Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    A Hopeful Heart
    Unavailable
    A Hopeful Heart
    Unavailable
    A Hopeful Heart
    Ebook375 pages6 hours

    A Hopeful Heart

    By Kim Vogel Sawyer

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    Listen to the audiobook instead

    About this ebook

    Dowryless and desperate, Tressa Neill applies to the inaugural class of Wyatt Herdsman School in Barnett, Kansas, in 1888. The school's one-of-a-kind program teaches young women from the East the skills needed to become a rancher--or the wife of one. Shy and small for her twenty-two years, Tressa is convinced she'll never have what it takes to survive Hattie Wyatt's hands-on instruction in skills such as milking a cow, branding a calf, riding a horse, and cooking up a mess of grub for hungry ranch hands. But what other options does she have?

    Abel Samms wants nothing to do with the group of potential brides his neighbor brought to town. He was smitten with an eastern girl once--and he got his heart broken. But there's something about quiet Tressa and her bumbling ways that makes him take notice. When Tressa's life is endangered, will Abel risk his own life--and his heart--to help this eastern girl?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBaker Publishing Group
    Release dateJun 1, 2010
    ISBN9781441212009
    Author

    Kim Vogel Sawyer

    Bestselling, award-winning author Kim Vogel Sawyer wears many hats besides “writer.” As a wife, mother, grandmother, and active participant in her church, her life is happily full. But Kim’s passion lies in writing stories of hope that encourage her readers to place their lives in God’s capable hands. An active speaking ministry assists her with her desire. Kim and her husband make their home on the beautiful plains of Kansas, the setting for many of Kim’s novels.

    Read more from Kim Vogel Sawyer

    Related to A Hopeful Heart

    Related ebooks

    Christian Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Amish On Vacation

      May 30, 2020

      Amish On Vacation
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Good Servant

      Aug 8, 2022

      Windsor, March 1932 “Good evening, Miss Crawford.” A smart young man in uniform was waiting on the platform when she stepped off the train. She was startled. “Aye. That’s me. How did you know?” “Easy.” He smiled. “There aren’t that many young ladies

      6 min read

    • Article

      ‘In the Country of Women’: Featured Nonfiction from Susan Straight

      Nov 19, 2019

      In our latest edition of featured nonfiction, we present an excerpt from National Book Award finalist Susan Straight’s new novel, In the Country of Women, out now from Catapult. The post ‘In the Country of Women’: Featured Nonfiction from Susan Strai

      8 min read

    • Article

      The Truth Is I Never Left You

      Aug 17, 2017

      The Truth Is I Never Left You
      8 min read

    • Article

      Panto

      Dec 22, 2021

      Panto
      6 min read

    • Article

      Writing Family History

      Dec 15, 2021

      Writing Family History
      5 min read

    • Article

      Estella’s Fate

      May 17, 2023

      Estella’s Fate
      7 min read

    • Article

      Estella’s Fate

      May 17, 2023

      Estella’s Fate
      7 min read

    • Article

      Open mic WITH Di Morrissey

      Oct 30, 2019

      Lately, I’ve been musing on friendship. As a young girl I lived in an isolated area of Pittwater in Sydney, a boat ride to the quiet reaches of Lovett Bay where people had simple weekenders. The novelty of occasional playmates was immense. These girl

      3 min read

    • Article

      Panto!

      Dec 20, 2022

      Panto!
      6 min read

    • Article

      Excerpts From The Works Of The 2024 Whiting Award Winners

      Apr 10, 2024

      The 2024 Whiting Award winners were announced Wednesday night. Below are excerpts from their work.

      19 min read

    • Article

      ‘In The Country Of Women’ Is A Powerful American Memoir

      Aug 29, 2019

      Acclaimed writer Susan Straight shares a poignant and vivid reflection on her family’s journeys.

      3 min read

    • Article

      All Of Us Here

      Jun 4, 2020

      All Of Us Here
      6 min read

    • Article

      Now Is the Time

      Nov 24, 2020

      Now Is the Time
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Wisdom of Women Shines in Najla Jraissaty Khoury’s ‘Pearls on a Branch: Oral Tales’

      Oct 22, 2018

      Long, long ago These things happened or maybe no. Let’s start with the image on the cover. Three women sit in a courtyard. One holds a long-handled pan over a coal brazier; the other two, one of whom has her back to us, hold small cups. They wear ide

      7 min read

    • Article

      Part 1 WHEN FISH FLY: The Revolt on the Slave Ship Creole

      Jan 1, 2022

      Part 1 WHEN FISH FLY: The Revolt on the Slave Ship Creole
      6 min read

    • Article

      Great Read

      Aug 9, 2023

      Great Read
      7 min read

    • Article

      Great Read

      Aug 9, 2023

      Great Read
      7 min read

    • Article

      Parent-child Fencing Class

      Jan 1, 2020

      Because I was too mean to make him a brother,my son has had to learn of hate alone.I told my friend I’d only ever wantedone child for reasons to do with the shapeof an arrow. But in truth I’m so disgustedby what I know of brothers, having given birth

      4 min read

    • Article

      Snow Angel Mittens

      Nov 1, 2021

      THE WINTER OF 1933. Some remember that time as the depths of the Great Depression. But I remember it for something else. Life, as we knew it, had ground to a halt in our small town in the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon. When the bank failed,

      7 min read

    • Article

      Orange You Glad

      Jun 1, 2021

      Orange You Glad
      13 min read

    • Article

      Ghost Girl, Banana

      Aug 21, 2023

      By the time I was 25, there were only two things I remembered about Mumma. The first was that she smelled of watermelons, the second was that we were happy. We’d taken our father’s name of course, but a name is only half a story. The other half exist

      6 min read

    • Article

      My Lasting Impression?

      Feb 26, 2019

      My Lasting Impression?
      5 min read

    Reviews for A Hopeful Heart

    4/5

    25 ratings2 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      The year is 1888 and Tressa Neill finds herself stepping off a train in Barnett, Kansas. She has come to this town, along with several other young ladies, to attend the Wyatt Herdsman School. Tressa has been sent her against her desires because the Aunt and Uncle who have raised her think it is her only way to land a man. The school is a one-of-a-kind set-up where "Aunt Hattie" will teach the girls from the East the skills needed to become a wife of a rancher; from cooking to branding and horseback riding. The things is, can Tressa survive the training and can she lasso herself a rancher? This was a unique but very enjoyable storyline. I liked the concept of girls coming west to learn to live in the west before marrying a rancher. The town doesn't lack for ranchers and men who want a wife, so it is a matter of finding the right man for the right girl. Tressa was a lady who at one time was able to see and remember a happy loving marriage before her parents died, and then she endured a loveless upbringing by her aunt and uncle. She wants to find a man like her father. Abel Samms is a man who wants nothing to do with women, after he had already gotten a "mail order bride" which didn't work out for him. But he wasn't counting on being smitten with Tressa. Aunt Hattie was a jewel in the rough. I loved her desire to see her school be a success and teach the girls how to become a rancher's wife. She was a tenderhearted woman who survived heartache in her life, but who had a strong faith in the Lord and wasn't afraid to share it. A couple of her gems she shared that I really appreciated: "We can't really define good. The problem with our human eyes is that we can only see the right now. But God, He sees around the corner, over the hill, and clean to the horizon. So sometimes those things we face that we don't understand - the things we think of as bad - are really for our good down the line." And then there was, "Man's reasonin' is foolishness in the sight o' God. Just 'cause things don't go the way we want 'em to doesn't mean God's quit carin'. He cares deep, but His ways aren't our. His ways are always better."The other thing I liked about this story is the mystery behind the cattle rustling going on at Abel's ranch. There were many times when I thought I knew what was going on behind the stealing, but it wasn't until near the end, where the real truth became obvious to me. I always like a story that keeps me guessing until the end. And there were characters in the story that I didn't think I would like, but who surprised me and who I came to appreciate. All around, it was a very enjoyable romance with mystery and danger thrown in to keep it even more interesting. So saddle up and head to Barnett, Kansas for a delightful stay at Aunt Hattie's "Herdsman School".
    • 4/5
      Lacking a dowry, Tressa Neill has been sent west to a school to train women how to be good ranch wives. Abel Samms is a local rancher, determined to avoid marriage. The rest is somewhat predictable, but this is a good story with a lot of humor and sweetness.