Customer Reviews

Frontier Courtship (Thorndike Christian Historical Fiction)

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

 

 

Nineteen-year-old Faith Ann Beal promised her dying mother that she would take her younger sister Charity and head west to find their father, who had gone to California in hopes of striking it rich in the goldfields. And with nothing left of the small Ohio farm where she grew up, Faith had no choice but to keep that promise. But she didn't expect how hard the journey would be, especially for two young women on their own.

Connell McClain is traveling the trail in search of his fiancée, Irene, whom he sent for a year ago. Connell and Irene grew up together back east, and now she has agreed to come west to marry him after the death of her parents. However, Irene never made it west, and now Connell is terrified something may have happened to her. When he encounters Faith at Fort Laramie and saves her from a drunken brawl, he agrees to help the young woman and her sister, in order to protect them from an unscrupulous wagon train master as he continues his search for Irene. Neither Faith nor Connell expect the romantic feelings they begin to have for one another, but can they fulfill their obligations to others and still find happiness together?

This was an excellent romance that fans of western historicals and inspirational romances are sure to enjoy. Faith and Connell are wonderful characters, and I loved the setting of a covered wagon train traveling west. I'd highly recommend this book and I look forward to the author's next Love Inspired Historical, coming out in summer 2008.

Frontier Courtship is the second book I've read in the new historical line by Love Inspired, and I loved it. The spunky heroine has her hands full traveling by wagon train with her lovestruck sixteen-year-old sister, who has her hat set for the wagon master. One thing after another happens to Faith Beal, and it seems Connell McClain is always there to rescue her. Connell is searching for his lost love. Will Faith help him find the woman he longs for, even when she wants Connell for herself?

Frontier Courtship is a fast-paced inspirational historical. Trouble comes to Faith faster than she can keep up, but she never loses heart. Connell makes a hero, brave and trustworthy, even though he could use a haircut and shave. I thoroughly enjoyed Valerie Hansen's latest book.

Frontier Courtship is a great romance. It has a lot of adventure and love. It is a page-turner. If you like western and romance this book is an excellent choice.

Faith Beal is determined to keep her promise to her mother. All she has to do is travel out west with her younger sister, Charity, and find their father. Unfortunately, Captain Ramsey Tucker is the boss of the wagon train they have joined and he has a much more devious plan in mind. Connell McClain finds himself in the role of protecting Faith but can he protect his own heart as well?

I really wanted to like FRONTIER COURTSHIP. I have enjoyed other books by Valerie Hansen and so it was with high hopes that I started it. It is with great disappointment that I finished FRONTIER COURTSHIP.

The journey out west for two young women isn't an easy one and Valerie Hansen describes the dangers quite well. However, it is the character development itself that suffers. Charity is so vain, so insipid, that it is hard to care much for her. I don't want to reveal spoilers, but suffice to say that she isn't the only unlikable character as another one is revealed later. Worse yet, Charity and Faith's father isn't a whole lot better as his foolish quest for gold has overtaken his life. Valerie Hansen attempts to redeem her characters, but the brevity of the format makes such a task almost impossible.

COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES

Very well written, holding my interest throughout. Wagon train going west with a touch of mystery, humor and romance. Would recommend.

I have a very idealized, romanticized vision of the Old West and what it must have been like to live and explore there. I blame this on "Little House on the Prairie" primarily, but it always seemed very exciting to live in a relatively unexplored world. Valerie Hansen is a good author and I've enjoyed some of her other books, but this one isn't her best.

The plot centers on a wagon train heading to California during the heady days of the Gold Rush. The train's nefarious Captain, Ramsay Tucker, has plans for 16-year-old Charity Beal that involve stealing her inheritance. Her 19-year-old sister, Faith (I assume that there's a third sister, Hope, somewhere) has promised to see Charity safely to California to find their father following their mother's untimely death from a tornado.

Aiding Faith is mountain man Connell McClain, who is heading west to search for his missing fiancee, Irene. Connell blends in well as he was part of an Indian tribe for awhile and even married an Indian woman (who was killed during a raid). Hansen adds a nice touch of rivalry here, as Faith must deal with the fact that while she's attracted to Connell, he's engaged to Irene.

As another reviewer pointed out, Irene and her Indian suitor are more interesting characters than Faith and Connell. Charity is simply an idiotic teenage girl who elicits no sympathy from the reader. It's a decent read, with a lot of details concerning life in the Old West and Indian tribal customs, but it's not a keeper.

In all fairness I have to say that this book did do a great job making you feel as if you had stepped back into time. That being said the book has so many problems that I really wouldn't recommend it.
*SPOILERS* On one hand you have Faith's sister who gets married to a horrible man but in the end that is treated as if it was no biggie- not even by the absent father- and she didn't even seem sorry for all the trauma she put her sister through.
Not to mention that the man Faith falls in love with seems to just put up with her, and their "love" story is so disjointed that you loose any concern for their characters. Any dialogue between them is so brief you wonder why they even care for one another.
Another character issue is that one minute Faith is presented as a strong woman who is willing to face insurmountable dangers in order to travel across the west, then the next she doesn't have the strength of character to stand up to her sister?
I found myself caring more for Irene and her Indian lover than anyone else in the story. And when the secondary characters overshadow the main, that's when I think the whole story needed much better character development.

Faith keeps a promise to her mother on her deathbed to take Charity her younger sister to the gold fields of California. The journey is very difficult across the country. There was trouble in Ft. Laramie. Connell McClain searching for his sweetheart becomes concern for the girls and decides that they need his protection. This is an interesting love story with its own problems. A good read. By Ruth Thompson author of "Natchez Above The River" and "The Bluegrass Dream"

I received the book in a very timely manner. There was very little
wear on the edges of the front cover and the book was in excellent
condition. I was very satisfied with my purchase.