Defiant Heart (Westward Hearts Series #1) (Paperback)

~ Tracey Bateman (Author)
Key Phrases: wagon master, fancy woman, saloon girl, Miss Caldwell, Two Feathers, Blake Tanner (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A wonderful story of adventure and love on the westward trail....a pleasure to read." -- Tracie Peterson, award-winning and best-selling author of the Alaskan Quest series

"Award-winning author Bateman captivates with her latest novel...filled with action, drama and endearing characters...." -- Romantic Times BOOKclub

Review

"A wonderful story of adventure and love on the westward trail....a pleasure to read." (Tracie Peterson, award-winning and best-selling author of the Alaskan Quest series )

"Award-winning author Bateman captivates with her latest novel...filled with action, drama and endearing characters...." (Romantic Times BOOKclub )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Avon Inspire (May 8, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061246336
• ISBN-13: 978-0061246333
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #128,686 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful western romance , May 23, 2007

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In 1847 their stepfather sold Fannie Caldwell and her preadolescent siblings Katie and Kip to Tom as indentured servants. Over the next three years raging drunken Tom treats them horribly, abusing them although Fannie as a lioness protecting her cubs absorbs most of his wrath. However, she is concerned by the way Tom stares and leers at twelve years old Katie; she vows they will escape before he assaults her younger sister.

Fannie befriends Toni the town's fallen woman. They agree to flee together with the former's siblings at the first opportunity. When wagon master Blake Tanner arrives in town, the two females book passage on his trip west although he objects to single women with no man to protect them. As Fannie and Blake, and Toni with the wagon master's best friend Two Feathers fall in love, danger seems everywhere besides the normal perilous journey as someone wants either one or both women dead although no reason seems apparent except perhaps Tom seeking revenge for the Caldwells running away.

The first Westward Hearts tale is a wonderful western romance starring fully developed characters bringing to life the decade before the Civil War on the Great Plains. The story line is driven by the cast who face all sorts of peril as they seek a new hopefully better life. Readers will admire the intrepid Fannie who is fierce when it comes to keeping Katie and Kip safe, but also loving and vulnerable. Toni will receive much empathy from the audience for her trials and tribulations. Tracy Bateman shows why she is an award winning author with this suburb Americana romance.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A lovely read!, August 5, 2007

By	Rel Mollet "RelzReviewz" (Australia) - See all my reviews

Fannie Caldwell has been trapped in a life of servitude to an abusive master and for three years she has plotted to escape with her younger brother and sister. Blake Tanner's wagon train is Fannie's chance but convincing Blake to allow an unmarried women on the train proves to be an impossible task. Refusing to give in Fannie takes an incredible risk to protect her siblings but her past life threatens to endanger them all.

Tracey Bateman's first Westward Heart novel, kicking of the new Avon Inspire range is a lovely read. Fannie is down to earth and her desperate struggle to convince the most mule-headed man she has ever met, that she has a place in the wagon train is amusing and inspiring. Faith, hope and love meet together in this engaging story.

Readers of historical novels will enjoy Defiant Heart and Fannie and Blake's journey and look forward to the sequel ~ a story of the emotionally scarred Toni and Sam Two Feathers, secretly devoted to a woman beyond his reach.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sweet Prairie Romance, June 15, 2007

By	C. Widman (CT) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Defiant Heart is a sweet story chronicling Fannie Caldwell's journey west and the personal journey that leads her there. Her personal story is sad and bittersweet. You want her to succeed and have a good, happy life- to move on from her troubled past.

Overall it's a fast-paced, enjoyable read. The character of Blake, is kind, heartwarming, and sweet. And yet he also is described as a ruggedly handsome cowboy type too. Not a bad combo... My only disappointment is it being such a short book is priced at almost $13!! (Even here, with shipping, it still just as much as the list price.) And it's a small book, barely taller than a mass market paperback. Though the story is good, I wish that the price was more reasonable for the amount of reading it actually is. (The last 10 pages are discussion questions, author info, and preface to next book.)

I really like Tracey Bateman's honest writing style. (I loved the Claire series). Defiant Heart isn't quite as fun as Claire but it's still a worthwhile read.