Book Review: Steadfast Heart by Tracie Peterson

Steadfast Heart is the first novel in Tracie Peterson’s new Brides of Seattle series.

Kolbein Booth arrives in Seattle, by way of Chicago, looking for his sister.  He believes she may be a student at the Madison Bridal School.  Demanding to see his sister, she is not there.  However, he meets Lenore Fulcher, who believes marriage should be built on true love.  Unfortunately, her father wants her to marry his former business partner.

       Having read and enjoyed other Tracie Peterson books, I really wanted to like this book.  However, it was not my favorite.   The majority of the story centers on Lenore’s friend, Abrianna Cunningham.  Lenore and Kolbein serve more as secondary characters.

I would have enjoyed more development on the relationship between Kolbein and Lenore.  Their relationship came across as a “love at first sight” story.

I would have also enjoyed the exploration of the struggles both Kolbein and Lenore experienced in their personal lives.  Kolbein with the youth of his sister and sweetheart and Lenore in the differences of her family.  Both characters seemed to suddenly come to terms with the struggle after speaking on the subject.  I’d liked to have seen more exploration and development on both of the title characters.

Also, numerous remarks were made about the “Chinese conflict” but no information was given to share any information on this conflict.

I will applaud the author for setting up the story and characters for future novels in this series.

While the beginning was slow at times, the story did begin to pick up and retain more of my interest the last third of the book.

I was disappointed with the story and would prefer to read one of the author’s other books.

**I received a copy of this book from Bethany House in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.**