At Love’s Command

At Love’s Command by Karen Witemeyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I bought this book to read after seeing the social media flap about it. I couldn’t imagine half of the vitriol I was reading was true. It wasn’t. Other than the book starts with the massacre at Wounded Knee, nothing about the story meshed with that vitriol.

A historical romance with a very strong-willed heroine and a very self-assured hero that takes place in Texas. Having lived through the horrendous event at Wounded Knee, the hero has turned his life around and along with three close friends, they are trying to right wrongs where they can. Having studied to become a medical doctor, the heroine finds the hero and his attitude very taxing and annoyingly appealing, until she needs his special brand of assistance.

I have to stand with the 13 juried literary judges for the Romance Writers of America who saw nothing untoward about this story. It addressed a great wrong in American history without sugar-coating or romanticizing or glorifying it. It was portrayed as what it was, a massacre.

Published by Pegg Thomas

Pegg Thomas lives in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula with Michael, her husband of *mumble* years. She creates American stories with real history and fictional characters inspired by her ancestors who immigrated here in the mid-1600s. Pegg won the 2019 FHL Readers’ Choice Award for novellas, was a double-finalist for the 2019 ACFW Carol Award for novellas, and a finalist for the 2019 ACFW Editor of the Year. She was a finalist in the 2021 FHL Readers’ Choice Award for novellas. Pegg won the 2022 Selah Award for historical romance and placed 2nd with her second entry. She was also a finalist for the 2023 Selah Award and placed 2nd for the 2024 Selah Award. Pegg spent 3 ½ years as the managing editor of Smitten Historical Romance. When not writing or editing, Pegg can be found in her garden, her kitchen, or sitting at one of her spinning wheels creating yarn to turn into her signature wool shawls. View more posts