GOOD

This is the second book I've read in this series and I am really enjoying these characters. Their passion towards the Lord and about being saved is a balm to my weary heart. The plot moves along quickly, the balance of happy and difficult life experience is done well, and I love the settings because ive lived in Idaho, Oregon and Utah. A great distraction from the realities of living in the 21st century.

I loved the historical facts, the plots, and the characters. It was very interesting, and enjoyable. Would recommend this to anyone interested in the 1800's.

Suspenseful , has a lot of Bible verses to help you grow. Convicted me to be more open and share the gospel

mythoughts

This is the first book that I have read from Al Lacey. I will be reading others. Faithful Heart takes us into the 2nd book of the Angel of Mercy series. Now, generally when you are reading a 2nd or third book in a series...you sometimes feel a bit lost. You may not be familiar with the characters or the situations that they have encountered in the past. It's almost like coming to party and not knowing the guest of honor.

Because of this reservation I was sincerely thrilled when Al Lacey took the time to present the reader with a prologue to this book. By taking this simple step I was instantly at ease with reading the second book in the series. I was comfortable in my knowledge of the characters and their history as I began my journey. Mr. Lacey also took the time to add a foreword explaining the history of nursing.

Faithful Heart was a refreshing, entertaining book to read. With wonderful strong women like Dottie and her sister, Breanna, who clearly showed a love and devotion to their family, friends and most of all the Lord... Faithful Heart was a pleasure to read.

The story line starts with the relationship between Breanna Baylor and the "mysterious stranger"...John Stranger. Their relationship is one blessed and guided by the Lord yet they haven't quite made the "official" jump into marriage. They are waiting on the perfect timing and will of God. John Stranger is a cross between an Angel, John Wayne, Rocky Balboa and Cary Grant. He is portrayed as wise, strong, daring, faithful, dedicated to the Lord and very mysterious. But all Breanna needs to know is that he loves the Lord and he loves her. I enjoyed reading their interactions but at times felt that John's words to Breanna were just a tad too syrupy...but then that also added to the allure of John "Stranger". Toward the end I wondered if he was truly human or angelic?

Breana is a 21st century women in the middle of the Frontier days. She is a dedicated nurse, beloved sister, faithful friend and true follower of Christ. Her bravery and sincerity play through in everything Breanna says and does...especially in her interactions with her sister, Dottie.

The second half of the story extends to Dottie. Her experiences with her husband Jerrod and their family. Jerrod is a good man but suffers from shock and stress from his time in active duty in the Civil War. Al Lacey eloquently describes the dementia that Jerrod is plaqued by. His terrible and hateful outbursts are destructive to his life and family. Your heart bleeds for Jerrod and Dottie.

Overall the story line was interesting and captivating. At the end of the book...I was wishing for more of the story. I wanted to learn more about Breanna, Dottie and John Stranger. As a women I wanted to learn more of the love lives of these two women and about the mysterious, John Stranger. Who is he really? But as a Christian...I as inspired by their faith, their resilience and their dedication and knowledge of the word of God.

I had a very difficult time with the historical (in)accuracies of this novel. Yes, it is historical fiction, but I expect even fiction to be more historically accurate than this. The main problem lies in the medical terminology used in this book--and there is a lot of medical discussion because Breanna is a nurse and Dottie's husband Jerrod is suffering from psychological problems caused by his experiences in the Civil War. Unfortunately, although the author has done a lot of research on medical conditions and treatments, they don't always mesh with the time period. "Shell shock" is mentioned throughout the book as being the cause of Jerrod's problems. But the term "shell shock" was not adopted to refer to this problem until World War I--in the Civil War era it was called "soldier's heart" or "combat fatigue". After this, I found myself checking on other medical details in the book that seemed too modern to fit the time period. The other obvious (to me) inaccuracy happens when Breanna ties on a surgeon's mask. Surgeon's masks were not really adopted until after 1899, when the droplet theory of infection was developed. Are these important parts of the story? Perhaps. But they are inaccurate enough to bother me throughout the book.

Perhaps these inaccuracies will not bother other readers as much as they bother me. But the story in general just didn't grab me either. At times the romance between John Stranger and Breanna was a bit sappy (this is personal opinion, others might not see it that way). It also took a really long time for Breanna's story to intersect with Dottie's story. And I just could not identify with Dottie. She took way too long to take her children out of an extremely dangerous situation, because she was too concerned about Jerrod's psychological and emotional welfare. I could understand her reasoning if she had been afraid he would kill them if they left, but her reasoning was always that she was afraid it would destroy Jerrod's emotional/psychological healing and she wanted to help him get better. The violence done to the children in the book sickened me, and made me angry that this character would put herself and her children in such a position.

The ending has a frightening climax and struck me as an awfully convenient way to get Dottie out of her marriage and move her on to a new relationship. I just didn't like this book much at all. There was one portion of the story in which Dottie and Jerrod's doctor discuss the reasons why God does not always heal faithful Christians who ask Him for healing that I thought was really explained well. I did enjoy parts of the book, but the weak points were hard to power through.

I think I was probably also at a disadvantage because I didn't read the first book of this series (Angel of Mercy) or the other series that is related to Breanna's love interest, John Stranger (Journeys of the Stranger). I definitely felt like there was a big backstory that I had missed, so readers would be better off starting at the beginning of this series. Ultimately, I don't recommend this book unless you are an Al Lacy fan.

**This book was provided for review by the publisher, Waterbrook Multnomah.