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Book
Dangerous Heart

Author
Tracey Bateman

The Plot
If you're a fan of the Janette Oak books, you'll easily become a fan of Tracey Bateman's novels, as well. Tracey incorporates a similar mix of the American west, faith, and romance in her stories, proving this genre is still alive and well.

In Dangerous Heart (the third and final novel in her Westward Hearts series), readers will get to know Ginger Freeman as she moves west as part of a wagon train and struggles to fit in. Ginger stands out a bit from the rest of the women. She's a rough and tumble, headstrong (i.e., read stubborn) woman with absolutely no interest in romance. Raised as part of an outlaw gang, with an outlaw father, outlaws for brothers, and no mother, her feminine wiles aren't only rusty, they're pretty much non-existent. That's probably why it totally escapes her that Dr. Grant Kelley, the wagon train's doctor, seems to be falling for her. Unbeknown to the good doctor, however, Ginger joined the wagon train bent on revenge, with plans to kill the doctor for letting one of her brothers die in a robbery gone bad years ago. She's thought about little else for seven years and she's just waiting for her opportunity. She was just a girl then, so Dr. Kelley may not remember her, but she's a grown woman now and she certainly remembers him―and she's bent on destroying his life just as hers was destroyed when she lost the big brother she adored.

But when Ginger comes face to face with the father and younger brother she left behind―and an outlaw who has his eye on her for a wife―her motives for being with the wagon train suddenly become suspect. The good Christian wagon train community isn't totally naive and comes to suspect Ginger may not be what she portrayed herself to be. It's a rather uncanny coincidence that outlaws attack the wagon train one day and then Ginger's long-lost relatives start appearing in the days that follow. Delays begin to plague the wagon train, threatening to keep them from arriving in Oregon prior to the hard winter ahead, and then disaster strikes! Cholera spreads through the camp like wildfire, burning a destructive path of death and grief, and suddenly Ginger isn't sure she can go through with her plan. She watches as Dr. Kelley nurses the sick and dying and wonders how this can be the same man who turned his back on her brother when he was in need.

I don't want to spoil the ending for you, so you're just going to have to read the rest of the story to find out how it ends, but I will tell you it comes to a satisfying, feel-good conclusion that incorporates more than just romance. It also helps complete the circle, ties up any loose ends from the first novels, and weaves Christian faith and forgiveness into the storyline to reveal a heartwarming ending and epilogue.

But may I suggest that before you read Dangerous Heart, you first pick up the first two novels in this series: Defiant Heart and Distant Heart? You'll thoroughly enjoy the three novels and devour them cover to cover once you start reading the first one! And as all avid readers know, the only thing better than one good novel is three good novels!

Order Dangerous Heart today!

Disclosure: The reviewer received a complimentary copy of the book to review.