Customer Reviews

Hopeful Heart, A

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
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*****
This lovely prairie romance will satisfy even people who do not normally read prairie romances (like me). It is the story of a young woman--Tressa--who moves to Kansas from the east coast in the late nineteenth century in order to attend a school for prospective ranchers' wives, a school which trains young women in skills they will need on the prairie--riding a horse, driving a wagon, branding and birthing animals, cooking for a ranching crew, and other domestic and farming skills. The school is delightful--a training ground for young women to see if they have what it takes to make it on the prairie. When they finish the school, they are matched with a rancher and marry (with the consent of all involved, of course).

Tressa learns to be not just a successful rancher's wife, but so much more. She learns how to stand up for herself, what love is and isn't, and what faith in God is and how to rely on Him. In the process of her learning these lessons, much goes on, including a mystery surrounding cattle rustling, interesting tales of the other character's pasts, friendships, and vivid portrayals of a simpler and in many ways, better time, in my opinion. The plot of this beautifully-written novel at first seems that it is going to be predictable, but it is not!

Since this is a Christian novel as well, the characters profess faith in a non-preachy way that fits in beautifully with the plot. Faith in God was a big part of life on the midwest prairie, and seeing how He fit into the fabric of almost everyone's life was moving. I started this novel and found myself unable to put it down; it was an escape for me to an amazing time and place, and I am grateful to have read it.

Highly recommended.
*****

Can she turn her second-best chance into a golden opportunity?

Dowryless and desperate, Tressa Neill applies to the inaugural class of Wyatt Herdsman School in Barnett, Kansas. The school's one-of-a-kind program teaches young women from the East the skills needed to become a rancher--or the wife of one. But will Tressa have what it takes to survive Hattie Wyatt's hands-on instruction in skills such as milking a cow, branding a calf, and cooking up a mess of grub for hungry ranch hands?

Abel Samms wants nothing to do with the passel of potential brides his neighbor brought to town. He was smitten with an eastern girl once--and he got his heart broken. But there's something about quiet Tressa and her bumbling ways that makes him take notice. When trouble strikes, will Abel risk his life--and his heart--to help this eastern girl?

A Hopeful Heart, by Kim Vogel Sawyer is a historical fiction book, however, it is also a romance book as well. The story is very sweet and touching. Tressa is sent away by her aunt and uncle to attend a herdsman school and find a beau. Although thought to be feeble, Tressa turns out to be a tough one, even though in her past, she lived the high society life. All the girls attending the herdsman school have secret pasts that they're trying to break free of, but only through God's direction, do they fulfill their purposes.

The story is faith based and shows how circumstances may separate us from God, but He is always in control, and uses those situations to bring us back to Him. This book holds a story of love, faith, rejection and renewal. You'll be glad you read this book!

I received a copy of this book courtesy of Bethany House's Blog Review program. All opinions are my own.

A Hopeful Heart is a gentle story of healing and forgiveness. The protagonist, Tressa Neill, is sent west to Wyatt Herdsman School as a dowryless girl. Her guardians, an aunt and uncle, believe that second best is good enough for their orphaned niece. The events that shape Tressa's life, as well as the lives of the other girls at the Herdsman School, run full spectrum from cooking for ranch hands to branding cattle. Sawyer's novel captures the essence of Kansas ranch life in the late 19th Century.
Since "Aunt" Hattie Wyatt's purpose in starting this school is to train girls to be ranchers' wives, there's plenty of matchmaking going on while the girls learn ranching skills.
In A Hopeful Heart, Sawyer has woven a tale of a loving God's plans for each girl's future. The reader gets to participate in Aunt Hattie's faith as she shares her beliefs with those around her. This novel is a sweet romance with a strong Christian element, suitable for tween girls as well as their moms and grandmas.
My thanks to Bethany House for providing me with a copy for review.

A Hopeful Heart by Kim Vogel Sawyer

This was one of our group reads over at Fans of Amish Fiction on GoodReads from October.

Alas, life kept me from finishing it in a timely manner. :(

But, I finally have and now, time for the review!

A Hopeful Heart by Kim Vogel Sawyer is a historical fiction novel set in Kansas. A few young women attend a class in Kansas run by Miss Hattie Wyatt which promises to teach them how to be a husband to a rancher, and then marry them off.

The men in town are excited about a new bunch of young women, and the women are excited to find themselves a husband. It is almost a mail-order bride story, of sorts.

We meet Tressa, a desperate young woman who comes from a privileged background as far as money, but who has not had a happy life. She is desperate, and this seems like her best option, but still, not a very good one. But is there someone in the small town fit to be her husband? Or is her trip completely in vain?

Read A Hopeful Heart to find out!

While this was a sweet book it wasn't my favorite. On top of taking so long for me to get through it was quite slow at places which is what also made it easy to put down and tough to remember to finish.

Tressa is a sweet girl and you cannot help but love Hattie. Clearly, Hattie has a heart of gold and means to help these women.

I also appreciated the sort of element of mystery with trying to figure out who the cattle rustlers were, stealing Abel's cattle. While the romantic pairing was a good one, it almost felt fake with how difficult the characters made it for themselves. Sure, they each had baggage, but still, it didn't feel real how much they caused their baggage to delay things. I found that aspect frustrating, rather than intriguing.

All in all I would say 3 out of 5 stars.

Put your bonnet on, climb up into the buckboard and take a trip to the Wyatt Herdsman School in Barnett, Kansas. Tressa Neill travels west at her Aunt Gretchen's demands for a second chance at gaining a husband and family. The west is long on men and short on women. The small town of Barnett is all stirred up because Hattie Wyatt had concocted a plan to train women brought from the east everything they need to know about being a rancher's wife. The fun part will be matching them up with unmarried ranchers when they've graduated.

We wander amongst these young women as they brand calves, make butter, learn to keep a ranch house clean all the while anticipate being sparked by the ranchers. Tressa, flawed by the inability to forgive, eventually undercovers a secret, which gives her an opportunity to grow. Adam, soured on God for all the losses in his life and preoccupied with a ranch that barely sustains itself, resists marriage. Will his heart forever be held prisoner?

Especially endearing is prayerful "Aunt" Hattie, who, not blessed with children of her own, is full of hope about her house of young students. She is determined to teach them riding, roping, milking, gardening, canning and any other rancher's wife duty she can come up with, all in preparation for preparing them for their duties as ranch wives. Hattie, too, eventually finds love.

A Hopeful Heart will immediately plunk you into its characters' lives and make you feel a part of the wide-open prairie. Using Abel's ranch as a place to teach her girls about birthing calves is a snappy plot twist. The dialogue reflects the time and culture perfectly. This book is a fascinating take on an experimental program to help populate the west. The story is original and the writing smooth and easy on the eyes. We learn that holding onto grudges helps no one. Forgive as God has forgiven us is hard for some, but not impossible. Highly recommended to those who love a subtle romance set the west when our country was young.

Reviewed by Holly Weiss, author of Crestmont

Kim Vogel Sawyer has taken a chance comment by someone she met on a trip about a "herdsman school" that taught women how to be proper wives for ranchers, and woven a love story of an unlikely couple that you fall in love with and root for them to be together. And the whole cast of characters are so unique and well-drawn that you feel like you have spent time living in that community and sharing their lives with them.

Besides being a romance, this story encompasses cattle rustling, a couple shootings, lots of lessons on surviving on the prairie, and some great spiritual lessons that are so interwoven into the story that you feel like a friend is counseling you, not preaching at you. Forgiveness is one of the lessons, and also that God can turn bad things into good things.

Since this book is a stand-alone, it doesn't matter if you have read any of the author's earlier books or not, and if this is your first book by this author, you are in for a big treat. You could read a book a week by her until Thanksgiving without any repeats, so check out her website for a complete listing at kimvogelsawyer.com/. Happy reading!

Ever since I read Courting Miss Amsel by Kim Vogel Sawyer earlier this year, I have been itching to go back and read some of her earlier novels. I fell in love with her simple, yet emotional, style of writing, and knew that I had found a new favorite author. A Hopeful Heart was another very good story! Not quite as good as my first experience with Courting Miss Amsel, but still, very good nonetheless.

I honestly had a tough time getting started with this one. I've read one other "mail-order bride" story where there were several women (16, to be exact) that traveled together to the same town to be matched up to eligible bachelors, and frankly, it was not an enjoyable read. So, my expectations were somewhat crushed from the beginning that I would be in for a similar story where 6 women traveled together to Kansas. But I continued on, and was pleasantly surprised how much I started to like it.

Tressa was the sweetest character. Her demeanor was a little all over the place because she was trying so hard to fit in, and not let people in on the secret that she was really a refined young lady. So, there were times when she was very timid, and other times when her fancy vocabulary would stun folks into silence (loved those parts the most, I must say).

I wasn't particularly crazy about the early development of Tressa and Abel's relationship. It seemed to lack genuiness, as well as too much matchmaking on the part of Aunt Hattie. BUT...everything slowly, but surely, started to come together by the end, and I was itching to see their relationship blossom.

Even though it had a slow beginning, I still really enjoyed this book. I've read countless mail-order bride stories, and I've come to the conclusion that there needs to be something unique about it to set it apart from all the many others available. This book had that unique quality in the form of a herdsman school (which I had never heard of before). There was also a bit of mystery woven through the story which made it even more interesting. I look forward to reading more of Kim's books in the future, and I happily give a rating of 4 Stars for A Hopeful Heart.

i read this book before i got my kindle. i loved all the characters especially Mrs. Wyatt. All in all, it was an awesome book about how two people can fall in love.

Kim Vogel Sawyer created a delightful cast of characters with whom I enjoyed spending time. Six young Eastern women head to Kansas to attend a special school, one designed to teach them how to become successful rancher's wives. While the focus is on reserved Tressa and rugged rancher Abel Samms, the reader gets to experience added fun as multiple matches are made under the watchful eye of the school's founder, Aunt Hattie, a warmhearted woman who adds much to the story. Sawyer is a gifted storyteller, and I savored every moment my nose was buried between the pages of A Hopeful Heart.

Kim Vogel Sawyer hit another home run with A Hopeful Heart. Always easy to read, Kim's writing style allows the characters to become "real" to the reader. I stayed up most of the night to finish A Hopeful Heart because I just had to know what was going to happen to Tressa and Abel. I've loved every book I've read by Kim, but I think this is my favorite of them all so far. I've tried to analyze why and I think it is because A Hopeful Heart is more of a western historical in topic. The characters are ranchers instead of farmers, and, since I'm from Texas, I identify more closely with cowboys. Way to go Kim. I hope there will be more books about the Wyatt Herdsman School.