About the Book

Book: A Cherished Betrothal

Author: Denise Weimer

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release Date: January 23, 2024

He rescued her once, but a chance at love will require the ultimate sacrifice.

Alexander Morris bears the childhood scars of the Long Canes massacre that killed his brother and father. Forced by his dark past into the lonely life of Georgia Ranger, Alexander joins the bordering South Carolina Rangers in their revolt against the Crown. When he’s posted to the fort erected to defend the community once decimated by the massacre, duty demands he court the loyalty of his sworn enemies, the fierce Cherokee warriors.

Elspeth Lawrence never forgot the boy who sacrificed himself for her at Long Canes—any more than she forgot the younger sister taken captive. She’s learned not only to forgive, but also to help minister to the Cherokees at her father’s mission. When Alex Morris arrives at nearby Fort Charlotte, Elspeth finds her memories—and her emotions—stirred. He doesn’t even remember her…or the long-ago attack. But the bitterness that simmers just beneath his stoic exterior—as well as her courtship by a local landowner—challenge their undeniable bond.

When Alex uncovers a long-held secret and a plot to sabotage patriot talks with the Cherokees, he must choose between his desire for revenge and his love for the girl he rescued long ago.

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About the Author

North Georgia native Denise Weimer has authored over a dozen traditionally published novels and a number of novellas—historical and contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and time slip. As a freelance editor and Acquisitions & Editorial Liaison for Wild Heart Books, she’s helped other authors reach their publishing dreams. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise always pauses for coffee, chocolate, and old houses.

More from Denise

That Event That Changed You Forever: The Backstory Catalyst of A Cherished Betrothal

Most of us can pinpoint it—a moment in time that forever altered us and the course of our lives. Maybe it was a place. Or a person. For good or bad, we can never go back to who we used to be. The good or bad depends on how we react to that moment, place, or person, doesn’t it? Whether we allow God to make us more like Him because of it.

Both the hero and heroine of my third novel in the Scouts of the Georgia Frontier, A Cherished Betrothal, live with such a moment. Experts in book plotting say our characters should have a dark moment in their backstory. For Alex Morris and Elspeth Lawrence, the Long Canes Massacre of 1760 is that dark moment. Together, they survived the attack of around a hundred Cherokee braves on a group of settlers fleeing across the South Carolina border into Georgia. Alex lost his father and brother, Elspeth her mother while her younger sister was taken captive. With the resilience of the Scots-Irish who formed a barrier between the colonies and the Native Americans, the Long Canes settlers returned to the border of South Carolina later that same year.

A Cherished Betrothal actually begins in 1775, with the South Carolina backcountry on the brink of revolution. Since the childhood attack, Alex has lost his sense of home. He draws his identity from his service as a Georgia and South Carolina Ranger (yes, this tale veers over the border into South Carolina and the fascinating history around the town of Ninety Six) and waits for the opportunity for revenge. He keeps his anger carefully banked, just as Elspeth hides her fear—especially when she has to face warriors who visit the mission for Cherokee children she runs with her minister father. She’s forgiven her enemies, but she can no more prevent her knees knocking upon sight of the braves than she can forget the boy who saved her life fifteen years ago.

It seems God has answered her prayers when Alex shows up at nearby Fort Charlotte. Only…he doesn’t remember her…or the dark moment that shaped both of their histories. Between Elspeth’s not-so-gentle pressure, a Cherokee boy Alex can’t shake as a shadow, and his commanders’ determination to court the Cherokees as allies for the Patriot cause, Alex is forced to look his past in the eye.

Pivoting between Fort Charlotte, the mission school, and the town of Ninety Six where Elspeth’s wealthy Loyalist admirer helps stir conflict, including the first battle of the Revolution in South Carolina, A Counterfeit Betrothal is a tale of unshakeable love and soul-deep healing. I loved this story so much when I was writing it, I wanted to move into Colonial Ninety Six. I hope you will too!

My Impressions

“If anyone could break this heart of stone in me chest, ye could, lass. But it has been hard for too long.”

“‘A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.’” Her eyes settled again on his. “What me da said was true. I canna save ye, Alex. Only God can.”

The year is 1775, the place the colony of South Carolina. It is a time of great political uncertainty, as Patriots and Loyalists vie for not only control of the land, but an alliance with the Cherokee, the Native Americans in the area. Denise Weimer, in A Cherished Betrothal, introduces us to Lt. Alex Morrison and Elspeth Lawrence. While both Elspeth and Alex survived a horrific massacre of their neighboring families while children, Elpeth’s reaction is to depend on her faith and idolize Alex, who saved her. Alex’s reaction is to develop amnesia and turn away from the God Who would allow such a tragedy.

What I liked/loved about the book was the early American history including Native Americans and the location, South Carolina. I loved how Alex grudgingly learns to love someone unthinkable, but still struggle with forgiveness.

I loved that Elspeth hangs on to her dream, but want to ask, what if… Alex has married while she yearns for him, what if he never commits to her or Jesus? Or follows Him in a heart-chaging way. I love that Elspeth has to decide if she will release her most precious dreams to the Lord.

The secondary star of the show in this novel is Inoli! How I wanted to help heal him, hug him, show him a better way than the gods he grew up with.

I loved the eventual ending, with a caveat. One specific part of the HEA I thought I wanted, and got, didn’t fit my idea of reality. You’ll have to read the book to see what I mean. And maybe you’ll disagree. The novel would have gotten five stars from me, but I felt there were places it lagged a bit.

Overall, still a great read of the times in South Carolina frontier, preceding the Revolutionary War. A key statement I loved, showing more understanding of the complexity of the conflict between the Patriots, Loyalists, and Cherokee: “That these were people, not monsters. Their anger at the loss of their freedoms ranked no lower than his. Was he not joined to the Patriot cause, fighting for the same reasons as they? Whatever side they took, like the whites who remained divided, they took it for the best chance of preserving that freedom. Their way of life.”

I received a copy of the book from Celebrate Lit. I also bought my own copy. No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own.

Notable Quotables:

“Love your enemies. Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.”

“Could it be possible to battle even more effectively from a place of righteousness…right standing with God? Would God be the source of strength he could exchange for revenge? And would that lift the heaviness that had followed him for sixteen years? He could not imagine breathing free.”

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Great! I recommend this book for history buffs of the pre-Revolutionary War, South Carolina history buffs, and of course historical fiction lovers who desire to see cross-cultural interactions of the time.