Edith Hargrove’s wants to get a new hair do, cutting off the bun she’s worn at the nape of her neck all her life and she wants a new, more sophisticated gray suit. She’s just gotten a letter from the exotically beautiful woman her now deceased husband had an extra-marital affair with 40 years ago. If you’ve ever been betrayed or loved someone who was betrayed, the first chapter of A Dry Creek Courtship by Janet Tronstad (Steeple Hill) will capture your heart, yet not leave you adrift. The pain is real, the situation is not pretty, but there is a loving God.

Widower Charlie Nelson also wants a change in his life. He wants more than just the deep friendship he’s shared with Edith since his wife died. Edith’s gotten under his skin and he wants romance. His problem is the practical minded widow keeps misunderstanding his awkward attempts to change the nature of their relationship. And he misunderstands that keeping the old car her disloyal husband once would not allow her to drive is a statement of her independence, not a sign that she’s still carrying a passionate torch for the guy.

When the other woman arrives in Dry Creek, she turns out to be the illegitimate daughter of the femme fatale and to Charlie’s surprise Edith takes the woman into her family, while the entire town’s buzzing with gossip.

This is the second book I’ve read in this series and I agree with the blurb on the back of the book. Dry Creek is a small Montana town with a heart as big as heaven. Janet Tronstad has created a literary community of characters who while having all kinds of human frailties, foibles, and quirks care for each other in a truly Christian way.