Bintang 4 Buku ke 1 seri Straton Family.Judulnya sangat sesuai dengan karakter Chandos yg liar. Kukira Chandos sedikitnya memiliki darah indian ditubuhnya, tapi ternyata tidak sama sekali. Chandos memiliki nama yg beradab namun tak ingin digunakannya karena suatu alasan. Keadaanlah yg menjadikannya seorang indian Comanche dan keadaan pula yg membuat Chandos menjadi kejam dan penuh dendam pada orang orang yg membuatnya kehilangan dua orang yg ia sayangi. Pertemuan takdirnya dengan Courtney Harte yg terjebak bersama ayahnya dalam penyerbuan balas dendam yg keji dan brutal oleh rombongan Chandos, dimana Courtney hampir mati ditangan Chandos tapi kemudian Chandos membiarkannya selamat. Menjadikan hal itu sebagai ikatan yg tak dapat dielakkan oleh Chandos. Selama 4 tahun Chandos selalu terbayang mata kucing gadis berusia 14 tahun yg ketakutan. Sosok yg nantinya akan membawa kelegaan bagi jiwa Chandos dan mengenyahkan masa lalunya yg pahit, wanita polos yg manis ditengah tengah dunia yg liar dan kejam.Kisah dimulai dengan dua kejadian yg sadis dan kejam. Sebuah perkemahan Indian Comanche diserbu oleh beberapa orang peternak dengan alasan melindungi keluarga, rumah, dan ternak mereka. Tapi dibalik itu mereka malah melakukan perkosaan dan pembunuhan yg sadis dan brutal terhadap para wanita dan anak anak yg ada diperkemahan itu... Selang beberapa waktu para pria Comanche yg tersisa dari perkemahan melakukan aksi balas dendam yg setimpal. Mereka membunuh para peternak yg telah membantai keluarga mereka. Penyerbuan sadis dan brutal yg dilakukan rombongan pria Comanche disebuah peternakan inilah yg menjadi pertemuan pertama Chandos dengan Courtney Harte.Empat tahun berlalu. Dalam perjalanannya membunuh sisa sisa orang yg diburu, Chandos menghampiri kota tempat dimana Courtney tinggal setelah terpisah dengan ayahnya. Di kota itu pula Chandos kembali menyelamatkan Courtney dari pria yg ingin berbuat kurang ajar terhadap gadis itu. Saat Courtney tahu kalau ayahnya masih hidup dan berada di wilayah Waco, Texas, Courtney yg merasa aman berada didekat Chandos meminta pria itu mengawal dirinya melintasi wilayah liar milik indian untuk bertemu dengan ayahnya.Chandos harus bergulat dengan hati nurani dan kewajibannya dalam balas dendam. Naluri melindungi membuat Chandos membawa courtney dalam perjalanannya. Chandos rela tak bergabung dengan kawanan indiannya agar Courtney tidak takut dan histeris. Sepanjang perjalanan karakter Chandos yg keras membuat Courtney belajar menjadi lebih tegar dan tegas. Hati Chandos yg lembut pada Courtney membuat gadis itu jatuh cinta pada Chandos. Chandos sendiri mati matian menolak perasaan tertariknya pada Courtney sehingga Chandos sengaja berkata dan bertindak kasar. Tapi ketika Courtney dalam bahaya, Chandos menunjukkan kelembutannya pada courtney dan melancarkan kekejaman pada orang orang yg ingin menculik Courtney (karena ada hadiah bagi yg mengembalikan Courtney pada orang yg ingin menikahi Courtney). Salah satu pemburu yg mengincar Courtney yg selama ini menjadi incaran balas dendam diserahkan Chandos kepada rombongan indiannya untuk dieksekusi.Mendekati kota Waco, Chandos meninggalkan Courtney disebuah peternakan. Chandos membuka rahasia dirinya yg merupakan salah satu indian yg hampir membunuh Courtney dalam penyerbuan indian 4 tahun lalu agar Courtney membenci dirinya. Dan Chandos meninggalkan Courtney untuk melanjutkan misinya yg terakhir untuk menghukum pemerkosa dan pembunuh adiknya.Courtney akhirnya tinggal dan menetap di peternakan tempat dimana Chandos meninggalkannya bahkan setelah Courtney bertemu ayahnya karena tak ingin mengganggu rumah tangga ayahnya yg baru. Di peternakan itu puka Courtney mengetahui hubungan Chandos dengan pemilik peternakan serta alasan mengapa Chandos menjalani kehidupannya selama ini. Courtney berharap suatu hari Chandos akan kembali untuk dirinya. Dan memang, setelah menyelesaikan misinya, Chandos akhirnya kembali untuk bersama Courtney karena Chandos tak dapat berpisah dari Courtney. Dan sebuah rumah akan menjadi tempat tinggal yg aman dan nyaman jika orang orang yg kita cintai ada bersama kita.
I have wanted to read Johanna Lindsey for a few years now. A Heart So Wild is set in Kansas in 1868. The two main characters are Chandos and Courtney. When the first meet in 1868 it is not a pleasant one. Courtney is traveling with her father and step-mother from the east coast. They have stopped at a farm for the night and that farmer is attached by Indians for his role in the brutal murders and rapes of a Comanche tribe. Courtney and her step mother Sarah are told to hide in the feed storage so they are protected from the Indians. They are discovered but not hurt because when Chandos sees Courtney he feels that she reminds him of his sister that was murdered and raped by the white man and he cannot to that to her.Four Years later Sarah has re-married because she thinks Courtney's father is dead. Courtney works in the hotel that Sarah's husband owns. She keeps old newspapers just to know what is going on outside of Kansas. That is when she sees an picture of her father in a Texas papers. She is determined go to Waco to find him.A gunslinger comes to town and that is who Courtney decides should take her to Waco. He will not do it at first. He is drawn to her and tells her to be ready in an hour. The tension between the two is just unnerving. They are attracted to each other but both are too stubborn to admit it. Courtney does not know that the gunslinger she is with is the Indian she met 4 years before. She just knows that she trusts him and his blue eyes. I loved the whole story. The attacks that they went through. Chandos attacking Courtney to try and teach her that she should't have trusted him. Him not being able to hurt her and also him wanting to protect her from the beginning. I can't wait to read the next book in this series.
I am coming to the realization that I really like JL's western romances. This series (pair of books, really), I read out of order, but it didn't really matter. It was highly satisfying.The story takes place from Kansas to Texas (which made it even more enjoyable since I live in Texas and pass by Waco all the time). The beginning is tragic as we witness the rape and murder of a peaceful Comanche tribe. My heart was bleeding at this point. When our hero and the other men return to the camp to see the remains, they vow to avenge their loved ones, by killing the 15 men involved in the raid. Timid Courtney and her family had the misfortune to witness a violent Indian raid, but were sparred for their obvious involvement in the afforementioned raid. The connection between Chandos and Courtney begins here, but the real story happens 4 years later, when Courtney grows up to be a beautiful young woman and Chandos is a ruthless gunslinger. Separated from her father during the Indian raid 4 years ago, Courtney finds news that he is alive and well in Waco, Texas. She hires Chandos to be her escort and guide. What she doesn't expect is the bubbling attraction between them or the dark past that they somewhat share, that has shaped Chandos to who he is.I must first say that Courtney is a very interesting heroine. Unlike most JL heroines, she is more than a little timid and started off as an ugly duckling. But later she grows into a superb heroine who is in control and has not lost her femininity. On the contrary, Chandos is a true wild man. He is untamed and usually very unfriendly (or antisocial), which even the heroine acknowledges and bemoans. But, we understand and sympathize him for the revenge plot because of the tragic history. Is he what people call, a gamma hero, because he personifies danger. I loved them both and they make a really good pair.Additionally, I like the random bounty hunters and the ex-mistress that added to a lot of character building on Courtney's part. The plot appears to be really simple, but the interactions are not only compelling but they literally take me back to the time period.I highly recommend this book, but I must warn everyone that is more intense than an usual JL book. The tragic beginning is very painful and Chandos isn't really a warm character. He's hawt, but very scary as a man. There are some love scenes that were borderline consensual rape, yet I was able to forgive that. The man is that compelling, a force of nature, really.
—Nisha
This book was an entertaining read, where the plot was simple, but beautifully and effortlessly written. The story tells us about a young girl, who was lost her father, the only person she loved in the entire world, due to very unfortunate circumstances. Alone, lost, and burdened with a stepmom (oh the irony), she takes up a shit job as a hotel maid with pay so low that should she be in this current world, she would have been labelled as unemployed. Four years later, she stumbles across her father's picture in the papers - or at least, the picture of whom she believes is her father. The picture was taken at a town weeks away (sorry that this isn't exactly the proper unit to measure distance, but just take it as it is). Is her father still alive? Not that I would have had such faith in such dismal evidence, but given her circumstances where she resides in a town that is so testosterone-driven, my wonder is why the heck she didn't find any excuse to leave earlier. She seeks a lone traveller, the uber-hot Chantos who stopped by the hotel, for protection for her life-altering journey out of the town. A stranger she can trust with her safety? With her town inundated by men who drool over anyone with the XX chromosome, anyone is trustworthy by comparison. Well, you know what happens along the way ... Courtney eventually finds that there is indeed more than one person she could love in this world after all.The delivery of the novel is very well done, but I have come across many travelling stories so it has become very difficult for me to be surprised, or utterly taken with such another plot. I think the ordinariness of the plot kinda killed this book for me, as I didn't enjoy this book as much as I would have. But the characters - Chandos, Courtney, etc, they were all so loveable! I also loved the multiple conflicts that arose in this story, and how the author dealt with each and every one of them to my satisfaction.On the whole, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a light-hearted, but in every way hearty read. A special thanks to Valia for recommending this book to me!
—Kim
1 lagi cerita ttg indian n kulit putih..*lama2 bosen sama tema JL yg itu2 saja*Courtney si mata kucing kehilang ibu ny saat beusia 9 thn.,.dia menjadi anak yg tertutup n mudah merasa curiga..smua karena dia mengira bhw ayah ny tidak menyayangi ny...*so lebay alasan ny*pada usia 15thn, Courtney n kel nya bermaksud pindah ke Waco..di tengah perjalanan mereka menginap di rumah seorg petani...*ternyt petani tersebut berperan dlm memberantas indian* so..org indian datang utk membalas demdam...Court n
—Yun Merripen
