Winter Heart

Blazing Frontier #3

by Jane Bonander

Facing the somber silhouette of a cold stone house, Dinah Odell nearly lost hope when she arrived at the lonely ranch in the Sierra Nevada. But it was better than the dark place she had escaped from. Risking her precious freedom, she'd posed as a nurse and accepted a job caring for her new employer's mentally fragile sister. She was prepared for anything. Except Tristan Fletcher. For beneath his harsh, wintry facade was a sensitive, generous, intriguing man....

As a child, Tristan had suffered jarring words and sharp blows from his adoptive mother. He had survived by building a wall around his heart. He wasn't fooled by spunky, outspoken Dinah. Tristan knew she was fleeing from something, and suddenly he wanted her to come running to him. He was ready to protect her, to marry her. But could he love her? Once Dinah's secret was revealed, the truth would either shatter their tenuous bond or set them free....

Genres: Romance, Westerns, Historical Romance, Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction, Native American

320 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1996

About the author

Jane Bonander has always had a flare for the dramatic. Just ask her mother. When she was five, she ran home from kindergarten and scrambled under her parents’ bed, hiding there until her mother came looking for her which was longer than Jane had anticipated, for she fell asleep. When her mother woke her, she told her that a big, hairy monster had chased her home. Since over an hour had passed, the drama of the moment was gone. She sold her first novel, SECRETS OF A MIDNIGHT MOON, to St. Martin’s Press in 1990. Since then she has published twelve more novels and novellas.

Although Jane lived in California for nearly twenty years and wrote most of her novels there, she returned to her roots in Minnesota in 1997, where she makes her home in St. Paul.

Reviews

[Lovetoread · Rating 5 out of 5]

Winter Heart is the third book in Jane Bonander's series Blazing Frontier. It begins in a mental institution with Dinah Odell, a young woman whose evil uncle commits Dinah so that he has control of her inheritance. Desperate to escape her will do anything including risking her freedom by posing as a nurse and accepting a job to care for Tristan Fletcher's mentally fragile sister. She thinks she's prepared for anything, except the sensitive, generous, and mysterious man behind the facade that Tristan Fletcher presents to the world. With a dark past of his own, Tristan survived the barbs of childhood by closing his heart off from the rest of the world. He sees something similar in Dinah, a desire to flee, and it sparks his desire to protect her. To marry her.

I really enjoyed this book. The author does touch on some gruesome accounts of how women were institutionalized in the late 1800/ early 1900. The sensual level I would put as a six. I strongly recommend this romance novel.

[Frances · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started out great and had such an interesting theme relating to the asylum....then it just went downhill around the 40 percent mark. The characters started behaving contrary to how they were originally presented and even tell you they don't know why they did something.....very disappointing.

[Malika-Liki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this story of Tristan and Dinah. Tristan the twin brother og Wolfgang Aladeus Mc Cloud.
their journey for HEA was very well secribed. I loved everything, the story of Dinah wrongly incarcerated in an Asylum by a greedy monster uncle and of Tristan the halfbreed loved fiercely and tenderly by his adoptive father but hated by a cold hearted woman. I love the adopted kids and Teens, Alice the housekeeper, the humorous but also heartful dialogues between Tristan and Dinaj. I loved Emmy the sister in law who fspite all she went through kept painting as a way of healing. A wonderful read. Thank You Ja,e Bonander.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh.. it killed a few hours.
-3rd person, multiple POVs
-Mild suspense

-spicy parts were unimpressive and TBH a little cheesy
-very hallmark-ish HEA
Overall, I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a quick easy read

[Leeanna Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was good and bad for me... SPOILERS

Firstly, I have to say that I thought the authors explanation of life in the asylum was spot on. I could tell that she did research on the matter and that really impressed me. With that being said, I really wanted to see more of a relationship between Dinah and her charge.

I had a few problems with this book. The first problem I had were the words used for "private parts". The H had a "doodle" or a "randy rod" and the h had a "cranberry". I found this to be stupid and ridiculous.

The second problem I had were the sex scenes. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a prude. I think it's perfectly find to have sex scenes in a book, I just believe that the H/h's relationship should consist of more than that. There wasn't a balance between the physical relationship and mental/emotional relationship between the two of the characters. I found myself irritated that the author wrote chapter after chapter of the H having inner monologues about being horny and then telling the h about it.
I was surprised to find the sex scenes to to be so raunchy considering the ridiculous terminology she used throughout the book.

Despite the problems I had with the book, I gave it a 3. If I could, I would rate it a 2 1/2. It was an ok book with a HEA. I don't think I will read this book again.

[Luli · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf al 40%.
Ya llevo unos días con el libro abandonado y sé que no me lo voy a terminar. De repente los personajes protagonistas han empezado a hacer cosas que no entiendo, con lo cual, lo dejo ahora y me ahorro un sofocón.
El prota entra en la habitación cuando la protagonista se está vistiendo, la obliga a desnudarse delante de él y la amenaza con usar la fuerza si no lo hace porque “para eso se van a casar”, aunque era un matrimonio sólo de nombre por explícito deseo del protagonista (¿¿¿???), que a su vez sabe, que ella lo ha pasado fatal y ha sufrido acoso en el psiquiátrico y él…la acosa…no tiene otro nombre. Ella virgen, escondiendo “sus encantos” para pasar lo más inadvertida posible por miedo a ser violada y…por lo visto, a pesar de que el prota le da miedo (que es para darlo porque es un bodoque) se pone cachonda con la situación…ehhh??? Mejor lo dejo aquí!
Sorry…

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dinah is placed in Trenway an asylum by her uncle. He wants control of the money Dinah's father left in his will. Her uncle only has control as long as Dinah lives otherwise it is destined to the university and not to the uncle. But thanks to Daisy, a nurse at Trenway, she helps Dinah to escape and take her place at a position in California. There Dinah is confronted by Tristan Fletcher, the owner of the ranch and Emily's brother who will will be Dinah's responsibility. So Dinah must keep it a secret about her true identity to hide from her uncle. But Tristan is intrigued by Dinah and knows that she is hiding something.

[Lyuda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a very interesting promise of combining the despicable horrors of mental institutions in the middle of 19th century America and sensual romance of two protagonists –one, the escapee of the said prison and the other, a rancher with difficult past. I can’t pin point why this great promise did not deliver for me. Maybe it is because of so many characters introduced throughout the book with their own stories that were destructive, or because the culmination of getting evil uncle brought to justice kind of fizzle. This was just OK story.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was rather unique. The mental health misuse in history was very well done and I feel there was a great balance though it was difficult to read in places for myself. My only issue with this book is there seemed to be some continuity problems here and there that I came across, slowing me down and occasionally confusing me enough to double check page numbers quickly. Nothing that was crucial or difficult to get around though so the interesting story still outranked the problems I ran in to.

[Terri Bullock · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay - an interesting story about a 'business' arrangement type of relationship but finally turns into the start of a love story. There were way too many sex scenes, but I guess that was the intent of the story line, until the end. I actually think I would like to read Book #2 and see where their relationship goes.

[Rayni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mental health has had such a stigma throughout the centuries, still this shocked me. I'm glad it was written as romantic fiction, otherwise I don't know if I could've read about how women were treated in insane asylums.

[Gemma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this. I'd tried a novella by this author before and hadn't enjoyed it, but this book was good. The author did a good job of writing about a difficult issue without making it too heavy or taking over the romance aspect of the book.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5: I liked the premise of the story but not the resulting relationship. I understand that a love/hate relationship can lead to passion and they were able to see each other interact with other characters, but the switch in their feelings seemed abrupt.

[Jolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of my favorites, but all the same, it was a good read.

[Brietta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A romance based in the 19th century

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is a great book to read

[Nargis Somani]

Loving it

[MARLENE D TOOTHMAN · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good people

karma will get you in time. enjoyable historical romance easy to read
fun and the hero always gets his woman. mature reading only.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, fluffy read; good for reading while on holiday.

[Sydnee Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story had a lot of painful situations in it. The horror of having to even live a year like she did was something I couldn’t even imagine. It wasn’t anywhere near his upbringing but they were both still horrible situations. I am so glad they ended the way they did and with so many children too. It is something to read. I hope “little” hawk gets a story too