Beloved Hope by Tracie Peterson - A Book Review

     

     This is the second book in Peterson’s Heart of the Frontier series. Book one, Treasured Grace focused on the eldest of the Flanigan sisters, while Beloved Hope focuses on the middle sister. Set in the area of Oregon City in the mid-1800s, this second installment largely revolves around the trial of five Cayuse men being tried for the atrocities of the Whitman Mission Massacre. Many townspeople and survivors of the massacre feared the men, including the one who repeatedly abused Hope Flanigan, would not be put to death in an effort to appease the local tribes and thus ward off future attacks. Hope was counting on their death to ease her fears, fears that had taken over her life, but would it?

     Hope, convinced her ordeal had ruined her for any decent man, had put aside any idea of falling and love and marrying. Lieutenant Lance Kenner, tasked with guarding the Cayuse waiting to stand trial, was fighting his own demons, filled with resentment toward the man he held responsible for both of his older brothers’ deaths. Now, ready to return from Oregon City to his plantation in New Orleans, he was not interested in forming any romantic alliances. Yet, Hope and Lance feel drawn to one another. Is there any chance for them, or will bitterness darken any hopes of happiness for either of them?

     I am anxiously awaiting the third book in this series, to learn of the important life decisions made by the youngest Flanigan sister as she considers a path just opening up to women, a college education, I highly recommend Beloved Hope, and Treasured Grace for fans of historical and romance fiction. Both readers of secular and Christian fiction will find this series appealing. While there is enough information provided to make this book comprehensible as a stand-alone read, much of the emotion will be lost by not reading the series in order.

     I thank Bethany House Publishers and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of Beloved Hope in exchange for my honest review. I received no monetary compensation for providing the review.