Customer Reviews

Chase the Wind

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Cindy Holby's first novel kept me turning the pages and has me waiting for the next in the series.

I am certainly not a romance novel kind of guy, but I found this to be an exciting western saga with touches of romance. It's certainly not your typical "cowboys & indians" book. I recommend this book for anyone who likes horses or the 1800's frontier.

Three of the main, male characters - Ian, Jamie, and Chase - are the types who love to have fun, stand for what's right, and are willing to fight for those they love. They are smart, funny, strong, courageous, and faithful. Two of the female characters - Faith & Jenny - are my kind or women! They are smart, determined, caring, strong-willed, yet considerate.

Without giving away the plot twists let me say that there are plenty of surprises in this book. To some I said, "Oh, no, not that." To others I said, "All right! Way to go!" The book has plenty of laughs and touching moments. There is not a lot of foul language or sexual content; but there is some.

From the beginning I liked the forbidden courtship of Faith & Ian. As the courtship blossoms to love they know that they must escape if they are to remain together. Their daring escape & marriage seals their commitment in their hearts. Starting a new life together brings good times & bad, but they persevere which causes their love for each other to grow stronger. Then along comes the children...

Twins Jenny & Jamie are handfuls taken individually, but together they feed off of each others' excitement & humor. They care for each other like few other siblings. They pester each other at times, but will defend each other to the last breath. Fate brings their relationship closer and closer.

Chase is the truest of friends. He is like a brother to Jamie & Jenny. Chase becomes attracted to Jenny, but he is reluctant to make it known because of his sense of honor and because of his commitment to true friendship - or maybe he's just one of those guys who needs to get a clue. Chase stays with them through the good times and bad - even the very bad times.

This novel beautifully describes the awkwardness of courtship, the love of romance, the bonds of friendship, the thrills of adventure, the sorrows of tragedy, and the joys of triumph.

There's plenty of good guys & bad guys. I think it would make an awesome movie.

Do yourself a favor and order all 3 books now because once you start them, you won't want to interrupt the flow of this wonderful family saga. Chase the Wind begins with the love of Faith and Ian.....a romance her family forbids and a future that looks doomed. But Ian comes back to Faith the night before her arranged marriage and they steal away,chased mercilessly by the adamant, evil groom to be. They head west and begin their life, giving birth to wonderful twins.....jamie and jenny. That characters are larger than life. You can feel the love, share the emotions and live their dream...and of course fall in love with them. But the ex groom finds them and seeks revenge and the twins have to face the future alone, but together. "Chase the Wind" is a halfbreed they become friends with in the horrible orphanage where they all wind up and Chase becomes an integral part of the story as do others in the orphanage. All of the characters weave throughout all 3 bks of this incredible trilogy. Book 2, Wind of the Wolf is not as captivating as books 1 and 3 but is so essential to fill in those middle years in the twins lives and all the problems they encounter. The last book Crosswinds is incredible.....The close knit friends they've made go east to fight in the civil war and again the characters intwine magically. There is no way to review this series to do it justice....Just buy them and read them. They will stay in your heart forever.

of major character death! Some people prefer not to read books that will leave them crying for hours on end, myself being one of them. Readers should be warned that the characters they have fallen in love with through the first half of the book will meet an incredibly gruesome fate, and will be replaced by much less likable characters... Jamie and Jenny. This book was well-written, but should not have been marketed as a normal romance novel without some warning to readers that it ends so horribly. So, actually, my problem is not with the book itself, which I would give three stars normally, but with the marketers of the book. I sat down to read this book as a way to relax during my fall break from college, and wound up crying for three hours straight! Read this book, because it is a nice enough way to pass an afternoon, but do not go into it expecting hearts, flowers, and a happily-ever-after as I did.

This book was excellent reading! I laughed, I cried!
There should be a part 2, because it left you wanting more!

With this being her first book, I think Cindy Holby did an outstanding job. This book will tug on your heart strings and make you pull for the children of Ian and Faith. A forbidden love and a secret wedding make for the birth of twins, a boy ,Jamie and a girl, Jenny.
the never ending love of family is passed on to the children after the parents are killed.
the children are sent to an orphanage, and cruely seperated by a priest.The search for Jenny , and the return there of makes for wonderful reading.this is a great book.

In 1838 in the western part of Virginia, Ian Duncan returns home to claim Faith Taylor as a wife. However, Faith is expected to wed into the wealthiest most influential family in the area, the Masons. Unable to live without his beloved, Ian persuades Faith to live up to her name and take a chance on him and their love. He and Faith marry and flee west to set up a homestead in the Iowa Territory.

Fifteen years later, Ian and Faith remain happily in love and blessed with two children until her jilted Virginia fiancé Randolph Mason arrives and kills the adults. The chidlren, Jamie and Jenny go to an orphanage where she is sold to a man traveling through. Jamie and his friend CHASE THE WIND follow in order to rescue Jenny.

Sub-genre readers will relish the epic nineteenth century Americana saga, CHASE THE WIND as the story line traverses several decades and the Continental United States. Fans will feel euphoria when Faith and Ian escape, but sadness with the tragic ending of their lives. The fate and search for Jenny also invokes emotion from the audience. However, the plot contains too much angst and would have been better off being divided into two tales albeit one ending tragically while the other turning into a deep love story for the second generation. Based on the strength of her cast, Cindy Holby proves she is quite talented with an enjoyable saga that fans will relish, but would gain much more pleasure to read the "Parts" as separate prequel and sequel novels.

Harriet Klausner

Wow! this book was so off course both in the time period in which it's set and the daily life details that I wonder how it got published. Really bad folks! Louis Lamour at least got his medical and historical facts right. Cindy - do a little research next time please!

This is the first of the Holby books I read. I'm hoping there are many more to come. This story developed into something delicious I did not see coming. Not yuor usual "Romance" novel (boy meets girl - conflict - making up - living happily ever after). I could not put it down. I was bummed when I finished it. Fortunately, I had the next 5 in the Wind series waiting on my table!

This is a perfect book for people who love the old west and romance. I love this book so much that I e-mailed Cindy Holby and told her that it should be a movie or a mini series. It would keep people on the edge of their seats.

Lots of action. This author writes well and is an easy read. The romance spans two lives. The first romance, between the parents is beautifully built but the relationship between thier daughter and a half-breed orphan seems a little contrived, but I could live with it. A must read for fans.