The Heart's Pursuit

The Synopsis:


“A jilted bride desperate to save her family from ruin.
A bounty hunter seeking vengeance for a ravaged past.
An arduous trek toward justice—or redemption.

Silver Matlock and Jared Newman know traveling together is a bad idea. Bad for Silver's already tarnished reputation in her small Colorado town. Bad for bounty hunter Jared's secret, single-minded mission for revenge. But Silver is determined to track down the rogue who left her at the altar and stole the last remnant of her father's fortune. And Jared's in a hurry to hunt down the murderer who destroyed his family—even if Silver is too distractingly beautiful for comfort.

The pair takes off over mountain and desert, past bleak homesteads and raw mining towns, hot on the trail of the two villains who took what wasn't theirs to take. Soon supplies dwindle, secrets emerge, and suspicion leave Silver and Jared at odds when they need each other most. To confront an enemy deadlier than desert rattlesnakes and rocky cliffs, Silver and Jared must learn to forgive and trust and face the question they haven't dared voice: What happens next?

My Review:

This is a FABULOUS book!!! I read it in a little over 4 hours and was sad when I realized that the story was already over! Such a great storyline and an absolutely beautiful cover. Characters were so well developed that I feel like I actually met them, and they all had believable actions and reasons for those actions. It had a good amount of both action and romance, not too much of either.

Concerning action, the murderer that Jared is hunting down is also a rapist, but there are no scenes that actually show this happening, only talking about the aftermath, which mostly ends in death for both the girl and whatever family was with her, so sad. These scenes are only talked about and POSSIBLE SPOILER...... Jared meets one girl that did survive the attack and although she doesn't give details, the conversation does give off an emotional effect, as it should. END OF POSSIBLE SPOILER.... There are also a few gun fights and a stabbing that take place in this story that are semi-detailed (is that even a word?????). Concerning romance, it is very respectful and there is no kissing until the end.

Again, this was a great story and the morals that are in it were told in such a way that is shown rather than told. The main thing that was told throughout the book, is that there is a difference between seeking justice and seeking revenge. Justice is seeing that wrong is made right, but with the drive of keeping others from being wronged. Revenge is seeking self-satisfying “justice” that results from hurt and hatred, but with the drive of hurting the one who hurt you, just so you can put them in as much pain as they caused you. The author did a great job of showing the difference and showing how a good drive of justice can easily turn into cold-hearted revenge.

Thank you for reading my review and if you like action-filled historical fiction then I can almost promise you will like this book!!!!

“I received this book from Book Look Blogger program for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are my own.”

Thanks to Andrea Cox's review, I decided to bump this up a bit on my to-read list and checked out the scope from the library. It took me all of two days to read it, and I truly enjoyed each minute. I like that it breaks the predictable in a number of ways, with surprising twists that keep you wondering and worrying. A delightful, clean Western.

The romance is authentic, but also not way touchy-feely, which I loved. Jared always treats Silver with the respect a lady deserves, even though she is not acting in the way a proper lady would (traipsing cross country alone with him.) They exemplify good moral values.

My only gripes: one, that the ending seemed a bit hasty; two, only one real mention of God/Christianity in a Christian novel.