Book Review: My Loving Vigil Keeping

When I started My Loving Vigil Keeping I was thinking it might be the old cliche of a poor girl trying to get as far away from her mean rich relatives, so she spontaneously takes a job in the boonies.  Of course she'd fall in love with the town and maybe a gentleman or two and get her happy ending.

I was both wrong and right.

Della Anders is no stranger to tragedy.  Her father dies in a mining accident when she is small, her mother abandoned them when she was a baby, so she's sent to her rich uncle Karl and his family.  They treat her no better than a servant, but Della perseveres and puts herself through school to get a teaching certificate.  From there, she takes an advertisement for a job in a mining camp and becomes the teacher there.  The author, Carla Kelly, actually intertwines real historical people from the Scofield mines with her fictional characters and she does a fantastic job of making the events leap off the page.  I thought Della had real depth and I laughed and cried right along with her as she experienced finding herself, finding love, and then facing the fact that she could lose it all.

If you ever wanted to know more about mining and Utah at the turn of the century, all while wrapped in the fictional world mixed with real people, then this is the historical romance for you.  Sweet, clean, realistic, and one you'll want to read again.

Here is the back copy:

Della's giving up all the comforts of bustling Salt Lake City to teach school in a rural coal mining camp. Little does she know, she may soon be giving up her heart as well. But when tragedy strikes in the Scofield Mine, Della's life will be changed forever. Based on true events, this thrilling new romance from award-winning and bestselling author Carla Kelly is a must-read!