Hidden in a Whisper (Westward Chronicles #2) - Tracie Peterson

After finishing A Shelter of Hope, I went on to read the next book in the series.  My lack of other Kindle books to read probably influenced that decision, but I still wanted to read more of this series.

Rachel was a good friend to Simone, the heroine of book 1.  Now Rachel is working in the new resort town of Morita to make sure that Fred Harvey's restaurant runs smoothly.  Her big surprise is when her former fiance, Braeden, is the new hotel's manager.  Rachel treats him with anger and scorn when he is just trying to clear his name and win back the heart of the only woman he's ever loved.

Minor things seem to go missing, like linens and random things.  Their importance comes into play later on.  The lady benefactress insists that her niece be a Harvey Girl, even though all she wants is to marry a rich man and get away from the desert town.  The niece, Ivy, is bound and determined to create a rift between Braeden and Rachel and will stop at nothing to make things the way she wants them.

Personally, I'm a little torn about this book.  I was irritated at Rachel for the first half of the book.  The way that she never allowed Braeden to explain in the prologue was just unreal. If you love someone, even if you are slow to trust, you still want to hear what the other person's explanation is even if you don't believe what they say afterwards.  Either way, just walking away was just unrealistic.  Another issue I had was most of the ending.  How many crazy people can you get in one place at one time?  It was just weird.

*Something of a Spoiler* The death of the aunt struck me as odd as well.  You would think that since she was purposely confronting someone, she would at least try to use her cane to fend them off, instead of just backing off the staircase.  It's a bit of a spoiler, but it just really bugged me. There was also the matter of the theft of the monogrammed linens and such.  I still am unsure how that was a good addition to the story.

In the end, I did enjoy reading the story, but I could have enjoyed it more had there been a little more thought put into the reality of it all.  If I looked past the unrealistic aspect of it all, it was an enjoyable little read.  My last Kindle book that I have right now is the third book in the series, A Veiled Reflection.  It's next on my list to read and I'm hoping that this end to the series is a good one.  Decent Book!