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A Hopeful Heart by Kim Vogel Sawyer
June 10th, 2010 | 
Author: ABOUT THE BOOK:
Dowryless and desperate, Tressa Neill applies to the inaugural class of Wyatt Herdsman School in Barnett, Kansas, in 1888. The school’s one-of-a-kind program teaches young women from the East the skills needed to become a rancher–or the wife of one.Shy and small for her twenty-two years, Tressa is convinced she’ll never have what it takes to survive Hattie Wyatt’s hands-on instruction in skills such as milking a cow, branding a calf, riding a horse, and cooking up a mess of grub for hungry ranch hands. But what other options does she have?
Abel Samms wants nothing to do with the group of potential brides his neighbor brought to town. He was smitten with an eastern girl once–and he got his heart broken. But there’s something about quiet Tressa and her bumbling ways that makes him take notice.
When Tressa’s life is endangered, will Abel risk his own life–and his heart–to help this eastern girl?
If you would like to read the first chapter of A Hopeful Heart, go HERE.
MY THOUGHTS:
Awhile back I read my first book by Kim Vogel Sawyer. If you’re looking for books rooted in history with a strong storyline focused on love and a relationship with God, you will enjoy Sawyer’s books.
The premise of Aunt Hattie’s herdsman school is a part of history that I never even considered as existing. We read a lot about western girls going east for finishing school, but before A Hopeful Heart, I had never heard of a herdsman school where eastern girls head west to learn how to survive as well as how to run a ranch.
My favorite part of the story revolves around the relationship between Tressa and Aunt Hattie. Through consistent, daily actions, Aunt Hattie helps Tressa understand who God is and how He cares for His children. The spiritual aspect of the story is naturally woven into the story and didn’t seem preachy at all.
Cattle rustlers, broken hearts, community get-togethers, gunshots, a cat affectionately called Izzy-B, and a well-to-do city girl gone west – what more could you ask for in a book?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kim Vogel Sawyer is the author of fifteen novels, including several CBA and ECPA bestsellers. Her books have won the ACFW Book of the Year Award, the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, and the Inspirational Readers Choice Award. Kim is active in her church, where she leads women’s fellowship and participates in both voice and bell choirs. In her spare time, she enjoys drama, quilting, and calligraphy. Kim and her husband, Don, reside in central Kansas, and have three daughters and six grandchildren.
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Thank you so much for taking the time to read and review A HOPEFUL HEART–and especially for mentioning Izzy-B! She was my sweet office companion for more than 17 years, and she slipped away to kitty heaven as I began writing this book. So I “gave” her to Aunt Hattie. I think she added a sweet element to the story.
) Thank you again, and God bless!
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