Rose's Pledge by Sally Laity and Dianna Crawford

4 of 5 stars

Rose Hardwood once lived a life of privilege and dignity. Now, she and her family are in deep trouble. In order to save her family from disgrace, Rose sells herself into indentured servitude. Far from her home in England, she finds herself in the American frontier. When she is sold to a fur trapper who lives in the deepest frontier of America, she finds herself farther from home than she expected and in the heart of Indian Territory. Nate Kinyon has made a living of trapping in Indian Territory for quite some time. When he meets Rose Harwood, he is astonished to discover her owner would bring her into such dangerous territory. He's determined to rescue her from her stubborn and heartless owner who doesn't seem to mind endangering her for his own gain. But just how much is Nate willing to pay to rescue her?

Rose's Pledge is a unique story that covers various topics in history, such as indentured servitude, the fur trapper trade in the early American frontier, the French and Indian war, and of course, the early perception of Native Americans. 

With that said, this time period and the topics are not popular settings found in the Christian fiction market today. While colonial settings are starting to rise, readers don't know too much about the topics this story broaches. As a result, there is a lot of new information to take in. 

I definitely found this book interesting, but due to the newness and vast topics it covered, this story seemed to have a lot historical detail that at times made me want to skip over the lengthy paragraphs detailing the various tribes and the conflict over the French and Indian War. While the information was essential to know for the purpose of plot advancement, it seemed to be presented as an information dump inside of dialogue or inner monologue. For whatever reason, I didn't find these parts of the story as interesting.  

This story is a definite page-turner, and the the authors are skillful at keeping the reader in suspense as we wonder what is going to happen next. 

While the cover gives readers the impression that this story is a full-fledged historical romance, I think it would fall more along the lines of a historical. Though the hero and heroine interact with one another early in the story, the sparks don't start to fly until halfway through the novel--and that's about as much as I can mention on that without spoiling the story. 

As a historical, Rose's Pledge is definitely an interesting and engaging read. For those who enjoy colonial stories, or anyone interested in the fur trapping that took place during the colonial era, this is a story you will not want to miss. 

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. 

View the Trailer
for
Rose's Pledge

About the Authors

Dianna Crawford is a California native. She has been published since the early 1990s and writes full-time. Her first inspirational novel was the premier of a six-book series for Tyndale that she coauthored with Sally Laity. Dianna is married and has four daughters and seven grandkids.

Sally Laity has successfully written several novels, including a coauthored series for Tyndale, three Barbour novellas, and six Heartsongs romance novels. Her favorite thing these days is counseling new authors via the Internet. Sally always loved to write, and after her four children were grown she took college writing courses and attended Christian writing conferences. She has written both historical and contemporary romances and considers it a joy to know that the Lord can touch other hearts through her stories. She makes her home in Bakersfield, California, with her husband and enjoys being a grandma.

Purchase 

Available from Barbour Publishing in eBook and print formats