Customer Reviews

Restless Heart

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Angeline Hunter was living a lie each day, but at least she was alive to live it. When she is given presents by an interested suitor she panics. Samuel Carver has been through a lot. He has fought in the war and come home to his father's printing press. He fought hard and lived to come back to tell the tale. He really wants to get to know Angeline better, but she keeps running from him. Angeline has good reasons from her past to run from a man. The secret she keeps is tearing her life apart, but she sees no other way to escape it. She needs Samuel more than she knows because her past is about to make an appearance in her new life, and if she cannot trust Samuel in time it might cost her, her life.

Restless Heart by Emma Lang is a frontier romance set in the late 1800's. I found I really enjoyed getting to know the old west lifestyle and all the hot cowboys around back then. Samuel has been through a lot, surviving the war and coming home, but it has made him stronger in spirit. He has a depth of character that made me want to know more about him. Angeline is mysterious, but we can see she has a strong spirit and warm heart. She is trying to do the right thing, but her past is keeping her from being able to live in the present. I found her to be a woman ahead of her time. I do not think most women of her time could do what she has or would think to move on with their lives like she has done. She is progressive and brave, and I wanted to see her to reach for and grab her happy ending very badly. When you want a heartfelt western romance, Restless Heart is the perfect story to read.

In 1872 the third wife of abusive Latter Day Saints Elder Josiah, Angeline Hunter flees from his brutality as she has no place to turn to in their Mormon community; not even papa who agreed to her marriage to this vicious but highly important man older than him. She makes a new life working at the Blue Plate but always looks over her shoulder in Wyoming. The townsfolk quickly like and admire the outgoing caring newcomer.

Reticent half-breed Sam Carver struggles with his injured leg and caring for his elderly father. He especially is charmed by the vivacious Angeline. As the pair falls in love encouraged by the townsfolk, she knows she cannot marry as she is already a wife even if she took a chance with giving her heart to gentle Sam.

This sequel to Ruthless Heart (the romance of Angeline's sister) is an exciting post Civil War romance that brings to life rural Wyoming. The story line is fast-paced with a delightful flawed lead couple struggling with their feelings. Although Josiah is the stereotype of the malevolent abusive leader cloaked in religious respectability, fans will enjoy High Noon in late nineteenth century Wyoming.

Harriet Klausner

This book was a pretty big disappointment for me. I LOVED Ruthless Heart by the same author (and am a big fan of her work as both Emma Lang and Beth Williamson), but this book seemed...much, much less than what I expected. With the heroine's history of abuse from a sadistic husband, I found it hard to believe that she so willingly embraced her sexuality with the hero, Sam, with little, to no hesitation or reservations. While I can understand Angel's wanting to take charge of her life, it just didn't "feel" right to her history and her story.

I also wish more of the book would have focused on the indoctrinations of her religion that ruled her life. She easily abandoned them, and for a dutiful daughter, that seemed like it was too easy. It's not easy to leave behind all that you previously believed in even if it was restrictive so this didn't really seem realistic. I guess I wish more of the book would have revolved around Angel's coming to terms with the person that she was, and the new woman that she became after all she went through. Most of that seemed to have already happened by the time the book started so it left me wondering why she didn't just rebel from her arranged marriage in the first place. Then there is her marriage in the eyes of God with the man she despised. While it may not have been legal I was surprised that more was not made of her marrying again by a preacher (though he didn't know she had been previously married and that her "husband" still lived). I wish more of this part of the story would have been explored and would have given the story more angst.

I wish less time would have been spent on Sam's Carver family. And I didn't really feel that the two deaths in the book were necessary to make the story better, instead it made the story a bit gloomy for me. The book wasn't poorly executed, it just didn't work for me on many levels. While I would wholeheartedly recommend the previous book in this series, Ruthless Heart, sadly I can't say the same for Restless Heart.

What was Angeline's secret? Why is she so reluctant to find a man and settle down? Sam Carver is intrigued by Angeline and gives her a gift. He is in the restaurant she works in all the time, hoping to catch the young beauty's eye. As Sam and Angeline get to know each other, she entrusts him with her secrets, and her life.

Written with heart and heat, I was sucked into the pages immediately.

I must admit I don't read a lot of historicals. With Restless Heart, I found it enjoyable, fast paced, and actually quite a refreshing different read. This book is full of emotion, danger, intrigue, suspense..well, it has it all. I loved reading about Sam and Angeline, and I loved the feel of a small town back in the late 1870's. The characters breathed life right off the pages and put a smile on my face. I never knew what to expect, the plot filled with many twists.

If you enjoy historical westerns, then I would definitely suggest Emma Lang's Restless Heart. It's passionate, romantic, and a thrill. I will surely be looking for other titles by this author.