Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee.
~ Psalm 55:22
The War between the States has Valerie Fontaine frightened about her future. And when her wealthy father is charged with supplying Federal gunboats in order to save his shipping business, Valerie is suspected of conspiracy. Suddenly she's forced to flee her upscale New Orleans home or be taken into custody by Confederate troops.
Benjamin McCabe has a noble dream to make his mark on the world and has decided that photographing the Civil War is the way to accomplish it. But since the Battle of Bull Run, his brother Luke has been missing, and Ben is determined to find him. His stop in New Orleans is supposed to be a temporary one - until he meets and falls in love with Miss Valerie Fontaine.
When Valerie's father is arrested, Ben secures a way for her to leave the city and travel to his family's home where she'll be safe. He promises that as soon as he finds Luke, he'll be home and they can begin their life together. But once Valerie steps off the train she finds herself caught up in a web of lies that threaten to imprison her more than Yankee steel bars ever could.
Above, the heavens seemed to mourn
in tearful shades of gray.
A beautiful era. A fascinating history lesson. Unwilling Warrior is an elegant love story set in 1861 and 1866 during the Civil War. Valerie Fontaine must endure the betrayal of her father, the stalking detriment of her childhood friend-turned-fiancée James Ladden, the spontaneously ardent romance from a mysterious visitor, the adaptation into a new family of lower societal status, and constant betrayal of a severely jealous woman. The horrible despair that erupts with Valerie finding herself on the run pushes the storyline along as if being narrated from an old 19th century steamer.
I delight in the romantic affair between Benjamin McCabe and Valerie Fontaine. Moreover, I am appreciative of its immediate commencing right from the start and the way Andrea Boeshaar maintains the suspense in this amorous thread on edge clear to the finish. The author saturates the storyline with this as the main theme, gratefully.
All I ever wanted is to be completely yours.
Boeshaar's characters in Unwilling Warrior are ripe with animation and depth. Truthfully, I am surprised to see a few of the major personalities disappear entirely less than half way through the book, most of which to my liking. I hate to see Adalia, however, left behind and absent from the latter bulk of the story, and I also would've loved to have felt a deeper reconciliation between Valerie and her father. Boeshaar, nonetheless, keeps it realistic and substantiates the allure and sincere welcome all the more into the McCabe family.
The beastly character of Catherine is so excruciatingly abhorrent that it makes you want to reach right through the pages of the book for a stranglehold. It is amazing how people can keep their conscionable cool, the era considering. The heartbreaking departure of Valerie's father and Catherine's deterioration balance the story allowing the Christian reader to examine one's own principles.
Exquisitely written, Boeshaar fulfills the story. Unlike other stories I've read with either loose ends or weak scenarios left unattended, Unwilling Warrior is completely satisfying. A winner of one's heart. Her upcoming sequels to this first installment in the Seasons of Redemption series will be on my literary radar.
Yes, let the catchin' up begin.
Andrea Boeshaar published her first novel in 1994 and is co-founder of the 2.000 + member organization Amerian Christian Fiction Writers. She has taught at various writers conferences including Write to Publish, Oregon Christian Wirters Conference, and Mount Hermon. A former literary agent, she now spends her non-writing time as a certified life coach. She has been married to Daniel for over 30 years and is mom to three sons, grandmom to two.
My appreciation to Rebeca at Glass Road PR for providing this book free for review.
