Restless Heart

Lang (Ruthless Heart) builds this late 19th-century western romance on an unusual premise. Angeline Hunter, the escaped third wife of an abusive Mormon Elder, tries to rebuild a life in hiding in a small community in Wyoming, where she charms all the inhabitants. Shy half-Indian Sam Carver finds her a welcome distraction from his damaged leg and aging father. Lang engages the reader with a consistent period feel. The story is heartwarmingly sweet, with the whole town functioning as a new family for the couple, and it contains the requisite gunfights as well as gentle, loving sex scenes. Unfortunately, the twists of the plot are cloyingly melodramatic, the characters are extremely simplistic, and the lines between good and evil are drawn far too boldly. The sum is a pleasantly romantic read that falls frustratingly short of its potential. (Feb.)