Heart of Gold by Laurel Natale

“Money makes the world go round.” It was just as true in the 1800’s as it is today. Weather you were an accountant in Pittsburgh who fell for a high society girl or a poor farmer’s daughter from West Virginia wanting more out of life. Also always true is the lure of ‘get rich quick.’ Which in the mid 1800’s, that was the gold fields and Arizona is the Heart of Gold for the time.

Matt Sutherland arrives in Blasted Pine Arizona with one goal—find enough gold to marry his sweetheart back home. He never planned to take on a partner, especially a feisty young woman with violet eyes.

Deidre Connolly yearns to make a better life for herself, and Matt can teach her the skills she needs. However, she longs for lessons that involve more than reading and writing. But she’s no lady, and a man like Matt would never want a woman like her.

As Matt and Dee pan for gold and face the dangers of the West, they learn to value what the other offers, but fight the fire of attraction between them. Can they overcome their differences to find a future together?

From a coal and ironworks working class family, Matt Sutherland was always reaching higher. Self-taught (education) in the evening after working in the factories, he eventually moved up to become the Chief Account at the Stoddard Iron Works. And this is where he sees and falls for the daughter of the owner of the mill. Not only had he managed to meet Patricia Stoddard, but after a while he even became her ‘secret’ fiancé. But to get her father to agree to the marriage, he needs to be able to provide as well for her as her father does, and her father is the owner of one of the biggest mills in the city. Thus, he takes his saving to the gold fields of Arizona (to buy a claim and supplies) to make his fortune for his bride.

Deidre Connolly, Dee, grew up the only girl of the Connolly’s, poor farmers of West Virginia. With 6 older brothers, she helped her mother care for a house full of men. But being raised very poor, she has no education or skills outside of her cooking; she never even managed to learn sewing like most other women of her time. She is frustrated by her lack of reading and writing (and ciphering), since she wants to work in a shop or store eventually. She has no desire to end up like her mother: slaving for men who don’t appreciate her and control her and watching her babies die more often than not. She still remembers her mother reading her fairy stories and doesn’t understand why her mother never taught her to read. But her mother did send her out here to look after her brother when he decided to try for gold in Arizona. Dee is determined to save up to better herself and not end up old and worn out before her time, like her mom.

But Dee’s brother, Lafe, is a lazy drunk and gambler. Dee ends up working their claim while he drinks and gambles away all their money. When he decides this is too much work and he wants to sell the claim and be a mountain man, Dee makes sure she gets to keep her half of the claim. She never expected him to promise her and the claim to Cord. Now she has to fight off Cord as well as her lazy brother for her chance at her own future.

Matt arrives in town just in time for a claim auction. This feels like fate. But it is only half of a claim…Matt could use the help figuring things out, since he doesn’t really know anything about finding gold (it is panning for gold in AZ, not mining after all). But when it turns out to be a VERY dirty young woman who owns the other half, Matt is worried. Until a big, aggressive man claims to have right to the waif, then Matt’s protective instincts kick in. Now he has spent most his savings on half a claim for a backwoods girl who dresses as a dirty man.

While Matt is still mooning over Patricia, Dee teaches him how to find gold dust. They form a tentative partnership. Matt is stuck on his high-brow city ways, seeing Dee as primitive and lacking manners. In reality, she has just never been taught otherwise. Dee sees him reading at night and finally gets the nerve up to ask him to teach her. Matt finally opens his eyes to the fact that she is ‘everyday’ smart and wants to learn everything else. Their real friendship starts to grow but so does their attraction to each other.

They of course have outside problems. The town people don’t like Dee (because of her brother and because she isn’t ‘like the ladies there’). Matt living on the claim with Dee causes added issues for Dee. Someone tries to ‘jump’ their claim. And Cord is still trying to “get” Dee one way (fighting Matt) or another (wooing Dee).

But they both have goals in mind. Matt is saving money to go home and win Patricia. Dee is saving for a future, either her own shop or a boarding house (she is a great cook after all). But they will have to overcome all these obstacles to meet their goals. And the added attraction between them may be the final problem to break them….

You could say Heart of Gold is really a tale about the shaping of America. Little people working hard to better their lives. Immigrant families (Dee’s family is Irish decent) living, growing and doing the best they can. People improving themselves and reaching higher, as Matt does teaching himself and going from factory worker to Chief accountant. Those seeking more and better, like those in the gold fields for riches as well as those like the saloon owner cashing in on the gold field workers. The age old story of hard work really can get you to better places in America. We all may not end up in mansions, but we do all have the chance at happy, satisfying lives.

Heart of Gold is a western historical. But this time there are no cowboys, no mining, or such, although there was a stagecoach at the beginning. I found it interesting that they were only panning for gold. This is explained in some detail, and one has to wonder how anyone ever made a fortune off of ‘dust’ only. Personally, Matt was an idiot to go out west to find gold without knowing what he was going to have to do, researching what was required to find it. Yes, many men did so at the time and they didn’t have internet access to look things up easy, but still to just take off seems lacking in someone who was self taught. Got to love a man blinded by love (snicker). Dee is amazing. Poor girl has been knocked about by life and still comes out fighting (literally at times). That she was not using the dirty man look as a defense is naive to say the least. And that she took so much flack from her no-good brother says a lot of bad things of society at that time. But Matt and those like him make up for of it some (society at that time). There are good and bad in all times and kinds of society, so I guess I shouldn’t complain or be surprised.

Heart of Gold is a good, solid story. “Solid” may sound like an odd word to use, but it really applies here. The characters develop fully and grow well without being lacking in the first place. Even some to the bad guys develop depth one doesn’t expect, though not all (I’m not giving anything away, don’t worry). The story doesn’t really use any common plot devices to move things along, like villains kidnapping the heroines or such, I am happy to add. I even loved the end and was happy to see the epilogue answer an outstanding question I had from earlier in Heart of Gold. Now how often does that happen?