Faithful Heart

Angel of Mercy #2

by Al Lacy

Continuing with the adventures of certified medical nurse Breanna Baylor, the Angel of Mercy series tackles the real-life issues of faithfulness and abuse in Faithful Heart. Picking up where A Promise for Breanna left off, Book Two follows Breanna to San Francisco, where she discovers that her sister Dottie has been beaten by a husband who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of serving in the Civil War. As the story unfolds, Breanna, Dottie, and Dottie's children find themselves at risk as they fight to save a man they can no longer trust. Readers will experience the heartache and hope of two woman striving to save a family in Faithful Heart.

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

308 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Al Lacy has written more than ninety novels, including the Angel of Mercy, Battles of Destiny, and Journeys of the Stranger series. He and his wife, JoAnna Lacy, are coauthors of the Mail Order Bride, Hannah of Fort Bridger, and Shadow of Liberty series. The Lacys make their home in the Colorado Rockies.

Reviews

[Sharon Huether · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a result of the Civil War, Dottie Harper's husband came home well in body, but sick in his mind.
He had Dementia Paraicox, which alter his mind and made life with his wife and children unbearable.
Dottie took her marriage vows to heart. "Till death do us part".
God remained faithul to Dottie. She and her children were spared.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Breanna and John Stranger appear for a while in this book. The book certainly kept my interest, but I was not a fan of the drawn out and ever increasing problems between Dottie and her husband. It is probably a fairly accurate depiction of the shell shock of the Civil War and the effect on the soldiers, but it gets to be a bit much after pages and pages of it. The ending of the book was also discouraging to me. Then a sudden new romance with no development didn't make for a good ending to me.

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

a quick read

[Karianna Neels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good preteen read

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. It had its sad moments, but still a great read

[Holly (2 Kids and Tired) · Rating 2 out of 5]

The second book in the Angel of Mercy series, this picks up immediately where A Promise for Breanna leaves off. Breanna is still traveling with the wagon train enroute to San Francisco. The story alternates chapters between Breanna's story and her sister Dottie's story. Dottie's husband Jerrod suffers debilitating episodes of post-traumatic stress syndrome stemming from his Civil War experiences. Because of this, Dottie and her children are frequent victims of abuse. Dottie and Jerrod's story is one of heartache and despair, as they try and cope with Jerrod's issues with faith and love.

Breanna continues her journey by wagon train, this time accompanied by her true love, John Stranger. She runs into a bit of drama in the high Sierra's but the emotional aspect from the first book is missing.

The sisters' stories don't intersect until near the end of the book, when Breanna shows up in time to help everyone. Like the first one, Breanna's Christian faith is at the forefront, as is her sister's. The story didn't ring quite true for me. I'm sure the idea of PTSD is not new, but Jerrod's diagnosis and the explanations seemed so modern and contrived, and not historically accurate. Of course my medical knowledge, past or present, is woefully inadequate too.

While I wasn't as drawn to this one as I was the first, it's still an enjoyable, easy read. I will be looking forward to tracking down the remaining books in the series.

[Ellen Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Faithful Heart is book two in the Angel of Mercy Series written by Al Lacy. Book one is Legacy. This is the story of Breanna Baylor as she travels west as part of a wagon train to see her sister, Dottie, in California. Because this is a Christian book, God and salvation play a large role in Breanna and Dottie's lives. Breanna is a nurse and is called along the way to heal a number of different people. She is a very strong woman which is nice for the time period. Even when confronted with bad people, she remains strong in her faith in the Lord. While that's admirable, I found it at times to be a bit hard to connect with her as a person/character because she seemed so perfect.

Jerrod, Dottie's husband, is abusing both her and her children. I found this portion of the book very upsetting and I found the fact that Dottie stayed with her husband even when he was abusing her children to be even more upsetting although I don't suppose it was all that uncommon that long ago. I did like the fact that the book addresses that while Jesus can make anyone better, He doesn't always choose to for His own reasons.

All in all, it's an interesting look at life during the "Wild West" and at life in general during this time period. It is heavy in references to Christianity that may leave some people feeling uncomfortable if they don't enjoy Christian literature.

[Jennifer Defoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good story. There were times that it was predictable but I think that every story has those points. I liked Breanna very much. She was very independent and strong willed. The things that Jerrod was dealing with were very interesting. I liked how Lacy put us into his head to show us the two sides of Jerrod.

The story was pretty fast paced. I got caught up in the story a few times and didn't realize how long I had been sitting reading. I didn't finish it in one setting, but it didn't take me very long at all.

The story was unique. It dealt with a few tough subjects but that didn't make it hard to read. Everything was tastefully written and the outcomes were plausible.

Overall I liked this one. It was enjoyable and I wanted to find out what was going to happen next.

[Margaret Chind · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not like this one. There was no visualization and the conversations were drab. As I have heard other people say, it is true there were many historical inaccuracies. Usually I can get past that in a book, yet in this one there was nothing to take up the slack. Some one else might love this book, but it was no my cup of tea.

*Thanks to WaterBrook Multnomah for providing a copy for review.*

WaterBrookMultnomah.com

[Jill B. Lesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent story

This is the second book I've read in this series and I am really enjoying these characters. Their passion towards the Lord and about being saved is a balm to my weary heart. The plot moves along quickly, the balance of happy and difficult life experience is done well, and I love the settings because ive lived in Idaho, Oregon and Utah. A great distraction from the realities of living in the 21st century.

[Katy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is not a stand-alone novel despite saying "a novel" on the cover. It is best to read it in correct series order, but you will not be completely lost if you read it before reading book #1 of the series.

[Loraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 2 continues the interesting story of Breanna and John Stranger. Good Christian historical fiction

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite innacuracies in some of the terminology I liked the storyline itself. I didn't really like the ending but there are still 8 more books in this series to continue the story!

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't learn from reading the first one. Should not have bothered!

[Marcie Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good continuation of series. Full of compassion, some suspense and sadness along with faith in the Lord.

[Jocelyn Montalvo Cullum]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12887413

[Carolyn Lockwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay book. Simplistic writing at times.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review will post on my blog on Wednesday, Feb. 24.