Cherished Mercy

For as long as I can remember I have loved western stories. Probably came after my introduction to the Louis L'Amor novels that may have jump started my love of the simple life but also a very difficult and hostile life as well. I have been honored to read all of the novels in Tracie Peterson's Heart of the Frontier series and her final one in the series is Cherished Mercy. Each of the novels have introduced the reader to the Flanagan sisters and the last one is the youngest Mercy. She has been working with her sister Grace at helping women during childbirth and also learning about herbal medicines that can help whatever ails most people on the frontier.

Just as she is about to come into her own, a family friend writes that his wife, Eletta is not doing well while expecting their first baby in March. They have asked if Mercy can come to stay with them and help with the birthing of the baby. Mercy fears the recent Rogue River Indians after just barely surviving her own Indian attack and being held hostage for over a month, during the Whitman Massacre has matured her and changed her. She now understands the Indian people a bit more, and has given them the benefit of the doubt since not all Indians are ruthless killers. These people merely want to exist but now it seems that the government has hired on a militia to kill any and all Indians they see, so for Mercy's family it feels like she would be well enough to go.

She believes God will watch over her and protect her as she heads to Gold Beach, Oregon to aid in any way she can to help Eletta get better. Her husband Isaac and herself were responsible for helping all three sisters make it to the west during the Oregon trail and she now feels God is calling her to help. She just doesn't expect to fall in love with Adam Browning, the younger brother of Isaac. She isn't looking for love and that is good, because Adam doesn't believe Mercy will be able to hack it in the rudimentary lodgings and working so closely with the Indian population near them. He believes once she arrives, she will be begging to head home. He isn't at all prepared for what she brings with her when she arrives at their homestead. Lots of gumption and grit for sure on both sides.

I received Cherished Mercy by Tracie Peterson compliments of NetGalley and Baker Publishing Group. I have read to many of Tracies's novel and they just welcome the reader on it. It's like a great friend, that you can curl up with her books and sit by the fire and lose yourself in the story. I have wanted to know what Mercy would turn up like after reading about her throughout all the novels up to this one and LOVE that she has a bit of sass about her. She isn't willing to put up with any man who thinks she needs someone to complete her and this is where it gets interesting so that you have to finish it before doing anything else. She's a spit fire for sure, but has she met her match? Pick this one up to find out. I easily give this one a 5 out of 5 stars in my opinion and western romance lovers will want to pick up the entire series and carve out some time to enjoy each of them.

For more information about Cherished Mercy, Tracie Peterson or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Cherished Mercy by Tracie Peterson 

You can find Tracie Peterson on Facebook to stay up to date with all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on Cherished Mercy, please visit Baker Publishing Group's website. 

Beloved Hope

A man can't live without hope. Nor can a woman and in Beloved Hope by Tracie Peterson, Hope Flanagan comes face to face with her past she longed to forget that happened two years ago. The Whitman Massacre had led to the deaths of more than just Dr. Whitman and his wife, but also the only man Hope wanted to marry and loved with all her heart. Watching him being killed in front of her while she watched the life seep out of him was hard for her, but not before being taken captive by the Cayuse Indians who staged this. She was raped and left with an unborn child of the man who had taken more than just her innocence. She wanted nothing more out of life including her own. But after giving birth and placing that child into the hands of a couple who wanted a baby, Hope could not seem to find her way back to any normal sense of life. Even two years later, she built up such a wall around her, that all she wanted was to be left alone and far away from friends or even finding another man to love.

Now that she has been asked to testify in the trial of the five Cayuse Indians responsible for the murders of those at the Whitman Mission, she knows she can never let the possibility of the one man who took more than just her life away, walk away if they found him not guilty. In fact there was fear of that in light of those in the US government who wanted to grant peace between the white men and the Indians, even if it meant letting them go free. Hope was going to make sure the last thing this Indian did was to walk free. Perhaps that is why she managed to sneak past the armed guards and found her way into the jail cell that held the man who had taken everything from her. Now she was going to ensure he never lived another day, when she pulled the gun from her pocket. She just needed to find a way to pull the trigger and then it would all be over.

Lieutenant Lance Kenner wasn't about to let Hope make a mistake and when he saw her holding the gun on one of his prisoners, he assured her that this man's life wasn't worth her time. He knew that her and most of the women in Oregon City were trying to come to terms with what had happened and Hope was so sure that no man would want her ever again. But Lance Kenner was not like the men she had met before. Being from New Orleans and having lost his own family, all he was looking for when he met Hope was simply a friend to help get him through this trial so he could be done with serving his time and get back to running the plantation his family had left him. But it seems that they both might just need the right friend in order to gain more than just their hope back, but also to learn to trust God and understand that forgiveness isn't about letting someone off the hook, it's about letting go of the hurt they have caused you that you continue to carry with you every single day.

I received Beloved Hope by Tracie Peterson compliments of Baker Publishing Group and Net Galley. In accordance with the new FTC Guidelines for blogging and endorsements, you should assume that every book reviewed here at Reviews From The Heart was provided to the reviewer by the publisher, media group or the author for free and were received, unless specified otherwise.  This is the second novel in the Heart of the Frontier Series which picks up two years later after the Whitman Massacre that Treasured Grace covered in the first novel. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to face your accusers and I understood the feelings of hatred and anger that Hope must have felt. You would hope there would be a release of those feelings once the guilty have been punished but as most of us know, it doesn't happen like we would want to believe it would. Unless we choose to let go of those past feelings and let God handle it, we will continue to drag around that chain until it grows too heavy for us and life simply continues to pass us by. I give this a 4.5 out of 5 stars and can't wait for the third novel that must revolve around Mercy's life, the youngest of the Flanagan sisters.

For more information about Beloved Hope, Tracie Peterson or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Beloved Hope by Tracie Peterson

You can find Tracie Peterson on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on Beloved Hope, please visit Baker Publishing Group's website. 

Treasured Grace

It is often hard in these days of comfort and technology to remember a time when life wasn't so filled with the luxuries we take for granted every single day. Take life for those who wanted a fresh start by heading west via the Oregon Trail. Not only did they face the hardships of packing what little they could in a wagon and selling everything else, but they had to hope that what they did bring would help them make the journey to their new homes despite the odds clearly stacked against them. From the environmental challenges and unpredictability of the weather, you had issues when your wagon broke down and repairs might not be able to made, or when your ox or horse was injured and you were stuck. Even worse was when you came down with illness, you had to make do with what you had or what skills someone else might possess.

I absolutely LOVE Tracie Peterson's novels because they are written with such attention to detail and you find yourself getting a bit of a history lesson in the process. In her latest Heart of the Frontier series, Treasured Grace takes readers into the heart of Grace Martindale, who married the Right Reverend T. S. Martindale in an effort so they could both move west on the Oregon Trail. They agreed to keep the marriage as one of convenience over one filled with love. Along with that he agreed to bring along Grace's younger sisters, Hope and Mercy. They just didn't expect the Reverend to die along the way and leave Grace a widow. Now with no money to really begin a life, all she has is her talents as a natural healer and in a hostile world faced with increasing Indian threat at the Whitman Mission, the place where Martindale girl's are slated to stay for now. .

Unfortunately the local doctor who runs the mission doesn't take kindle to Grace's herbal remedies despite how well they might work. He isn't about to have anyone question his authority and he is about to ensure that she understands where a woman's place truly is and that is not working with anyone who has medical needs. She just doesn't plan on running into Alexander Armistead, a local trapper and hunter who will do all he can to ensure Grace's survival and greatly respects her ability to heal people through herbs and natural remedies. He isn't ready for marriage or love based on a past he isn't sure he can ever reconcile. As hostilities begin to rise between the Cayuse Indians and the people living at the Mission, they believe that the doctor is out to poison them when an outbreak of measles hit them all hard and it seems more Indians are dying than the white people are. Perhaps it might be time to even the odds in the Cayuse Indian's favor.

I received Treasured Grace by Tracie Peterson compliments of Baker Publishing Group and Net Galley. In accordance with the new FTC Guidelines for blogging and endorsements, you should assume that every book reviewed here at Reviews From The Heart was provided to the reviewer by the publisher, media group or the author for free and were received, unless specified otherwise. In a note to the reader, Tracie Peterson shares that "the Whitman Mission massacre is a well-known piece of history that forever changed the western frontier." I would agree. It is difficult not to find hatred for a race of people that violent killed so many innocent people without due cause and creates a historical reference for racial tensions that went back into the 1800's as the white man insisted on taking whatever land they wanted despite how the Indian tribes felt. It truly was a difficult life to face and how many people lost their lives in the process or those that survived were forever changed by what they witnessed. I give this novel a 5 out of 5 stars and can't wait for more from Tracie Peterson in this wonderful series of novels she has started.

For more information about Treasured Grace, Tracie Peterson, or where to pick up a copy of this novel, please click on the links below:

Treasured Grace by Tracie Peterson

You can find Tracie Peterson on Facebook to stay up to date with all her latest novels.

You can read more reviews of Treasured Grace by visiting Baker Publishing Group's website.