About the Book:
Title: The Cumberland Bride, #5 Daughters of the Mayflower
A brand new series for fans of all things related to history, romance, adventure, faith, and family trees.
Love and Adventure Are Discovered on the Wilderness Road
In 1794, when Kate Gruener’s father is ready to move the family farther west into the wilderness to farm untouched land, Kate is eager to live out her own story of adventure like he did during the War for Independence and to see untamed lands. And she sets her sights on learning more about their scout, Thomas Bledsoe. Thomas’s job is to get settlers safely across the Kentucky Wilderness Road to their destination while keeping an ear open for news of Shawnee unrest. But naïve Kate’s inquisitive nature could put them both in the middle of a rising tide of conflict. Is there more to Thomas’s story than he is willing to tell? Is there an untapped courage in Kate that can thwart a coming disaster?
Join the adventure as the Daughters of the Mayflower series continues with The Cumberland Bride by Shannon McNear.
MY REVIEW:
Are you a sucker for the lore of the Kentucke wilderness around the time of Daniel Boone? Do you love the style of Laura Frantz or Michelle Griep? Shannon McNear has been added to my list of names who can paint that period so well, you can feel the splash of the river as the horses ford it, sense the cold and wet of the mountain dressed with thick fog. Be overtaken by the fear for safety as you vicariously travel the Cumberland Gap.
What an intriguing supposition McNear starts out her narrative with. A Hessian siding with the Americans. The real question I saw, over and over throughout the book, is where does one end viewing another as an enemy? How does the forgiveness offered by one affect others around him? Or will an attempt at reconciliation between obvious enemies bring shame, betrayal, and untold danger?
How I loved these characters. Some followed their upbringing, some followed their hearts, and all followed dangerous trails. Who will have the strength of character to survive a time and place given to unrest and danger?
Worthy quotes:
“It always seemed the more willing a body was to share their story, the more likely that story wasn’t worth hearing.”
“God could protect them…And if they could not put their hope in Him, then—what else was there?”
My heart is full after reading this ARC of The Cumberland Bride. May we all learn to view conflicts from angles other than our own. I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinions. I am not required to leave a positive review. I DID, however, pre-order my own copy for my keeper shelf.
About the Author:
Shannon has been writing one thing or another since third grade and finished her first novel at age fifteen—but waited more than thirty years for her first book contract. In the meantime, she graduated from high school, attended college, met and married her husband, birthed nine children, lost one, taught five to drive, revised that first story innumerable times, and completed six others.
Her first published novella, Defending Truth, in A Pioneer Christmas Collection (Barbour, 2013 & 2015), was a 2014 RITA nominee. She writes regularly for Colonial Quills, is a member of ACFW and RWA, and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency.
Transplanted to North Dakota after more than two decades in Charleston, South Carolina, she loves losing herself in local history. When this homeschooling mom isn’t sewing, researching, or leaking story from her fingertips, she enjoys being outdoors, basking in the beauty of the northern prairies
Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions 