A Timid Heart by Jo Noelle

Can a tender man whose passion is to take pictures reach the heart of a woman who hides from him and all others?

Bridget Hall takes a much-needed job at the Brody Hotel as a laundress after being rejected as a mail-order bride. She loves the people she works with, but because of a deformity, she hides from society. . . until a handsome new photographer comes to Topeka.
Lorne Whitney looks for beauty in the world to wash out the ugliness he experienced as a soldier in the War Between the States ten years ago. Although he tried everything to forget, nothing works until he meets a brown-eyed beauty, who is reluctant to be seen.
Can Lorne get past Bridget’s resistance to create the kind of love that can save them both?
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An abbreviated version of A Timid Heart was first published as a Kansas Crossroads story.