CFBA Book Review: Before the Scarlet Dawn

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Before The Scarlet Dawn Abingdon Press (February 2012) by Rita Gerlach

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Rita Gerlach lives with her husband and two sons in a historical town nestled along the Catoctin Mountains, amid Civil War battlefields and Revolutionary War outposts in central Maryland.

"Romantic historical fiction that has an inspirational bent, is one way people can escape the cares of life and be transported back to a time of raw courage and ideal love," she says. "The goal of my writing is to give readers a respite, and inspire them to live fully and gratefully."

In many of her stories, she writes about the struggles endured by early colonists, with a sprinkling of both American and English history. Currently she is writing a new historical series for Abingdon Press entitled 'Daughters of the Potomac'. See her 'Novels In Progress' page on her website to learn more.

There are other novels on her list to be published, and a proposal for another book series.

She was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in a large family in the Maryland suburbs. Her family claims that storytelling is their blood, handed down from centuries of Irish storytellers. Rita believes there just may be something to that theory.

ABOUT THE BOOK

In 1775, Hayward Morgan, a young gentleman destined to inherit his father’s estate in Derbyshire, England, captures the heart of the local vicar’s daughter,

Eliza Bloome. Her dark beauty and spirited ways are not enough to win him, due to her station in life.

Circumstances throw Eliza in Hayward’s path, and they flee to America to escape the family conflicts. But as war looms, it's a temporary reprieve. Hayward joins the revolutionary forces and what follows is a struggle for survival, a test of faith, and the quest to find lasting love in an unforgiving wilderness.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Before The Scarlet Dawn, go HERE.

Watch the book video:

My Thoughts

There is no doubt in my mind that when Eliza is described as spirited that the correct word was used!  She's a girl with some serious pluck and determination, and to tell you the truth she needs it.  I am continually amazed when I read Historical Romances by the difference in behaviors between now and in times long past.  Eliza was left without family when her father passed away, yet she refuses to accept a marriage proposal, instead she offers her own.

Desperate, not knowing what is going to happen with her future, Eliza puts in all on the line, will she end up a maid, off in some foreign country or worse?  Eliza's strength is something we can all learn from, and when she loves, she loves with her all.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be anxiously awaiting Rita Gerlach's next book!

*I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for review from CFBA