Review of Lesbian Historical Fiction Book ‘In my heart’ by Bette Hawkins

This was a really enjoyable read. I’m a Hawkins fan. This is her third book and I have enjoyed all of them. I like how she writes and her books just work for me. However, I do have a weird relationship with historical fiction books. I’m always worried about reading them- because of what women went through in the past, but I almost always like them once I’ve read them.

What is great about this historical fiction book is that you can put it more in the feel-good category. While this book doesn’t try to rewrite history and make it easy to be gay in the ’50s, it gives you hope and it’s not a book that will depress you. After the last book I read, I needed some happy and some hope and this book gave me both.

The main premise is about a woman who writes country music. She writes these songs and wishes she could give them to her favorite singer to sing. If you have ever seen the movie ‘Walk the line’, parts of this book reminded me of it. Even the main character Dorothy was a lot like June Carter-Cash, who left her family band to go out on her own. You feel like you are transported into the time of A and B side records and just the feel of the ’50s. I thought it was well written and also a very readable story.

I don’t really have many complaints to mention. It is not really a wow book, but for what it was, a book about a band touring in the ’50s with two women who are developing possible feelings, I think the story worked. There is a little angst to keep things interesting and I was surprised to look down and see I had reached the end of the story. The story was so easy to read that I was ready to keep reading more.

If you are looking for a historical fiction romance, especially one that is more on the feel-good side, I would recommend this one. Hawkins has become an automatic read for me so I can’t wait to see what she puts out next.

An ARC was given to me for an honest review.