At Love's Command (Hanger's Horsemen #1) - Karen Witemeyer

I was sifting through my favorite publishers on NetGalley and was surprised to see a book by Karen Witemeyer that had already come out. How had I missed that? I signed up for it immediately and started reading.

I finished it a few days ago, and I've thought about it a lot since then. I'm going to keep my thoughts on the story short, because the romance/drama isn't what stuck out to me.

Josephine is a old west doctor (think Dr. Quinn if you remember that show), and Matt used to be in the cavalry. When one of his men is hurt, his paths cross with the doctor. Then, when she receives word that her brother is being held for ransom, she asks for Matt's help.

I liked the book overall. The romance is difficult to swallow at times since these two aren't together a LOT in the book. It seemed weird that Josephine was worried to death about her brother while staring at and obsessing over Matt's muscles.

Normally, I'd probably stop the review here. I might say more about the characters, but the review would be essentially over. But something different happened to me. This time, I was laser focused on one aspect of the book: the internal conflict of Matt. He doesn't want to open up his heart again in case he'd get hurt. He doesn't trust God with the people he loves, and he feels he's been justified in that.

This topic has been plaguing my summer. With two teenagers in driver's ed at the same time (one of them now a senior in high school), I've had the fact that things are out of my control thrown into my face. I felt sympathy with Matt's character, but I didn't care about his love life. I wanted to know how he was going to learn to trust God again and to leave the care of the people he cared about in God's hands. There's a paragraph toward the end of the book talking about control being an illusion. I highlighted it and have read over it a few times. I've always known that control is an illusion, but it doesn't stop me from trying to control what I can.

I feel like I read this at the right time. I'm not completely better, but had I seen this book posted on NetGalley at the time it was released, it probably wouldn't have affected me the same way. It's a timing thing that I can only attribute to God. I've had a few other things brought to my attention lately, and I'd like to think I'm starting to find a bit of peace. It's going to be a long road, but I'm glad that this book was a stop along the way.

*I received a copy of this book from Bethany House through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.