Defiant Heart

by Tracey Bateman

In Book One of the Westward Hearts series, orphans Fannie Caldwell and her two young siblings have spent the last three years as indentured servants under a cruel master. Desperately wanting a better life for her brother and sister, Fannie devises a plan to secretly join a wagon train heading west. Her plan immediately runs into trouble when the handsome yet bullheaded wagon master Blake Tanner refuses to allow an unmarried woman on the train...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061246336
• ISBN13: 9780061246333
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Avon Inspire
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Very enjoyable western romance.

This was an enjoyable western romance. The main character Fannie is very admirable for the way she tries to protect her siblings from the abusive man they worked for. The love story between her and Blake was so sweet and I love the wagon train setting. I'd highly reccomend this to fans of western romances.

Frontier Story

Orphan Fannie Caldwell and her twin siblings are trapped in an indentured servant relationship with a cruel master. Fannie desperately wants a better life for her siblings and to escape the abuse they have endured. Fannie comes up with a plan to secretly join a wagon train heading west. Her plan runs into a snag called Blake Tanner the wagon master. Seems he has rules about allowing unmarried woman on the train. But Fannie's determined to leave her abusive situation. She has planned and saved for 2 years. Tonight was the night no matter what that wagon master said. She had to be set free. Fannie had not thought long and hard about life on the frontier as a single woman. Life on the trail tests every part of Fannie's body and soul. Will the wagon master let her join the wagon train? Will she make the wagon's final destination Oregon or have to settle for some other town? Will Blake sacrifice his own dreams and guide Fannie to safety? Or will Fannie's stubborn independent spirit keep her from finding peace and true love in her life? Get reading to find out the answers to these questions. I could see this as a TV movie special. I look forward to reading the rest of them. This is not tje Chick lit book that Tracey has been know for. This is a serious story with humor in it. I really liked it. I look forward to the sequel. Nora St.Laurent Book Club Servant Leader Novel Review www.novelreviews.blogspot.com

Frontier Story

Orphan Fannie Caldwell and her twin siblings are trapped in an indentured servant relationship with a cruel master. Fannie desperately wants a better life for her siblings and to escape the abuse they have endured. Fannie comes up with a plan to secretly join a wagon train heading west. Her plan runs into a snag called Blake Tanner the wagon master. Seems he has rules about allowing unmarried woman on the train. But Fannie's determined to leave her abusive situation. She has planned and saved for 2 years. Tonight was the night no matter what that wagon master said. She had to be set free. Fannie had not thought long and hard about life on the frontier as a single woman. Life on the trail tests every part of Fannie's body and soul. Will the wagon master let her join the wagon train? Will she make the wagon's final destination Oregon or have to settle for some other town? Will Blake sacrifice his own dreams and guide Fannie to safety? Or will Fannie's stubborn independent spirit keep her from finding peace and true love in her life? Get reading to find out the answers to these questions. I could see this as a TV movie special. I look forward to reading the rest of them. This is not tje Chick lit book that Tracey has been know for. This is a serious story with humor in it. I really liked it. I look forward to the sequel. Nora St.Laurent Book Club Servant Leader [...]

A Sweet romance with Heartfelt Emotion

Defiant Heart was one of those page-turners. I couldn't put it down. My only complaint--it wasn't long enough! Tracey, write longer next time! It was done too quick!

More like 4.5 stars. A great read!

This was probably one of the most riveting prairie novels I've ever read. I finished it quickly. The tension was great throughout the story. And Fannie was the strongest heroine I've ever come across, though her stubborn streak got her into an awful lot of trouble. On occasion, that stubbornness made her a bit unlikeable, but given her past, her guarded behavior made total sense. Plus, she never would've captured Blake's attention any other way. There were some pretty sad situations in this story, many of which were extremely realistic for those times. Honestly, the only weakness I saw was the POV switching without warning at times. At first I thought it was that the printer missed the section break, but then realized that probably wasn't the case as the switch happened about twenty times. At any rate, that wasn't a huge issue for me, but did confuse me a bit. Still, I highly recommend this book. It has a nice ending, but there is obviously going to be a sequel, which I assume will be just as wonderful as this story.