As I read The Outlaw’s Return, one quote kept circling in my head: “A woman should be so lost in God that a man must seek Him in order to find her.” In many ways, this defined the relationship at the heart of this story.

Two years ago, Mary Larue was an opera singer and J. T. Quinn a hired gun. They were lovers, but when J. T. left, he unknowingly left Mary pregnant; she miscarried, but the news got out and when a man decided she must be a “loose woman,” she killed him in self-defense.

J.T. never forgot her, though, so two years after leaving her, he gave up drinking and gambling, left his gun-slinging partner, and set out to find her. And he did — in the least expected place: singing at a church. Since he’d last seen her, Mary found God, changed her life and started new, which included taking in her stammering, shy twelve-year-old brother and her rebellious and ambitious sister. J.T. and Mary still love each other, but Mary can’t trust him not to leave her again and return to violence, drink, and gambling. However, J.T. sticks around to help her brother gain confidence and grow into a man, and J.T. begins to wonder about what draws Mary so close to God, and what that means if he ever wants to win her back.

This is a sweet story, simply told and heartfelt. Mary and J.T.’s feelings for each other were authentic even as they questioned and doubted and circled around each other. Mary’s love for her siblings was also strongly written — as was J.T.’s, for that matter. Mary is very maternal, and J.T. rather paternal in how he takes Gus under his wing.

Mary and J. T. are also imperfect characters. It could have been easy to make Mary a saint now that she’s Christian, but she still struggles with shame and trust and honesty. And J. T.’s conversion is reluctant and up-and-down and, finally, rather powerful. The faith shown in this book by the characters was comforting and warm, focusing on forgiveness and mercy.

The Outlaw’s Return is a solid inspirational American historical. The book is more about the story than the writing; nothing’s wrong with the style, exactly, it’s just simple and straightforward — no reading between the lines necessary here. And that’s okay,because the story Victoria Bylin tells with that uncomplicated language is a good one.