Rebecca'sReads

A review of HEARTLAND On the Side of Angels from Rebecca's Reads:

Heartland: On the Side of Angels
Terri Sedmak
Vivid Publishing ISBN 9781921787393
Reviewed by Kam Aures for Rebecca’s Reads (08/11)

"Heartland: On the Side of Angels" is Terri Sedmak’s first book in "The Liberty & Property Legends" series of books. The story opens in the Cheyenne Courthouse on August 28, 1884. "And so she sits there, wide-eyed, her blue gaze fixed on Cam, waiting to begin. He holds the journal and is about to give it to her. Her eyes follow it as he puts it into her hands. It happens slowly, as though time has changed its course, like a small stream that skedaddles round a bend and meets the wide, gainly river." (p.2) This is her brother’s journal that she is about to share with the courtroom and she hopes they believe the writings within.
After the initial opening, the reader is taken back to the year 1869 and we start to meet the main players in the story and learn the events leading up to the Cheyenne courtroom scene. Each part of the story is told through a different character’s eyes which I found to be very intriguing. I enjoyed having an insider’s view as to how each character felt about what has happening. I think that Sedmak’s choice to tell the story in this format was a good one as it amped up the storyline quite a bit and made it all the more interesting.
"Heartland: On the Side of Angels" is a very lengthy five hundred and twenty three pages, which for the most part is filled with substance. There were a couple of slower moving parts in the novel, but overall the storyline and the main characters held my interest. The characters were well-developed and the book flowed smoothly. If you enjoy historical fiction, then I recommend this first book in "The Liberty & Property Legends" series.