Kate Beecher's parents are moving from Boston to the Montana Territory. Her father is a newspaper man and has been invited by a friend to join him to grow the newspaper office. Since Kate is eighteen, her parents give her the choice of joining them or staying in Boston. Kate joins them. She sees the move as an adventure. Plus, she is not interested in any of the young men who have been coming by since her debut.
After a difficult couple of months, the Beechers arrive in New Hope - a town nestled in a valley in Montana just before the Continental Divide. Kate is charmed by the town and feels that the relaxed social rules of dress and gender roles to be an improvement over stuffy Boston.
Jessie Forbes is a local rancher. She was going to be sent back East for schooling when her father died. She took over the ranch and continues to produce some of the best horses West of the Mississippi. Everyone in the town of New Hope is used to seeing Jessie in her men's clothing and thinks nothing of it. But for Kate, the first man who peaks her interest -a dusty cowboy bringing a herd of horses to town for the round up - turns out to be Jessie.
Radclyffe has written a beautiful story of love and discovery. Neither of the women have ever considered that they could be attracted to another woman - only that they had never been very attracted to any man they met. Innocent Hearts is a wonderful western / historical romance novel.
Radclyffe. (2002). Innocent Hearts. Valley Falls, NY: Bold Strokes Books.
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