A Heart Forever Wild (An Everlasting Heart Book 4)

Sara
Barnard
Genre: 
Historical

Sanderson Redding takes his family to California to establish a home, but working as an Indian agent doesn’t sit well when he discovers he is required to gather the peaceful Indians in the area for execution.  Changing careers, he obtains a well-paying job as a supervisor with the railroad, only to become obsessed with money and forget what is important in life. When his wife Charlotte ends up locking horns with the town’s banker and Cotton has been bullied at school, Charlotte starts to see the move to California as a detriment to her family’s happiness. However, when Sanderson finds the allure of money more enticing than his marriage, life soon becomes unbearable.  

 

This fourth book in the Everlasting Heart series stands alone for the most part but is very confusing in the beginning. The reader is bombarded with numerous characters and has to reread in order to get any understanding of what role each one plays and how they relate to each other. Once past the confusion, one is rewarded with a vividly descriptive rendition of the life of a mixed family as they endure trials and tribulations, as well as the agony of loss and the triumph of love. The characters are well developed with many layers, while the storyline moves at a good pace. There are some editing issues, which cause some hiccups, but not enough to detract from the overall enjoyment of this very believable portrayal of life on the western frontier. With a multitude of emotions, the reader empathizes with the characters as the plot unfolds and can’t help rooting for the happily ending.  

 

Janna Shay