everyone knows, is all you need to ride a horse). Her entire Indian Wars collection was published in 2003 as Here's to the Ladies: Stories of the Frontier Army. It remains her favorite work.
The mother of five children, Carla has always allowed her kids to earn their keep by appearing in her Regencies, most notably Marian's Christmas Wish, which is peopled by all kinds of relatives. Grown now, the Kelly kids are scattered here and there across the U.S. They continue to provide feedback, furnish fodder for stories and make frantic phone calls home during the holidays for recipes. (Carla Kelly is some cook.)
Carla's husband, Martin, is Director of Theatre at Valley City State University, in Valley City, North Dakota. Carla is currently overworked as a staff writer at the local daily newspaper. She also writes a weekly, award-winning column, "Prairie Lite."
Carla only started writing Regencies because of her interest in the Napoleonic Wars, which figures in many of her Regency novels and short stories. She specializes in writing about warfare at sea, and about the ordinary people of the British Isles who were, let's face it, far more numerous than lords and ladies.
Hobbies? She likes to crochet afghans, and read British crime fiction and history, principally military history. She's never happier than talking about the fur trade or Indian Wars with Park Service cronies. Her most recent gig with the National Park Service was at Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site on the Montana/North Dakota border.
Here's another side to this somewhat prosaic woman: She recently edited the fur trade journal of Swiss artist Rudolf F. Kurz (the 1851-1852 portion), and is gratified now and then to be asked to speak on scholarly subjects. She has also worked for the State Historical Society of North Dakota as a contract researcher. This has taken her to glamorous drudgery in several national archives and military history repositories. Gray archives boxes and old documents make her salivate.
Her mantra for writing comes from the subject of her thesis, Robert Utley, that dean of Indian Wars history. He told her the secret to writing is "to put your ass in the chair and keep it there until you're done." He's right, of course.
Her three favorite fictional works have remained constant through the years, although their rankings tend to shift: War and Peace, The Lawrenceville Stories, and A Town Like Alice. Favorite historical works are One Vast Winter Count, On the Border with Mackenzie and Crossing the Line. Favorite crime fiction authors are Michael Connelly, John Harvey and Peter Robinson.
And that's all she can think of that would interest anyone. Carla Kelly is quite ordinary, except when she is sometimes prevailed upon to sing a scurrilous song about lumberjacks, or warble "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" in Latin. Then you m
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July 29, 2018
My reviews are honest & they contain spoilers. For more, follow me:
One Step Enough is Carla Kelly’s latest release, and a sequel to her wonderful novel, My Loving Vigil Keeping. Book 1 was based on the 1900s Scofield Winter Quarters mining disaster, but it also had a h and a H, whose lives entwined with the chaos of it all. Carla Kelly gave such vivid narratives of everything about a mining town, the lives of its inhabitants and how a tragedy can shatter hundreds of lives, that for me who had no idea about this disaster, it was an experience TBH!
My Loving Vigil Keeping Keeping was released in 2012 and I read it in 2015. Initially I thought it was 2017 but then I had to check the date of my review on goodreads to be sure. No wonder I had forgotten many intricate details of the story that had taken me time to remember! Don’t get me wrong, I remembered the story and what happened but this book had many characters so there were many details to remember, littlest things that seemed inconsequential at that time but had quite the profound meaning in book 2. I didn’t want to do a reread because I was too impatient to read One Step Enough. But can you blame me though? I thought book 1 ended very abruptly, yet, seeing the time that had passed since the publication, frankly I didn’t think there was any sequel planned for this book. I’m so glad that Ms. Kelly decided to give us another tour of Della and Owens’s life. I practically screamed when I saw One Step Enough on Amazon!
My Loving Vigil Keeping begins with the story of our h, Della Anders. She was an orphan whose father died, who had never met her mother but was told she ditched them when Della was an infant. At 12, after her father Frederick’s tragic death in a Colorado mine, Della came to live with her rich uncle Karl’s home only to find it no home of any kind. Frederick had loved her, and even poor, took care of her as best as he could but this house here was cold and cruel. Her aunt Caroline never took to her and found immense pleasure in taunting, berating or maligning Della to anyone she could find because she was poor; because her father was the proverbial family ‘blacksheep’ who brought ‘shame’ to the prominent Anders family; because she didn’t look like the tall and blonde Anders clan. But mostly because Della was illegitimate. Her tormentors included her two cousins as well. Della was never given a chance to mourn her father properly because Caroline forbade any such thing if she’s to live with them. Karl pretty much let his wife abuse the child and ignored it all so he himself can live in peace.
And so Della had to made herself grow up. It was such a wonder that she grew up to be a good, honest and hardworking young woman. She had the looks of her Greek mother, with dark hair and eyes and a head full of wild, curly hair. That, with her illegitimate state made her a target of the bullies in school as well. Della weathered it all and never complained. She found part-times to earn little money on her own. But what finally made her go enough-is-enough was Karl’s refusal to finance her university tuition. I think you can already guess who was behind that too. She was very much looking forward to it and soon found out that it wasn’t going to happen. Della was disappointed and heartbroken. This time she knew that if she’s have her own life, she needs to find a way out of this miserable house, which she does promptly when she gets a job at a faraway mining town. Being a school teacher was something she could do. Karl and Caroline were, of course, unhappy. Off she went with the threat to never have any more ‘help’ from her only living relatives. But then, Della didn’t give a rat’s ass. It was never home to begin with.
In Scofield, Della’s live became the epitome of one adventure after another. She’s never been into any mining town before so everything was new to her. She was discovering new things, meeting new people and making new friends. :) I had fun learning about a mining town inside and out alongside Della since I felt like she and I stood on the same ground at this; every detail and the many characters that Della met and how revered she was as a school teacher among them cause the miners wanted a better future for their children. They were aware that nothing beat education. For the first time in her life, Della began to feel like she belonged somewhere; among the sea of people who were strangers only a few months ago.
Della had a beautiful singing voice and the Winter Quarters mining community had a choir. Here I wanna note that the story draws heavily from the LDS/Mormon background, though thankfully that didn’t overpower the core of it. Though a clean romance, romance began between Della and one of the Welsh miners, Owen Davis, whom she met through a friend. Owen also had an amazing baritone voice that Della fell in love with, as much as she did with the man himself. He, in turn, convinced her to join the choir so they can sing together. A widower, Owen had a 6 yrs. old daughter Angharad whose mother passed away right after her birth. She was the daughter of the community in a sense because Owen had to seek out nursing mothers of the community to feed his infant to keep her alive. He was mad with grief cause he deemed Gwyna his one true love and losing her made his life miserable. But he did everything he could to raise Angharad as a sweet, thoughtful little lady.
Angharad was also Della’s student and worshipped her since the beginning. Della was smitten with the little girl, yet falling in love with her father who she deemed a friend wasn’t a part of Della’s plan. But it happened, however subtle it was. The attraction was there, only Owen was reluctant to move on. Amidst the slow going storyline, I was still being amused by the day-to-day lives of a mining town and the characters who were also beginning to feel more like friends. But Della and Owen’s friendship-turned-romance was quite frustrating since it took Owen foreverrrr to finally decide that he’s a lucky man to have two women to love him as much as they did. One was gone, but is he going to let the other slip by as well? Because, believe me, Della had suitors who would’ve snatched her up in no time, a fact that Owen was aware of and didn’t like at all. LOL But lucky him that Della only had eyes for Owen.
I knew where the story was leading up to but didn’t think it’d impact me so deeply as it did. We’d never know what exactly happened on that fateful day but Ms. Kelly’s narratives seemed quite close to what may have happened. The day of the disaster was a fine May morning and they were planning a dance later on.... But Della watched in horror when her friends, one after another, turned up dead after the explosion; some so unrecognizable that it broke her heart. But the worst was when she thought Owen had also perished in the accident. It pretty much shattered her like the countless other families. She looked to Angharad as her lifeline, knowing this little girl now had no one much like another 12 yrs. old she knew. This time though, Della would make certain that Angharad wanted for nothing. She’d be her reason for living. She’d make Owen, and Gwyna, proud.
However, thankfully (yes THANKFULLY!) Owen turned up alive, though beaten and bruised and completely devastated by the loss of his comrades.
One Step Enough pretty much takes up from where My Loving Vigil Keeping finished, so I’d recommended reading the books back to back. At that point, Owen had already decided to marry Della so they simply get to it ASAP. After the aftermath of such an immense tragedy they didn’t want to apart any longer. Bishop Parmley of Winter Quarters agreed wholeheartedly and performed the hasty ceremony. Della’s life as a married woman began in Owen’s small house, where they were in the middle of moving. He would stay here for a while trying to help the families whose father, brother, husband had perished. But he wanted Della and Angharad, who was already rather traumatized by it all, out of here. Della found a distant relative she met before her arrival in Scofield. The Knights were extremely rich and generous people. They were sad hearing about Della’s childhood and felt guilty for not being able to help her. Then again they had no idea of her existence. So Amanda and Jesse helped Della getting settled to Scofield, and more when she needed help. Owen wanted his little family to be as far away from Scofield as possible and he knew the Knights would not turn their backs on them.
The Knights unsurprisingly don’t disappoint Della and Owen. They help them settle in Provo once more. But the trouble began when Jesse Knight comes up with a proposition for Owen who was out of job and looking for one desperately. Della had requested Owen to never ever go back to the mines again but there’s a saying among them— ‘the lure of the mine’. Apparently no matter what, miners feel that pull towards mines and it’s difficult to hold them back. Jesse Knight knew Owen was a brilliant, if self-taught engineer of sort. He definitely was a master carpenter, as we read the description of his various wood works all through book 1. One of Jesse’s mines was so accident prone that he was worried about keeping the miners and his own investment alive. People have perished and he wanted Owen to inspect it and come up with some sort of solution. Owen wouldn’t have gone, but the pay offered was pretty huge. He was also riddled with the survivor’s guilt. It was eating him up so badly that he wanted to do something. This felt like the opportunity he was looking for. But how can he convince Della?
Of course Della was very disappointed at Owen but she agreed anyway knowing it’s one of those things she can’t fight about. She was quite familiar with Owen’s survivor’s guilt and how much he wanted to do something in the memory of his lost friends and the ones alive still. They were finally settling down, and here they were on the move again where Owen was stationed for work. Their HEA, it’d seem, wasn’t smooth after all. Then again, can anyone move on so easily after weathering such a tragedy?
I won’t go into too much detail because this book generally details the ups and downs, the bumps and earth-jolting ruts in Owen and Della’s life; some were general martial issues, others related to the life itself. Owen’s decision to stick to working in a mine, even as an inspector working to better it, plays quite a vital role creating chasm in their relationship when he decides to send Della and Angharad back to Provo. This meant they had to be apart for long stretches of time. Della certainly wasn’t happy but she tried to understand and carry on as best with Angharad. They would both worry about Owen’s well-being. She would’ve loved to have a baby of her own but that wasn’t happening so soon either. However there were also loving times when Owen would be back for a visit, or Della and Angharad would share a good time together and she’d write to Owen about that.
One of the saddest things in the story was Della’s sudden... PTSD? about mines in general that came into light when Owen began working for Jesse and they were living in Knightville, a mining town that Jesse Knight built himself. Remember she was never given the chance to ever properly mourn her father? That, mixed with the guilt of how they parted on that fateful day—on a less than cordial note while Della went to school and Frederick to the mine that’ll eventually take his life—had been eating at Della for a long time. She never had a proper way to let it out. She’d never confided to anyone, not even to Owen. So when there’s an accident in the mine while Owen was inside, it seemed all hell broke loose inside of Della. The description of her behavior as a whole was so eerie that scared even the stalwart Owen. I don’t even know how to explain but Owen understood because he knew about Della’s childhood. He stood by Della and held her when he could to help her get over it. Della couldn’t quite recall anything after those ‘incidents’.
In between, as the story progressed, Della was encouraged by Owen to forgive her uncle and aunt, something she was very reluctant to do, and for good reason. Her aunt was already dying, if I guessed correctly, of cancer. It was never really specified but she was very ill as Della comes to know in one of her visits to Karl’s office after Owen convincing her to at least try. His reasoning, to make peace with everyone she can be at peace with herself. Her reluctant visits to Karl do yield some results and there seems a sliver of hope; a very fragile bond begins to form between the uncle and the niece without Caroline’s poisonous interference. There were surprising revelations too, stuff that made Della even prouder of her ‘blacksleep’ father. She also learns that her mother never left them on her own, which was noted by Frederick in a letter Caroline never let her read until Karl gives it to her. Olympia Stavrakis was dragged away by her own father before she and Frederick could marry. They had no news of her after that. Then Frederick died and with that, all hope of ever reuniting or even knowing where her mother was, was lost to Della. Then again, she was told that her mother left them so why would she even hope to see her again?
In the end though, Owen gives up on mining altogether after his assignment with Jesse Knight was over. He was done leaving his family to worry about him. The decision was for sure welcomed by his little family! But as I felt the story nearing the end, I began wondering if Ms. Kelly would do Della one more kindness and reunite her with her mother. I was hoping and praying that it happened...........I’ll leave you to read and find out more about it.
All in all, I was extremely happy with how the story finally folded. Life for the Davises will go on as I could tell, and they’d continue to weather the ups and downs together because they loved each-other and had loving family surrounding them; something many of those miners’ family that passed away in Scofield disaster couldn’t say. Della and Owen acknowledged that and they were extremely grateful for their good luck. Yes the story at times felt slow moving but I was still hooked because I loved being a part of their life. I enjoyed seeing them finally conquer their demons to grab a hold of that happiness. Owen, who lost any interest in singing after the disaster, was singing again. Della found out she was expecting. Their life felt complete. Frankly, if there was another installment in the series, kind of a follow up for the other characters we met, I’d read it without a second thought, but I don’t think there’d be any more. 4 stars and recommended.
PS: there was a great afterword by the author where she includes many notes regarding her research on Scofield mining disaster, and the real (yes!) people who were featured in both My Loving Vigil Keeping and One Step Enough. I loved reading more about them and their lives after the disaster. And for those who don’t know, much like the Welsh folk song Ar Hyd y Nos (All Through the Night) in Book 1, another song was featured prominently in book 2. The phrase One Step Enough derives from an old hymnal titled Lead, Kindly Light that I’ve never heard of before. I managed to find some lovely renditions in youtube, but my favorite would be this one. Owen and Della had often sought courage and comfort from this song and its message. Give it a listen if you haven’t already. :)
One Step Enough is Carla Kelly’s latest release, and a sequel to her wonderful novel, My Loving Vigil Keeping. Book 1 was based on the 1900s Scofield Winter Quarters mining disaster, but it also had a h and a H, whose lives entwined with the chaos of it all. Carla Kelly gave such vivid narratives of everything about a mining town, the lives of its inhabitants and how a tragedy can shatter hundreds of lives, that for me who had no idea about this disaster, it was an experience TBH!
My Loving Vigil Keeping Keeping was released in 2012 and I read it in 2015. Initially I thought it was 2017 but then I had to check the date of my review on goodreads to be sure. No wonder I had forgotten many intricate details of the story that had taken me time to remember! Don’t get me wrong, I remembered the story and what happened but this book had many characters so there were many details to remember, littlest things that seemed inconsequential at that time but had quite the profound meaning in book 2. I didn’t want to do a reread because I was too impatient to read One Step Enough. But can you blame me though? I thought book 1 ended very abruptly, yet, seeing the time that had passed since the publication, frankly I didn’t think there was any sequel planned for this book. I’m so glad that Ms. Kelly decided to give us another tour of Della and Owens’s life. I practically screamed when I saw One Step Enough on Amazon!
My Loving Vigil Keeping begins with the story of our h, Della Anders. She was an orphan whose father died, who had never met her mother but was told she ditched them when Della was an infant. At 12, after her father Frederick’s tragic death in a Colorado mine, Della came to live with her rich uncle Karl’s home only to find it no home of any kind. Frederick had loved her, and even poor, took care of her as best as he could but this house here was cold and cruel. Her aunt Caroline never took to her and found immense pleasure in taunting, berating or maligning Della to anyone she could find because she was poor; because her father was the proverbial family ‘blacksheep’ who brought ‘shame’ to the prominent Anders family; because she didn’t look like the tall and blonde Anders clan. But mostly because Della was illegitimate. Her tormentors included her two cousins as well. Della was never given a chance to mourn her father properly because Caroline forbade any such thing if she’s to live with them. Karl pretty much let his wife abuse the child and ignored it all so he himself can live in peace.
And so Della had to made herself grow up. It was such a wonder that she grew up to be a good, honest and hardworking young woman. She had the looks of her Greek mother, with dark hair and eyes and a head full of wild, curly hair. That, with her illegitimate state made her a target of the bullies in school as well. Della weathered it all and never complained. She found part-times to earn little money on her own. But what finally made her go enough-is-enough was Karl’s refusal to finance her university tuition. I think you can already guess who was behind that too. She was very much looking forward to it and soon found out that it wasn’t going to happen. Della was disappointed and heartbroken. This time she knew that if she’s have her own life, she needs to find a way out of this miserable house, which she does promptly when she gets a job at a faraway mining town. Being a school teacher was something she could do. Karl and Caroline were, of course, unhappy. Off she went with the threat to never have any more ‘help’ from her only living relatives. But then, Della didn’t give a rat’s ass. It was never home to begin with.
In Scofield, Della’s live became the epitome of one adventure after another. She’s never been into any mining town before so everything was new to her. She was discovering new things, meeting new people and making new friends. :) I had fun learning about a mining town inside and out alongside Della since I felt like she and I stood on the same ground at this; every detail and the many characters that Della met and how revered she was as a school teacher among them cause the miners wanted a better future for their children. They were aware that nothing beat education. For the first time in her life, Della began to feel like she belonged somewhere; among the sea of people who were strangers only a few months ago.
Della had a beautiful singing voice and the Winter Quarters mining community had a choir. Here I wanna note that the story draws heavily from the LDS/Mormon background, though thankfully that didn’t overpower the core of it. Though a clean romance, romance began between Della and one of the Welsh miners, Owen Davis, whom she met through a friend. Owen also had an amazing baritone voice that Della fell in love with, as much as she did with the man himself. He, in turn, convinced her to join the choir so they can sing together. A widower, Owen had a 6 yrs. old daughter Angharad whose mother passed away right after her birth. She was the daughter of the community in a sense because Owen had to seek out nursing mothers of the community to feed his infant to keep her alive. He was mad with grief cause he deemed Gwyna his one true love and losing her made his life miserable. But he did everything he could to raise Angharad as a sweet, thoughtful little lady.
Angharad was also Della’s student and worshipped her since the beginning. Della was smitten with the little girl, yet falling in love with her father who she deemed a friend wasn’t a part of Della’s plan. But it happened, however subtle it was. The attraction was there, only Owen was reluctant to move on. Amidst the slow going storyline, I was still being amused by the day-to-day lives of a mining town and the characters who were also beginning to feel more like friends. But Della and Owen’s friendship-turned-romance was quite frustrating since it took Owen foreverrrr to finally decide that he’s a lucky man to have two women to love him as much as they did. One was gone, but is he going to let the other slip by as well? Because, believe me, Della had suitors who would’ve snatched her up in no time, a fact that Owen was aware of and didn’t like at all. LOL But lucky him that Della only had eyes for Owen.
I knew where the story was leading up to but didn’t think it’d impact me so deeply as it did. We’d never know what exactly happened on that fateful day but Ms. Kelly’s narratives seemed quite close to what may have happened. The day of the disaster was a fine May morning and they were planning a dance later on.... But Della watched in horror when her friends, one after another, turned up dead after the explosion; some so unrecognizable that it broke her heart. But the worst was when she thought Owen had also perished in the accident. It pretty much shattered her like the countless other families. She looked to Angharad as her lifeline, knowing this little girl now had no one much like another 12 yrs. old she knew. This time though, Della would make certain that Angharad wanted for nothing. She’d be her reason for living. She’d make Owen, and Gwyna, proud.
However, thankfully (yes THANKFULLY!) Owen turned up alive, though beaten and bruised and completely devastated by the loss of his comrades.
One Step Enough pretty much takes up from where My Loving Vigil Keeping finished, so I’d recommended reading the books back to back. At that point, Owen had already decided to marry Della so they simply get to it ASAP. After the aftermath of such an immense tragedy they didn’t want to apart any longer. Bishop Parmley of Winter Quarters agreed wholeheartedly and performed the hasty ceremony. Della’s life as a married woman began in Owen’s small house, where they were in the middle of moving. He would stay here for a while trying to help the families whose father, brother, husband had perished. But he wanted Della and Angharad, who was already rather traumatized by it all, out of here. Della found a distant relative she met before her arrival in Scofield. The Knights were extremely rich and generous people. They were sad hearing about Della’s childhood and felt guilty for not being able to help her. Then again they had no idea of her existence. So Amanda and Jesse helped Della getting settled to Scofield, and more when she needed help. Owen wanted his little family to be as far away from Scofield as possible and he knew the Knights would not turn their backs on them.
The Knights unsurprisingly don’t disappoint Della and Owen. They help them settle in Provo once more. But the trouble began when Jesse Knight comes up with a proposition for Owen who was out of job and looking for one desperately. Della had requested Owen to never ever go back to the mines again but there’s a saying among them— ‘the lure of the mine’. Apparently no matter what, miners feel that pull towards mines and it’s difficult to hold them back. Jesse Knight knew Owen was a brilliant, if self-taught engineer of sort. He definitely was a master carpenter, as we read the description of his various wood works all through book 1. One of Jesse’s mines was so accident prone that he was worried about keeping the miners and his own investment alive. People have perished and he wanted Owen to inspect it and come up with some sort of solution. Owen wouldn’t have gone, but the pay offered was pretty huge. He was also riddled with the survivor’s guilt. It was eating him up so badly that he wanted to do something. This felt like the opportunity he was looking for. But how can he convince Della?
Of course Della was very disappointed at Owen but she agreed anyway knowing it’s one of those things she can’t fight about. She was quite familiar with Owen’s survivor’s guilt and how much he wanted to do something in the memory of his lost friends and the ones alive still. They were finally settling down, and here they were on the move again where Owen was stationed for work. Their HEA, it’d seem, wasn’t smooth after all. Then again, can anyone move on so easily after weathering such a tragedy?
I won’t go into too much detail because this book generally details the ups and downs, the bumps and earth-jolting ruts in Owen and Della’s life; some were general martial issues, others related to the life itself. Owen’s decision to stick to working in a mine, even as an inspector working to better it, plays quite a vital role creating chasm in their relationship when he decides to send Della and Angharad back to Provo. This meant they had to be apart for long stretches of time. Della certainly wasn’t happy but she tried to understand and carry on as best with Angharad. They would both worry about Owen’s well-being. She would’ve loved to have a baby of her own but that wasn’t happening so soon either. However there were also loving times when Owen would be back for a visit, or Della and Angharad would share a good time together and she’d write to Owen about that.
One of the saddest things in the story was Della’s sudden... PTSD? about mines in general that came into light when Owen began working for Jesse and they were living in Knightville, a mining town that Jesse Knight built himself. Remember she was never given the chance to ever properly mourn her father? That, mixed with the guilt of how they parted on that fateful day—on a less than cordial note while Della went to school and Frederick to the mine that’ll eventually take his life—had been eating at Della for a long time. She never had a proper way to let it out. She’d never confided to anyone, not even to Owen. So when there’s an accident in the mine while Owen was inside, it seemed all hell broke loose inside of Della. The description of her behavior as a whole was so eerie that scared even the stalwart Owen. I don’t even know how to explain but Owen understood because he knew about Della’s childhood. He stood by Della and held her when he could to help her get over it. Della couldn’t quite recall anything after those ‘incidents’.
In between, as the story progressed, Della was encouraged by Owen to forgive her uncle and aunt, something she was very reluctant to do, and for good reason. Her aunt was already dying, if I guessed correctly, of cancer. It was never really specified but she was very ill as Della comes to know in one of her visits to Karl’s office after Owen convincing her to at least try. His reasoning, to make peace with everyone she can be at peace with herself. Her reluctant visits to Karl do yield some results and there seems a sliver of hope; a very fragile bond begins to form between the uncle and the niece without Caroline’s poisonous interference. There were surprising revelations too, stuff that made Della even prouder of her ‘blacksleep’ father. She also learns that her mother never left them on her own, which was noted by Frederick in a letter Caroline never let her read until Karl gives it to her. Olympia Stavrakis was dragged away by her own father before she and Frederick could marry. They had no news of her after that. Then Frederick died and with that, all hope of ever reuniting or even knowing where her mother was, was lost to Della. Then again, she was told that her mother left them so why would she even hope to see her again?
In the end though, Owen gives up on mining altogether after his assignment with Jesse Knight was over. He was done leaving his family to worry about him. The decision was for sure welcomed by his little family! But as I felt the story nearing the end, I began wondering if Ms. Kelly would do Della one more kindness and reunite her with her mother. I was hoping and praying that it happened...........I’ll leave you to read and find out more about it.
All in all, I was extremely happy with how the story finally folded. Life for the Davises will go on as I could tell, and they’d continue to weather the ups and downs together because they loved each-other and had loving family surrounding them; something many of those miners’ family that passed away in Scofield disaster couldn’t say. Della and Owen acknowledged that and they were extremely grateful for their good luck. Yes the story at times felt slow moving but I was still hooked because I loved being a part of their life. I enjoyed seeing them finally conquer their demons to grab a hold of that happiness. Owen, who lost any interest in singing after the disaster, was singing again. Della found out she was expecting. Their life felt complete. Frankly, if there was another installment in the series, kind of a follow up for the other characters we met, I’d read it without a second thought, but I don’t think there’d be any more. 4 stars and recommended.
PS: there was a great afterword by the author where she includes many notes regarding her research on Scofield mining disaster, and the real (yes!) people who were featured in both My Loving Vigil Keeping and One Step Enough. I loved reading more about them and their lives after the disaster. And for those who don’t know, much like the Welsh folk song Ar Hyd y Nos (All Through the Night) in Book 1, another song was featured prominently in book 2. The phrase One Step Enough derives from an old hymnal titled Lead, Kindly Light that I’ve never heard of before. I managed to find some lovely renditions in youtube, but my favorite would be this one. Owen and Della had often sought courage and comfort from this song and its message. Give it a listen if you haven’t already. :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 23, 2019
Romance, clean; series, second book; period, historical; Latter-day Saint fiction
Perfect second book to this series, made sweeter as you read the authors notes at the end about the real people included in this book, and how readers who were ancestors of the characters in her first book helped her with the 'real' stories of their history. The resolution to the mine disaster, Della and Owen's marriage and their everyday lives, joys, and heartaches perfectly told. Joy and a pleasure to read, and perfect historical Latter-day saint fiction with some historical figures fleshed out. Romantic, but real, honest, hurting, heartfelt, faith-filled, and especially how to find joy in the journey of life.
Perfect second book to this series, made sweeter as you read the authors notes at the end about the real people included in this book, and how readers who were ancestors of the characters in her first book helped her with the 'real' stories of their history. The resolution to the mine disaster, Della and Owen's marriage and their everyday lives, joys, and heartaches perfectly told. Joy and a pleasure to read, and perfect historical Latter-day saint fiction with some historical figures fleshed out. Romantic, but real, honest, hurting, heartfelt, faith-filled, and especially how to find joy in the journey of life.
July 16, 2018
As reviewed at Roses Are Blue, a Top Pick: https://wp.me/p3QRh4-MD
Newlyweds Owen and Della Davis are struggling to deal with the pain and grief of losing two hundred friends and comrades in a mining accident in their close knit community. Owen, a miner himself, only survived by making a last minute choice to leave mining behind, and quit just before he was about to walk into his shift when the disaster happened. Della begged Owen to promise never to return to mining, and he agreed, even though mining is in his blood. The accident changed both of them, and stole some of the joy from their new marriage. Owen, always a beautiful singer, has lost all his will to sing and suffers survivor's guilt. Della is also starting to have flashbacks to the day her own father died in a mining accident, and the cruel last words she said to him give her nightmares.
When they leave the Winter Quarters camp to begin a new life, Della's honorary Uncle Jesse is extremely generous in helping them find a home and part time employment for Owen. They begin to settle in, looking to be on their way to building a happy future together with Owen's young daughter from his late first wife. Then Uncle Jesse, who is a very wealthy man, begs Owen's help with his own mine, which recently also suffered an accident. Owen feels compelled to accept the job, both for the high pay, and for the chance to build a safer mine to prevent future deaths. Though he regrets breaking the promise he made to his wife, he agrees to take on the job, leaving Della heartbroken.
Owen and Della are strong and compelling characters. Owen is dedicated to his family, loved his first wife dearly, and was shattered when she died giving birth to their child. Though it had been six years, and Owen felt an immediate liking for Della, he had to struggle to let go, and even think of a new life. He's a charming, yet intelligent and hard working man. Della chose to become a teacher in a mining town, anxious to get away from her uncle and his family, who gave her a place to live when her father was killed, but never loved or nurtured her. She didn't let their scorn turn her bitter, but showered her pupils with attention and care. Owen and Della's slow developing romance is beautifully told in the book previous to this, MY LOVING VIGIL KEEPING, and I strongly recommend reading it first to appreciate the full blossoming of their love, and all the circumstances that led them to the place they are now.
In ONE STEP ENOUGH, Owen and Della have a tremendous amount of pain and baggage to deal with. Author Carla Kelly has written characters who are very human - good people who have failings as we all do, and situations that aren't completely black or white, right or wrong. I became invested in this couple over the course of the two books, and felt all their heartaches along with them. MY LOVING VIGIL KEEPING and ONE STEP ENOUGH tell a beautiful love story, but also show how resilient, forgiving, and strong we can truly be. The history of life in a mining town is fascinating and tragic, and faith plays a strong part in carrying these families through the worst times imaginable. I found both books to be brilliantly written, compelling, emotional, poignant, and, quite frankly, some of the best I've read - ever.
Newlyweds Owen and Della Davis are struggling to deal with the pain and grief of losing two hundred friends and comrades in a mining accident in their close knit community. Owen, a miner himself, only survived by making a last minute choice to leave mining behind, and quit just before he was about to walk into his shift when the disaster happened. Della begged Owen to promise never to return to mining, and he agreed, even though mining is in his blood. The accident changed both of them, and stole some of the joy from their new marriage. Owen, always a beautiful singer, has lost all his will to sing and suffers survivor's guilt. Della is also starting to have flashbacks to the day her own father died in a mining accident, and the cruel last words she said to him give her nightmares.
When they leave the Winter Quarters camp to begin a new life, Della's honorary Uncle Jesse is extremely generous in helping them find a home and part time employment for Owen. They begin to settle in, looking to be on their way to building a happy future together with Owen's young daughter from his late first wife. Then Uncle Jesse, who is a very wealthy man, begs Owen's help with his own mine, which recently also suffered an accident. Owen feels compelled to accept the job, both for the high pay, and for the chance to build a safer mine to prevent future deaths. Though he regrets breaking the promise he made to his wife, he agrees to take on the job, leaving Della heartbroken.
Owen and Della are strong and compelling characters. Owen is dedicated to his family, loved his first wife dearly, and was shattered when she died giving birth to their child. Though it had been six years, and Owen felt an immediate liking for Della, he had to struggle to let go, and even think of a new life. He's a charming, yet intelligent and hard working man. Della chose to become a teacher in a mining town, anxious to get away from her uncle and his family, who gave her a place to live when her father was killed, but never loved or nurtured her. She didn't let their scorn turn her bitter, but showered her pupils with attention and care. Owen and Della's slow developing romance is beautifully told in the book previous to this, MY LOVING VIGIL KEEPING, and I strongly recommend reading it first to appreciate the full blossoming of their love, and all the circumstances that led them to the place they are now.
In ONE STEP ENOUGH, Owen and Della have a tremendous amount of pain and baggage to deal with. Author Carla Kelly has written characters who are very human - good people who have failings as we all do, and situations that aren't completely black or white, right or wrong. I became invested in this couple over the course of the two books, and felt all their heartaches along with them. MY LOVING VIGIL KEEPING and ONE STEP ENOUGH tell a beautiful love story, but also show how resilient, forgiving, and strong we can truly be. The history of life in a mining town is fascinating and tragic, and faith plays a strong part in carrying these families through the worst times imaginable. I found both books to be brilliantly written, compelling, emotional, poignant, and, quite frankly, some of the best I've read - ever.
July 17, 2019
This starts immediately where My Loving Vigil Keeping left off, almost as if it is the second half of the same book, which made it difficult to get into because it has been a while since I read that book, and I didn't remember the characters and specific story line details all that well. As a whole it could have had a stronger focus, there were some elements that were overplayed such as the situation with her uncle and others, such as the part with Tig Wilson which could even have been the whole story and were given less than a chapter. But I like the depiction of different ways of grieving and the characterization is very well done even for characters who are only appear briefly.
Popsugar challenge 2019: A book that includes a wedding (there are actually several)
Popsugar challenge 2019: A book that includes a wedding (there are actually several)
September 12, 2019
Great story (and a sequel to My Loving Vigil Keeping) centered around a mining disaster in which about 200 men died. The main characters, Della Anders and Owen Davies, are engaged to be married, and she has asked him to give up mining. It is a difficult decision, and he hopes that she will change her mind, but when he best friend scolds him for saying so, then tells him to pray about it, he does—and quits, on the morning of the mine disaster.
As they try to help their less fortunate friends and neighbors, they also need to find a way to support themselves and Owen’s daughter (from his first marriage), since they are to be married soon, as well as come to terms with their pasts. It may not be easy, but will love find a way?
As they try to help their less fortunate friends and neighbors, they also need to find a way to support themselves and Owen’s daughter (from his first marriage), since they are to be married soon, as well as come to terms with their pasts. It may not be easy, but will love find a way?
August 10, 2018
and the dispersal of their widows and children, happiness is hard to come by.
Owen has promised Della he is through with mining forever, but he still has to earn a living, and his heart is drawn back to the mines. Meanwhile, Della is wishing for a baby, but her arms remain empty. As she struggles to hold together the pieces of her life—through the resurfacing haunting memories of her father’s death and the heartache of missing a mother she never knew—she wonders if she even wants to reconcile herself to relatives who did her so much harm. Together, Owen and Della must face the secrets of her past as they struggle to build their future.
Based on the true events following the Scofield mine disaster in 1900, One Step Enough is a riveting and heartfelt romance filled with suspense, tragedy, and hard-earned love.
My review
I was so excited to see One Step Enough, the sequel to My Loving Vigil Keeping! I love the way Carla Kelly writes her historical romances. The characters and situations seem to stay with you for a long time. I still find myself thinking about Della and Owen and wonder what happened to them. And not only to them, to all the other people who really lived in the canyon and dealt with the disaster.
One Step Enough starts right after My Loving Vigil Keeping ends. The reader can sense the turmoil in Della and Owen. And also all the people around them as they deal with the aftermath of the mine disaster. Something that kept coming to me about this one was that this really happened. To real people, not just the fictitious Della and Owen. It’s hard for me to imagine the feelings and emotions these real people would have felt as they dealt with everything. I loved the way the author kept the tension and emotions high at the beginning of the book.
Della is one of my very favorite characters ever. She’s courageous, strong and wise. She’s the perfect female lead. I loved the way she worked hard to comfort Owen as he goes through his hard time. And the way she cares for Owen’s daughter, Angharad, made my heart melt. Della sees her as her own child, not a step-child. Part of that is probably because of the way she was not taken care of by her uncle’s family growing up. There are hard things in store for her. Owen’s breaking of his promise to her to stay out of the mines is just one of many. But Della rises above it and struggles to not let it push her and Owen apart.
Owen goes through his own hard times. Many of his friends and co-workers died in the blast. He only barely escaped with his life. He deals not only with grief, but with survivors guilt as well. I loved the way he had courage to break his promise for a little while to help other miners the way he would have wanted to help his friends.
There are so many great characters in this one. One thing that’s fun about that is that many of them were people who actually lived. I enjoyed reading the end notes about the real people Carla Kelly included in this one.
I loved the plot. The way that both Della and Angharad work to bring Owen out of his grief was inspiring. This is one of those books that give people hope. Hope that things can and will get better. Hope for a happy life after disaster. And hope is definitely needed by the world in general today.
If historical fiction is something you love, make sure to grab this book. But be sure to read My Loving Vigil Keeping first. This one won’t make sense otherwise.
Owen has promised Della he is through with mining forever, but he still has to earn a living, and his heart is drawn back to the mines. Meanwhile, Della is wishing for a baby, but her arms remain empty. As she struggles to hold together the pieces of her life—through the resurfacing haunting memories of her father’s death and the heartache of missing a mother she never knew—she wonders if she even wants to reconcile herself to relatives who did her so much harm. Together, Owen and Della must face the secrets of her past as they struggle to build their future.
Based on the true events following the Scofield mine disaster in 1900, One Step Enough is a riveting and heartfelt romance filled with suspense, tragedy, and hard-earned love.
My review
I was so excited to see One Step Enough, the sequel to My Loving Vigil Keeping! I love the way Carla Kelly writes her historical romances. The characters and situations seem to stay with you for a long time. I still find myself thinking about Della and Owen and wonder what happened to them. And not only to them, to all the other people who really lived in the canyon and dealt with the disaster.
One Step Enough starts right after My Loving Vigil Keeping ends. The reader can sense the turmoil in Della and Owen. And also all the people around them as they deal with the aftermath of the mine disaster. Something that kept coming to me about this one was that this really happened. To real people, not just the fictitious Della and Owen. It’s hard for me to imagine the feelings and emotions these real people would have felt as they dealt with everything. I loved the way the author kept the tension and emotions high at the beginning of the book.
Della is one of my very favorite characters ever. She’s courageous, strong and wise. She’s the perfect female lead. I loved the way she worked hard to comfort Owen as he goes through his hard time. And the way she cares for Owen’s daughter, Angharad, made my heart melt. Della sees her as her own child, not a step-child. Part of that is probably because of the way she was not taken care of by her uncle’s family growing up. There are hard things in store for her. Owen’s breaking of his promise to her to stay out of the mines is just one of many. But Della rises above it and struggles to not let it push her and Owen apart.
Owen goes through his own hard times. Many of his friends and co-workers died in the blast. He only barely escaped with his life. He deals not only with grief, but with survivors guilt as well. I loved the way he had courage to break his promise for a little while to help other miners the way he would have wanted to help his friends.
There are so many great characters in this one. One thing that’s fun about that is that many of them were people who actually lived. I enjoyed reading the end notes about the real people Carla Kelly included in this one.
I loved the plot. The way that both Della and Angharad work to bring Owen out of his grief was inspiring. This is one of those books that give people hope. Hope that things can and will get better. Hope for a happy life after disaster. And hope is definitely needed by the world in general today.
If historical fiction is something you love, make sure to grab this book. But be sure to read My Loving Vigil Keeping first. This one won’t make sense otherwise.
October 28, 2020
I selected this book randomly because I read another by Carla Kelly I really liked. I usually love reading historical fiction and that was the best part of this book. I just had a hard time getting into it. When it was time to read, I'd choose something else first, so it took a long time to finish.
Again, interesting history.
Again, interesting history.
September 21, 2018
Nice story, but in the beginning I couldn't tell who was speaking half the time. It switches from first to third person. Then there is the on going talk of sex. My daughter's didn't like it. I understand it goes with the story line of pregnancy, but it just was too much.
June 11, 2018
2.5. I enjoyed the history, but there wasn't enough of it and the rest of the story was too cheesy for me.
September 9, 2019
It was to depressing
June 17, 2021
I love the characters, but the plot and dialogue was very down, sad, and repetitive. I only truly enjoyed a few moments besides the last 50 pages or so. It took me a while to finish.
June 5, 2019
(Genre:Fiction/historical) 3.5 stars. This is the continuation of the story from Carla Kelly's first book "My Loving Vigil Keeping" on the Winter Quarters Coal Mining disaster of 1900 near Scofield, Utah. We pick up the main characters lives pretty much where they left off, right after over 200 men and boys were killed in the mine fire and explosions. Owen Davis lost his best friend in the accident and is dealing with survivor's guilt, since so many of his friends, neighbors, and colleagues are now gone and those that are left behind are grieving the loss of their husbands, fathers, brothers, sons, etc. Della Anders, the school teacher, has just agreed to marry Owen and she wants him to quit mining forever. The story picks up as they prepare for the funerals of their friends as well as their upcoming marriage. The little family moves to Provo with the assistance of Della's "shirt tale relatives, Jesse and Amanda Knight. As they move forward in their new lives and home, Owen is offered a new job in hard mining (silver and other ore versus coal mining) that has potential to save lives and he really wants to accept it. Della is firmly set against it. Owen promised her and his young daughter that he would no longer be a miner and they want to hold him to his promises. This is a story of people learning to cope after a terrible tragedy and coming to grips with the mistakes and guilt from their pasts while facing the future with optimism and gratitude. Not quite as good as the first book, it was still an enjoyable opportunity to reconnect with characters that you really cared about. Kelly, as always, shines with her attention to historical details. The descriptions of the hard mining communities of western Utah was interesting and while they didn't seem to be as closely connected and lovable as the community in Winter Quarters Canyon from the first book, Kelly still manages to create new characters with substance that you care about. 3.5 stars
September 9, 2019
My wife and I read this as we traveled. It was less interesting to do this than since we started reading in the car nearly five years ago. I enjoyed the previous book about Della as a teacher and the courting of Owen Davis much better. Both are by Carla Kelly. I have enjoyed a lot of her books. This one seemed to drag. There must not have been enough action or power. We had enjoyed going to Eureka and touring a mining museum and mining district as well as earlier going to Schofield, UT, the actual site of the May 1, 1900, mining disaster which at the time was the most horrific in US history. I guess, it wasn't so compelling to see this ex-miner go back into the mines. Owen was cutting his luck closely but the story was Della's patience with this guy. I would have like to see him digging sego lily bulbs to stay alive while not involved in mining than using a T-square to shore up a beam. I liked the big dog and the character development of the assayer. I am sure Owen Davis is a great guy but he didn't seem that interesting and kind of ungrateful for his mate. It seemed his deceased wife got the strokes rather than young, ravishing Della, who seemed to get the most development about her frizzy hair. At the end, I could see new life for a sequel in the new-found mother. I wonder why she had not reached out more to find her daughter once her weird father died. One thing Owen was supportive of Della's relatives and friends like Mr. Auerbach. I was excited to see Mr. Knight in the story. My wife checked Family Search and found I am related to him.
April 10, 2019
Another Carla Kelly tour de force. Great characters and plot line. Based around the bustling Tintic Mining District in North Central Utah in early 1900s, the story starts out with the horrible Scofield mining disaster that killed 200 miners.
The story revolves around the marriage of Owen Davis and Della Anders a few days after the disaster and their journey to recover from the repercussions of the disaster. There is a interweaving of fictional characters with actual people who lived in the areas which included the owner of many mines Jesse Knight. It is also a sequel of 'My Loving Vigil Keeping' with the same characters.
Learning about mining and the dangers involved, both physical, emotional and spiritual was very enlightening.
Note: I read a paperback not a kindle or ebook. I was not given the choice of paperback in the review.
The story revolves around the marriage of Owen Davis and Della Anders a few days after the disaster and their journey to recover from the repercussions of the disaster. There is a interweaving of fictional characters with actual people who lived in the areas which included the owner of many mines Jesse Knight. It is also a sequel of 'My Loving Vigil Keeping' with the same characters.
Learning about mining and the dangers involved, both physical, emotional and spiritual was very enlightening.
Note: I read a paperback not a kindle or ebook. I was not given the choice of paperback in the review.
July 20, 2018
As always, Carla Kelly has a way with historical fiction, seamlessly weaving fictional characters into events in the past, adding hope to tragedy, romance to despair, light to darkness, and encompassing it about in a blanket of faith with trials. This book was hard to read, because everything felt so real... the struggles, the guilt, the anger, and the mourning. It is apparent that Kelly truly loved these people, the real people whom she honoured in this book, for the mourning and the sadness from the main characters reflected a truth deeper than fiction, that spoke of her own feelings of mourning. This series ("My Loving Vigil Keeping" and "One Step Enough") alongside her other ("Borrowed Light" and "Enduring Light") will remain my favorites for a long time to come.
July 28, 2025
What a beautiful story of rebuilding a life after a horrible disaster. I will say there is a moment that when Della’s Aunt Caroline dies and when she asks her to come and Della honestly doesn’t want to come…I cringed because why would you put yourself through that horrible experience again. I also wondered, why wasn’t her daughters there at the end. A testament to what a horrible person Aunt Caroline was. Della truly was the better person to try and give her Aunt peace even when she didn’t want it at the end. I loved all the new characters in this one. Saul, Saladin, more of Uncle Jesse - we learn more about his giving spirit. Love the writing, the story and the new and true characters…highly recommend!
November 27, 2019
I had no idea there was a sequel to My Loving Vigil Keeping until I picked this book up at the library. Though it has been a year or two since I read Vigil I was able to pick right up with One Step Enough. Considering the heartbreaking end of Vigil I knew the start of this book would be rough emotionally. There is a lot of grief and healing that needs to happen with the characters, which could have dragged the story down, but thankfully there was enough forward movement that comes with life that kept things interesting. I really enjoy historical fiction, and this book brings a lot of "real" people into the story.
June 19, 2020
I am so glad that Carla Kelly wrote this sequel to My Loving Vigil Keeping. Vigil seemed to end with a Happy Ever After, but I loved the characters of Owen and Della, and their precocious daughter. Every bed of roses has its thorns, and there are plenty in this one as Owen struggles survivor guilt and Della has nightmares about her father's death in a mine collapse. Kelly ties up many loose ends, there is a delightful dog, and I highly recommend this. My only quibbles would be that Della is such a weeper, good grief, and I wondered what Owen, every woman's dream, would have to do to convince her he loved her?
November 18, 2021
I loved the history and the romance of this one! I used to live in Provo where much of this takes place, so that was fun. Attended many classes and church meetings in the Jesse Knight Building at BYU. I also learned a lot about mining, which was interesting, especially because my 2nd great grandfather, John Percival Jones was a miner and then a mine owner in California and Nevada back in the 1800's. The romance was sweet and the new family life they had was hard and sweet. So who doesn't have both hard time and good times? Anyway, I loved the shared love of music and singing and faith. Wonderful story all around.
July 10, 2018
Owen and Della! I love their story. And I love Mabli and Angharad. I'm so glad Carla did a sequel. So much of this book touched my hearts; Della and Owen both had a lot of healing to do, and I needed to know they did it. This book was so beautifully written, as are all of Carla's books. It was a little emotionally difficult, but not as much as My Loving Vigil Keeping, so at least there's that.
Thank you, Carla, for another wonderful read.
Thank you, Carla, for another wonderful read.
October 5, 2023
I enjoyed this story because it is well-written and easy to read, but also partly because much of the story centered around the town I live in. I enjoyed it even more as I read the Afterword giving more details about the lives of many of the actual people who lived the story. Then, when I got to the Acknowledgments, I was doubly pleased to see that in her research in this area, she was guided by my good friend, (local historian and former mayor) Nick Castleton!
June 28, 2018
This is the sequel to her first book "Loving Vigil Keeping." I have been waiting for this one one. Carla Kelly did not disappoint. Even though I am a slow reader I did have a difficult time putting the book down to do other things. I love the way she writes a romance into the story without making it trashy or over the top. I can read and escape into another world.
August 11, 2018
I enjoyed this book; it was a good sequel to the first volume, and I enjoyed Jesse Knight as a character since I spent quite a lot of my college life working and studying in a building named for him. I would give it 3 1/2 stars if I could, because there was probably more plot than there needed to be in a few places, but I liked the overall feel of the book.
December 6, 2019
I liked the interactions with real people. Interesting that "Lead Kindly Light" was considered the miners song. I didn't realize this was a sequel. If I had read it in order, it may have appealed to me more... and may have been easier to keep track of some of the characters. Author uses lots of cliches.
March 27, 2021
3-1/2 stars. Sequel to My Loving Vigil Keeping.
I enjoy Carla Kelly's books (some more than others. This one, I liked, but didn't necessarily love). I love how she does her research into actual history of people, events and places and fits her fictional characters into the details in a seamless way.
I enjoy Carla Kelly's books (some more than others. This one, I liked, but didn't necessarily love). I love how she does her research into actual history of people, events and places and fits her fictional characters into the details in a seamless way.
June 16, 2023
I saw this was the second book in the series and I am so glad I took the time to read this enchanting, dynamic historical story! Carla Kelly is one of my favorite historical fiction authors and the way she captured the marriage of Della and Owen’s marriage was filled with humanity and second chances. I will definitely be reading more about the Scofield mine disaster.
July 1, 2018
A great sequel but can stand on its own.
The author has again given us such deep characters to fictional and real people, that you wish you could meet them. History has never been so interesting to read and imagine.
The author has again given us such deep characters to fictional and real people, that you wish you could meet them. History has never been so interesting to read and imagine.
September 11, 2018
Historical fiction at its best, bringing real people whom I already know and admire together with fictional characters. Since my father's mother was a mine widow who lived in that part of Utah, I relate readily to the heartache of those women.
April 18, 2019
This is the sequel to My Loving Vigil Keeping, an historical fiction novel about a mining settlement in Winter Quarters, UT. It is a love story about 2 people learning who they are, what they've been through, and what they came accomplish together. The story flows well and is easily read.
August 25, 2019
Life happens and you cannot always foresee or control it.
Della has a strong need to control her life. Her life is rocked by the mine disaster of May 1. Join her as she learns to relinquish the need to control and develops the faith to just take one step.
Della has a strong need to control her life. Her life is rocked by the mine disaster of May 1. Join her as she learns to relinquish the need to control and develops the faith to just take one step.
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