Steadfast Heart by Tracie Peterson

About the book: Despite her spoiled upbringing, twenty-year-old Lenore Fulcher isn't pretentious. She simply believes a marriage should be built on true love. Her father, however, thinks she's wasted enough time searching for the perfect husband. He wants to marry her off to one of his business partners--who is seventeen years her senior--an idea that is out of the question for Lenore.

Kolbein Booth, a young lawyer from Chicago, arrives in Seattle looking for his headstrong sister, who he believes may have answered an advertisement for mail-order brides. Sick with worry, he storms into the Madison Bridal School, demanding to see his sister, only to learn she isn't there. But Lenore Fulcher is, and something about her captures his attention.

My thoughts: I have been a fan of Tracie Peterson’s writings for a number of years. Her writings are thoroughly enjoyable, definitive in location descriptions, character development par excellence, authentic historical settings, and really good story lines. In her first book in Brides of Seattle series, Steadfast Heart, I just simply did not find all these attributes of a good author’s good story. While not a “bad” book, it just seemed lacking.

In real life we meet many types of individuals. In Steadfast Heart there are a variety of ladies and gents. I loved the older aunts who run the Bridal School in the old section of Seattle near the waterfront. Their “God rest His soul” interjected into conversations is tickle-your-funny-bone funny and shows the sweet charm and eccentricity of these lovely aunties.

Abrianna on the other hand is not an individual I would enjoy being around much. While a dedicated Christian who thoroughly and deeply loves God and is dedicated to His purpose and will for her life, she is a rambling, flighty conversationalist. Some maturing needs to happen in her life. But like people we meet in real life, we don’t have to like them for them to be of value.

Lenore is the real heroin and I’m thinking she is the lovely lady depicted on the cover. A lady of wealth and means and unmarried, she is charming and gentle. She meets a young attorney from Chicago, Kolbein, who is looking for his runaway sister. The book’s romance is about this couple.
The book seems to ramble. The conversations become somewhat annoying but then, they are conversations of characters who are themselves somewhat annoying. Again, life is like that.

The book is not a total loss, but just not up to earlier works by Tracie Peterson in my opinion. I am sure it will be much loved by many, it just didn’t appeal to me as much as usual. I will await Ms. Peterson’s next book in the series. I value her contribution to Christian fiction highly and am looking forward to more from her.

DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy from Bethany House a division Baker Publishing Group in exchange for my review. Opinions expressed are solely my own. I received no compensation for this review.