Chautona Havig has done it again. This time she’s written a book of a different genre-westerns! She reminisces about the Country and Western songs she grew up listening to on the radio and from her Dad’s guitar playing. What memories that evoked for me, too, as I grew up listening to my Mom sing and my Dad whistle many a Country and Western song! Their favorite-Marty Robbins. But I digress.

Jack Clausen rescues a toddler from a herd of cows being rounded up near the stockyards of Kansas City. In the process, he hurts his head and draws the admiration of Hazel Meissner, a woman way out of his league, which suits him just fine.

I enjoyed reading about the lives of the people in Jack. Each one was distinctive for very different reasons. The banter between two of the characters was especially witty and delightful. Havig has a way of drawing you into the story with her reliable and realistic portrayal of its characters and endears them to you. Her depiction of daily living during the 1800s rings true, also.

All of Havig’s books have a strong faith element and Jack is no exception. From forgiveness to trust, she covers faith well.

I received Jack from Celebrate Lit. However, I was under no obligation to post a review. ( )

Jack, by Chautona Havig is volume one in Ballads From the Heart, which is a collection of unrelated novels inspired by the ballads the author's father sang as a child. I enjoyed reading this story. It was easy to get lost in and gave an awesome Christian message. Jack's father died and his mother turned to men as a way to get past her loss. As a result Jack fled their home and ended up on an orphan train. He fled the orphan train and as a young person stole food and clothes to survive. After becoming a Christian, Jack finds work at ranches and goes back to pay those he stole from.

Also mixed in this story is the romance between Jack and Hazel, the daughter of a wealthy neighbor. Jack struggles with any relationship with women due to his experience after his father's death.

This is a great story of asking for forgiveness and repaying debts. Having read and loved other books by this author, I found this one to be of a different genre but giving great messages and easy to read. I received an e-book copy of this book from the author through Celebrate Lit, this is my honest review. ( )

If I could find a way to make this book into a movie I would. Yes it is that good. The hero of the story had my heart as soon as he spoke. Jack is a man who has carried around a gut wrenching feeling that he was never wanted. His mother holds the key to his hardened heart and his mistrust of women. What I liked was that he was broken inside but still treated everyone with respect. The author does an amazing job of giving us a character who admits his flaws and seeks to be better. I loved that he was a cowboy who worked hard and asked for no handouts. I would say he was a little prideful, but that is something he will be working on.
Hazel was someone I liked but I think she fell hard for Jack a bit too soon. Was it because of his charm or that she liked the idea of being in love? I did like that she accepted Jack for who he was and never looked down on him. She has her heart set on a man who is fragile in his feelings and has one foot out the door if he feels rejected or wronged. Her steadfast faith brings a breath of fresh air to the story. She sees past the person and finds his worth deep inside.
The story is good and I especially liked finding out about Jack’s past. I can’t imagine going through life not knowing how to read or write. The one thing that spoke to me the most in the story was about forgiveness. Jack has carried around anger and bitterness because of his mother for so long. His eyes are blinded to a woman who is good and kind. The misunderstanding they have is proof that Jack doesn’t trust women. He never gives Hazel a chance to explain but jumps on his horse and leaves. This is where I believe God wanted him to be at this point in his life. God has a plan and a divine appointment for Jack.
Through a series of events Jack searches his heart and knows that forgiving is the key to freedom. Those precious moments in the book make this a powerful lesson we can all learn from. Don’t wait till it’s too late to ask for forgiveness. Jack represents each of us who are prideful and want to hold on to bitterness. The author allows us to witness “that God never leaves us nor forsakes us.”
I loved the book and wanted to have the story continue. There are a few funny moments in the story where characters remind me of fumbling bumbling I don’t know what I’m doing people. I think they need to rethink having a new sheriff in town. The ending is wonderful and I wouldn’t mind a revisit to see how Jack and Hazel are doing.
I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion. ( )

If you enjoy a romantic western you will enjoy this book. I really like Hazel and Jack has a lot of good points also. Hazel is young but knows who she is. Jack has to figure out some things from his past before he can really move on. This is funny and inspirational. I like the minor characters also. I especially like Deborah. I received a copy of this book from Celebratelit for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will. ( )

Hearing the word ballad calls to mind images of Davy Crockett and of men sitting around a campfire. I love the author’s inspiration for this novel, basing it on a ballad she heard as a child and simultaneously remaining true to the original while also handling the ending a bit differently. In literature, a ballad and an epic poem can be very similar, so with that in mind it does not seem much of a stretch to go a step further to novel format. Although not necessarily a defining attribute, I tend to associate ballads with highly dramatized action and heroic feats, and with a subtitle of “a lot of hullabaloo on the prairie”, I figured that this book was going to fit the bill.

One aspect of the (too few) Chautona Havig books that I’ve read to date that I particularly enjoy is the combination of sincerity and humor, and “Jack” showcases this especially well. On the one hand, there is the cowboy Jack, a drifter of sorts with a checkered past that began on the streets of New York as a young boy and has caused him to keep his distance from women—until he meets Hazel Meissner, who could marry into high society but chooses a wary cowboy instead. However, the course of true love never did run smooth, and the same can be said for Dirk and Deborah, whose clever verbal jousting belies their mutual affection. The most amusing character, by far, is Sheriff Hawmutt, whose brief interlude offers a reprieve from an emotional section of the story and provides comic relief in the form of hilarious malapropisms.

A strong Christian faith element suffuses the narrative, focusing on forgiveness and trust. One of my favorite quotations from the book sums it up so well: “You can’t have it both ways. Either the Lord is good and what He says is also good, or the Lord is a liar and a liar cannot be good.” While it is easy to become frustrated with Jack because he trusts someone he knows is dishonest over Hazel, who has never given him reason to doubt her, it’s the same thing that we do all too often. We listen to the lies of the enemy rather than the truth of God. Our reaction when hurt or wronged should be to forgive others and trust God, as Hazel does, but how often do we actually do that? For as implausibly perfect as I found Hazel to be, I have to admire her Christlike attitude throughout the story. As the apostle Paul implores us in Ephesians 5:1-2, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Celebrate Lit and was not required to post a favorable review. All opinions are my own. ( )