Wat het hart verlangt

Sydney Cove #2

by Bonnie Leon, Nico van den Berge (Translator)

Na hun vrijlating trouwen Hannah en John en vestigen zich in hun nieuwe vaderland: Australië. Om in hun levensonderhoud te voorzien, beginnen ze een schapenboerderij. Ook verlangen ze ernaar een gezin te stichten. Het opzetten van een eigen bedrijf is echter niet zo gemakkelijk. Allerlei gevaren liggen op de loer. In haar dromen wordt Hannah steeds achtervolgd door meneer Walker, de man die haar leven verwoest heeft. De verschijning van een mysterieuze vrouw in de stad brengt Hannah van haar stuk. Zouden de geheimen uit haar verleden nu aan het licht komen?

Genres: Christian Fiction, Christian, Historical Fiction, Historical, Romance, Christian Romance

380 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Bonnie Leon is the author of twenty-three novels, including the recently released One Hundred Valleys, To Dance With Dolphins, the popular Alaskan Skies and bestselling The Journey of Eleven Moons.
Bonnie’s books are being read internationally and she hears from readers in Australia, Europe, and even Africa.
She enjoys speaking for women’s groups and teaching at writing seminars and conventions. These days, her time is filled with writing, being a grandmother and relishing precious time with her aged mother.
Bonnie and her husband, Greg, live in Southern Oregon. They have three grown children and eight grandchildren.

You can find bonnie at
https://www.bonnieleon.com
https://www.facebook.com/BonnieLeonAu...
https://www.bonnieleon.blogspot.com
https://www.@bonnie_leon
https://www.pinterest.com/bonnieleon/

Reviews

[Brandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book in just under 2 days. I really love the relationship these characters have with each other. Once again, I was drawn in by more than just a summer read. It was one of those books that when you go to bed to read you say "OK just one more chapter" about 8 timesbefore your force yourself to put the book down so you can survive waking up in 4 1/2 hours. :) I love the story line of forgiveness and redemption. A running theme. People will let you down EVERYTIME...but the Lord is faithful FOREVER. Also, as a mother of 7, 4 of whom are adopted, Thomas held a spot in my heart that I have seen in my own kids.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first book, To Love Anew, made my favorite books list the year it released. This continuation of the Sydney Cove Series is amazing, too. Issues in this book, while presented in a historical setting, are things that people deal with today and apply to contemporary families. Things such as infertility, guilt, misplaced anger, jealousy, fear, and issues related to trust. The author applies just enough pressure and angst into the lives of her characters to keep you reading until you close the book. Her emotional scenes are moving and her conflict is realistic. I loved the marital tension, especially the romantic parts in the beginning. John is a dreamy husband, yet he is all man. I did get mad at him a few times, but c'est la vie.

The setting was also well done. I sweated right along with the characters and itched when they were bit by those stinking bugs, too. Overall I adored this story, and in particular I enjoyed how the story ended. I almost felt like giving a standing ovation to those brave souls. That scene was soooo well done. Then I got a sneak peek at the content in the third book and the conflict presented and I was like....WHAT!!! Now I have to read it and find out how John deals with the mess he finds himself in. Just when you think all is well down under...sigh. If only these characters didn't seem so real to me, then maybe it wouldn't BUG me so much that they find themselves in another seemingly impossible situation that only God can help them out of!

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved how John always felt his love for Hannah was the forever kind and he didn't allow Margaret to regain his heart. He had thought she had died and betraded him, so he gave his heart to Hannah fully and with God's Blessings. I fully understand why Hannah kept her pregnancy to herself not knowing if John had given his heart back to Margaret. I'm so glad that the truth came out. I feel the story ended way to soon. Really a 4th book is in order.

[Jan Springer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this second book in Ms. Leon's Sydney Cove series. Hannah and John start their life together but Hannah has a heartbreaking secret she simply cannot share with John.
An emotional roller coaster of a read for me and I am eager to begin the next story. Highly recommended for Ms. Leon fans as well as readers who are interested in an in depth look into Australian pioneer life. Great stuff!

[Heidi Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tale of love,lies,forgiveness and friendships

[Ana Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book more but unfortunately I didn’t.
I understand that Hannah has been through a lot for her young age but none of that excuses why she started her marriage without being fully honest about her past.
Also Hannah, despite her supposedly being Christian, does not always act like it. Her faith and trust in God are weak, the way she struggles to forgive Lydia for so long, the way she sometimes says and does things to John in order to hurt him, and then the way that she at first is easy to anger and to loose patience with Thomas were not the actions of someone walking with Christ.
The reason why I gave this book 4 stars instead of something lower is because I did like that at the ending she came to change her attitude towards those around her and she also came to have a little more faith.
I really hope that in the next and final book of the series that we’ll be able to see the characters mature more spiritually.

[Orpa Sharon Rodé · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dit boek neemt je mee naar het leven in Australië (Sydney) en laat je echt nadenken over moeilijkheden in het leven. Personen, gedachten en gebeurtenissen worden erg mooi beschreven. Het is een boek dat makkelijk te lezen is!

Het beschrijft het avontuur van getrouwd zijn, een schapenboerderij starten en de problemen die hierbij komen kijken. Ondanks alle tegenslagen stellen John en Hannah hun vertrouwen op God.

[Shea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice sequel to the first Sydney Cove story. I enjoy the historical aspects of the stories and watching the relationship between Hannah and John develop. I tried to keep the historical setting in mind with regard to the characters' actions but I was often irritated when people wouldn't just be open and honest with one another.

[Roberta Monroe Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will re read!

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

By: Bonnie Leon
Baker Publishing Group | October 1, 2008 | Trade Paperback | ISBN 978-0-8007-3177-9 |

Story Description:

It is the early 1800s and the wondrous land of Australia is full of possibilities as settlers stake their claims. Hannah and John are settling some land in New South Wales and hoping to a family. But their bright hopes for the future are clouded with trouble. As they try unsuccessfully to have a baby, Hannah suffers from guilt over her past. Now this haunts her and her relationship with John--she's never told her husband about this chapter of her life. Full of the kind of emotional longings romance readers crave, Longings of the Heart is the heart-rending second book in the Sydney Cove series. Established and new Leon fans alike will finish this story wanting more.

My Review:

Hannah and John are married and decide to build their dream home on some land in New South Wales, Australia. They are hoping for a happy and bright future but Hannah’s conscience begins to bother her as she hasn’t been totally honest with John.

Both Hannah and John desperately want to have children but after a year of marriage they are still barren. Hannah’s conscience kicks into overdrive and she worries constantly about not telling John the truth about her past before they got married. Hannah had been raped and had a baby that was born too early and it died, but Hannah always prayed that the baby would die. Hannah now thinks that God is punishing her and keeping her womb barren because of the prayer to have the baby die.

Soon John is picking up that Hannah just doesn’t seem herself and keeps asking her what is wrong. She finally relents and tells him the story and he is utterly furious and leaves her for 3 days. During the time he is gone something terrible happens that John will feel guilty for when he returns.

To make matters worse, there is a woman at their church who knows about Hannah’s past and she is threatening to tell the Pastor and Elders of their church and then Hannah’s reputation will be ruined and they’ll be run out of town. To keep her quiet they begin supplying this woman with sheep, hogs, cheese, bread, and money.

John then hears of a 10-year-old boy who is an orphan after losing both of his parents. He is currently living with another family but they can’t afford to feed him and are looking for another family to take him on. John decides to surprise Hannah and brings young Tommy home but Hannah doesn’t give him the reaction he expected. She is livid and tells John that Tommy is NOT her child he is someone else’s child. Unfortunately, young Tommy was standing on the porch at the time and heard what Hannah said. This caused a very tumultuous relationship between Tommy and Hannah. Hannah wants John to get rid of the kid and take him to some other family but John refuses to do that.

What is going to happen to this once happy couple who had such big dreams? Will Tommy stay or is he dumped on yet another family due to Hannah’s selfishness? Will Hannah ever have a baby of her own, a baby that she thinks she can love?

At 299 pages, I just buzzed through this novel. It grabbed me right in at the beginning and kept me turning the pages until the end. Longings of the Heart is Book #2 in the Sydney Cove Series. The third and final book is titled: Enduring Love which I’ll be reading next.

[Ester · Rating 4 out of 5]

Longings of the Heart is the 2nd book of the Sydney Cove series, and started right where the previous book left off. It's been a few years since I read the last one but Longings of the Heart was pretty easy to follow nevertheless.
This is no work of literary genius, but Bonnie Leon sure knows how to get you to turn the pages. I was kept interested the whole way as Hannah faced drama after drama.

Good bits
As it is written by a Christian author, there are a lot of biblical themes such as love and forgiveness as demonstrated by Christ. I detest characters that are too perfect, and Leon has fortunately not fallen into that trap. Her characters are all flawed human beings who behave in ways that we all do - they get jealous and angry, they have moments of love and pride and also great despair. Though not married, and not living in the era the book is set I could really relate to Hannah, thanks to the author's talent.

In addition, as an Australian I loved how it's set in my country, and was very surprised to find out that Leon is an American who (from what I gather in her biography) has never even lived in Australia. Her researchers (as credited in the book) have done an excellent job in informing Leon about Australian history and what it was like to live here during that time, I was impressed at the authenticity with which she writes.

Bad bits
As I said, the book is no work of literary genius, and some phrases become a bit overused toward the end. For example 'that sounds grand' and 'fine' are used very often and sometimes I wonder if there couldn't have been some alternative. Although the problems the couple are faced with are dealt with relatively well by the author I feel like she does oversimplify things a bit sometimes, for example
*** spoiler ****
the way the relationship between Hannah and Thomas just mends itself effortlessly over one chapter. I can see why Leon didn't want to drag this out any longer though as it would've bored the readers. The whole saga with Deidre was interesting but I thought the couple overreacted a bit more than people would have in real life to the situation.

Overall though, a good read, recommended for Christian readers. :)

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since I started reading the first book in this series, I decided to continue. The plot continues, but develops from issues from Hannah's past...her rape from Magistrate walker, which lead to her being on the street and then stealing food. This then led to her capture by authorities, her wrongful sentence of transportation by this same magistrate and her pregnancy. She didn't want the baby, not only because of the circumstances, but by her imprisonment on the prison ship and unexpected future, but also for her pride in her name and what people would choose to believe. When she married John, she didn't tell him about this past. At Lydia's prodding she finally does and John takes it hard, but forgives Hannah. They both believe that God will bless then with children if he wants and not based on hannah's past.

Hannah has a hard time accepting an orphan, 10 year old Thomas into her home and heart because she believes that if she does it means that she has lost faith in having her own children. Eventually, her and John are able to show thomas that they love and want him, breaking down his defenses to show it in return, but not without some trails first.

Lydia betrays hannah's trust when she tells and new worker, Deidre about Hannah's past in an effort to help hannah. this results in Deidre blackmailing John and Hannah through good for her silence. In the end Hannah refused to give bribes any more and trust that God will make it all right. When Deidre follows through with her threat to expose Hannah's past to the Church...she is surprised to find that her Church family all admit to sin and stand with her if she is forced to leave. Deidre is the one that ends up leaving because all the members have sinned and so all need forgiveness from Christ's atonement.

[Fiona · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plot

It's the early 1800s and the wondrous land of Australia is full of possibilities as settlers stake their claims. Hannah and John are settling some land in New South Wales and hoping to start a family. But their bright hopes for the future are clouded with trouble. As they try unsuccessfully to have a baby, Hannah suffers from guilt over her past. Now this haunts her and her relationship with John--she's never told her husband about this chapter of her life.
Full of the kind of emotional longings romance readers crave, "Longings of the Heart "is the heart-rending second book in the Sydney Cove series. Established and new Leon fans alike will finish this story wanting more.


Hannah and John try to build a new home together a farm, but Hannah's guilt over the past haunt her as she is unable to have a baby. A new housemaid comes on the scene and threatens everything. Hannah eventually tells John about her past and he leaves her for a few days. In that time she is attacked by a black man. When he returns they beg each other for forgiveness. But then the new maid begins blackmailing him saying that she will expose them. When Hannah finds out Lydia told her about her past she stops talking to her. After some time they begin talking to each other after the new maid tries to steal the man Lydia likes. It ends with Lydia getting married to the doctor and the maid exposing Hannah in the church and everyone standing up for her and giving her the redemption she longed for.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have enjoyed this second book of the Sydney Cove Series except for one thing. (IMO) I don't believe that John's reaction to Hannah's "sin" was....well, believable. Since the beginning of the story he has been portrayed as a kind loving Christian soul who was totally in love with Hannah. I don't think he would have reacted the way he did. His reaction made me feel like he didn't really love her at all. Where was his compassion for the agony she endured at the hands of "that creton" that calls himself a judge. John's compassion came a bit too late for me. I think his instant reaction should have been anger - not at Hannah - but at the man that raped her.

Also, I felt that Hannah had NOTHING to be ashamed of. She was kept in the bowels of a ship. Her conditions couldn't have been worse. I think that any woman would pray to not give birth in those conditions but all through this book we were made to feel like this was a horrible sin. I beg to differ. (IMO)

That being said, I did enjoy every other aspect of this book. It was well written and the conversations flowed nicely and were natural. I will continue reading the last of the series to find out what further calamities will befall John and Hannah....and now Thomas.

I enjoy Bonnie's style of writing and will most likely read her other books.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a little frustrated by how much Hannah dwells and thinks about what happened on the ship and how she lost her baby because she had thoughts of not wanting it. I waited, and waited, and waited for that issue to be resolved. By the end of the book, I thought this book wasn't very good because it dwelled on one thing the entire time. But then I thought about what lessons to be learned from reading this book and there were plenty. When the Reverend quotes Romans 3:23 and says "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" and then goes on to "And are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus". That is true today. We all need to be more forgiving of others. It is not our place to judge. As someone told Hannah, she is not God. It is He who chooses who lives and who dies. Yet, He is merciful and offers forgiveness when we change from past ways. We are all on a journey in this life. God has a plan for each one of us. At times it is not the plan we envisioned or the timing might be off. But if we have faith in Him and trust Him, His plan is much better than we could dream for ourselves. Good thought-pondering message so I enjoyed this read and look forward to book 3 in the series.

[Sarah McGrath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading how John and Hannah started their life together as a married couple and how they worked to own a sheep farm. From the beginning they only had a piece of land and then slowly built up to shelter, farmhouse, necessities, sheep/dog, cattle, farmhand, shed etc. Halfway through the book Hannah and John moved from couple to family when they decided to adopt an orphan. This book gave me an insight into what my ancestors went through when they settled into Australia and began their new life as farmers. To top it off this story also included a mystery new woman in town...what is she up to?

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 2 in the Sydney Cove series. It was my error in not reading book one before this. Nevertheless, it probably didn't matter too much on missing book one. Hannah and John are thankful for their freedom and their new life as man and wife. A new start at sheep farming is what John decides. Hannah's past haunts her and she tells John. Upset at first, he forgives her. A mystery women comes along and threatens to reveal Hannah's past if John doesn't pay her with goods or money. Can these two weather the storm?

[Kristelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with most books that are the middle of a trilogy this one felt like it was killing time a bit. The story was interesting and I really felt connected to the characters. I am interested to see what happens with everyone in the end. Each book has had the "arch nemisis" who was conquered so I am sure the third book will have the same. A great continuation of the series.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! At times, I had a hard time getting past Hannah's constant dwelling on the past. I was so happy with how the book ended though. What a relief! I look forward to the third book in the series.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am loving the character's in this book. John and Hannah are like every couple, they fight and argue, they do and say stupid stuff, but in the end, their love endures.
They go through struggles and realize in the end God is faithful.
I am really enjoying this series.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this story. Check my book blog at www dot annshorey dot com for a full review. Love Bonnie's writing.

[Cws]

YA Leo

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good series. Lots of hardship!

[Mary J · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first book better in this trilogy. However I want to finish this series, because I liked the characters

[Aimee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bor-ring, in my opinion, but after reading the first book, I had to see what happens.

[LadyS · Rating 2 out of 5]

dear God in Heaven this book was tortuous..

[Molly Tysle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good book. I've finished reading it. It has a good emotional ending, drawing me to tears. Looking forward to last instalment.

[Susan Hutchinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 2 is a good story, but lacking romance. I like that it continues Hannah's, John's, Lydia's life story from book 1.