Customer Reviews

Dangerous Heart (Westward Hearts Series #3)

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

 

 

After reading the first two books of the "Westward Hearts"- "Defiant Heart" and "Distant Heart"- I was looking forward to the newest of the series, "Dangerous Heart." Ginger Freeman was introduced in the second book and was comedic enough to have her own little love story. Born to a leader of a shifty cowboy gang, she's determined to unleash her vengeance on Grant Kelley, the doctor who let her brother die in a stage coach robbery. A stage coach robbery that her pa initiated. Grant has his own issues; his wife died in that stage coach robbery and he's been mourning ever since. While he is prejudiced against the gang, he did treat the young man. Due to the young man's crimes, he was sent to prison and hadn't been able to contact his family since. Ginger discovers that Grant is traveling on a wagon train; her job is to join the train and kill the doctor. However, things don't go according to plan. She not only finds an adoptive family with the women there, she finds herself falling in love with Grant, and with the Savior that these kind people worship.
You can pretty much guess what happens next. After an abduction and a rescue, the heroine and hero set their problems aside and end up together. It was a good read, entertaining enough, but it just didn't measure up to the first two books. In "Defiant Heart" Fannie was such a strong, independent and remarkable heroine that you couldn't help but relate to her. And in "Distant Heart," your heart just broke for Toni, and her romance with Sam was bittersweet. Actually, "Distant Heart" was my favorite of the whole series.
As for "Dangerous Heart," it was a pleasurable book that kept me busy for a couple hours. I am looking forward to whatever Tracey Bateman comes up with next. She's one of those up and coming new authors who lends a fresh voice to the Christian fiction market.

I was totally enthralled with this book. Literally after finishing it, I felt like I came out of a spell or deep sleep or something because I was refreshed by it!

I fell in love with the main character Ginger - a rough-edged woman trying to figure out how to live a good life and escape her past. Her heart and her desires are struggles we can all relate to whether in the past or present. Ultimately her struggle with who God is and if she could really believe in Him.

This reminds me of reading a Jude Deveraux romance, without all the "extra" information that I'd rather have left to my imagination! I would definitely pick up another one of Tracey's books when I"m looking for a great romance/adventure book to read!

Ironically, this morning in my own Bible study group we were discussing favoritism in James, which relates to this book in a lot of ways. God shows no favoritism and we should remember that. He loves us all -- rich, poor, faithful, or outlaw. He loves us. I really loved how this stuck out in this book.

The best part about this book (other than the good story you're drawn into) was a part that Tracey addresses in her letter about the book " If God is God, how can He forget?"... "He forgets for His sake." .. He blots out our past, any confessed sin because He chooses to..." a simple yet profound understanding that we have a hard time remembering. It was an eye opener for me and I appreciated the discussions in this book and choices that where made real in my heart and mind!

Perfect for : Personal reading, Book Club reading (Discussion questions are included in the back of the book)

In a nutshell: I enjoyed this book a lot, it has a great mix of adventure, romance, danger and life in a wagon-train! Having very little female influence in her life growing up, Ginger Freeman is now a little rough around the edges, but it makes her very lovable and refreshing. Raised within a band of outlaws, her original intent when joining the wagon-train was to kill Grant, the man she believes had a hand in the death of her older brother. She finds that Grant is a skilled doctor with a willingness to help others, and a faith that runs deep. Now she is faced with a choice - go through with her plan, or return to the outlaws without having avenged her brother's death. As a reader, I got to see the slow transformation of Ginger as her faith grew. Once I got into the story, I couldn't put the book down. It was a very enjoyable read, and I'd like to feel that I learned a few things about prairie life and the west.

My Review:
I really did enjoy this book, but think I would have liked it even better if I had read the two previous books. The book is great as a stand-alone book, but I did see parts that referred to the earlier story in Ginger's life, that were most likely filled in with the previous books. That said, the book really was fine to read all by itself.

Characters: Tracey's book was filled with fascinating characters such as Lane (a despicable outlaw), Sam Two Feathers (religious leader/Native American within the wagon train), Ginger (main character, raised in a band of outlaws, bent on revenge), Web (Ginger's good-for-nothing "pa" and outlaw leader), Grant (the wagon-train doctor whose wife was killed during a raid by the outlaws led by Web), I could go on and on - there were a few more important characters, but in all they were very well-developed and it was great to see some of the characters have a change of heart and gain in faith. If you get a chance to pick up the book, please come back and let me know how you like Miss Sadie. She is possibly one of my favorite characters in quite a while!

Story-Line: It was a faith-filled (but not preachy) book, teaching forgiveness and instilling hope in both the characters and the reader. Taking place in the 1850's, a wagon-train headed for Oregon runs into a band of outlaws and has to face the odds when Cholera runs through the community. If that isn't enough to encourage a person to find faith, add in three scheming outlaws (at least), a wealthy man heading west to start a new life with his two kids, a doctor who lost his wife during a raid by those same outlaws, and a girl who was raised by outlaws, who is now surrounded by open, honest, faith-filled friends. It was very entertaining and enjoyable.

Readability: I found the book easy to read. The authors style and pace were both good.

Overall: A fun book that ends the Westward Hearts trilogy very well. If you are a fan of Christian fiction, prairie life, wagon-trains, etc, you will enjoy this book.

I really loved the book and it came in excellent shape. It was just what I had hoped for. It was one of a three part story so I am glad I was able to find it.

I absolutely LOVED this book and the other two in the series! I literally read each one of these in 24 hours or less.

Ginger didn't want to have feelings for the doctor man she blamed for the death of her brother. Never mind, she'd been part of an outlaw gang and never mind that since joining the wagon train to harm him, she found herself changing, accepting the loving care of those around her. But when her innocent younger brother and outlaw father re-enter her already topsy world, Ginger must make life altering decisions that will change not only her life but also the lives of those around her. Will she return to her father's domination or will faith lead her to forgiveness...and love?

A satisfying ending to a good historical, romance series. I enjoyed every book and this one is no exception. The characters draw the reader into a book with enough plot to keep the story moving and enough depth to leave the reader wishing for more.

Read rest of this review at Author's Choice Reviews [.....]

Tracey Bateman brings the final book in her Westward Hearts series. Having not read the first two, I can't compare it to them, but, I imagine that fans of the series will find much to like as several characters seemed to finish out stories while others deepened relationships only hinted at in previous novels.

Classic prairie style romance complete with danger, drama and bad guys. Bateman threw in cholera, nasty cures and enough sensory information that I know for a fact that if I ever get a chance to time travel I won't be going back to places where doctoring required more guess work than tools. Nor where bathing involved the possibility of catching pneumonia since a bath on the trail involved open bodies of water.

Tracey Bateman write chick-lit and prairie romance with equal skill, no wonder she's a favorite of many.

For seven years Ginger Freeman, daughter of an outlaw, blames Dr. Grant Kelley for the death of her brother Clem. Now in 1850 her search for this miscreant has ended; she has found him on a wagon train heading west.

She joins the train with plans to kill Grant. Instead she is welcomed by everyone especially Miss Sadie and soon feels like she is part of a family for the first time in her life. Worse Ginger finds Grant to be a caring person trying to help others; nothing like the image she kept in her nightmares for these long seven years. As she finds God, friends and love (with Grant), Ginger feels torn in several directions when her Pa and his cohorts arrive.

The third Westward Hearts Americana inspirational romance (see DANGEROUS HEART and DEFIANT HEART) is a fabulous historical totally owned by Ginger although the rest of the cast is fully developed. Readers will feel they are on the wagon train as the closeness is both endearing and phobic; privacy is impossible. The transformation of Ginger is deftly done by Tracey Bateman to the delight of historical inspiration fans.

Harriet Klausner

Dangerous Heart is a fantastic romance!I loved it! I wish I could give it more than 5 stars!

I enjoyed this entire series. The books were easy to read, entertaining, realistic, and have a great message at the heart of them. I read all three books in less than a week, so they are quick--but they are very good! I will be keeping this series for my daughter to read one day.