USA Today Review ~
Book reviewer Serena Chase has written a review for 'Before the Scarlet Dawn'.
http://books.usatoday.com/happyeveraf...
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Genre: Historical inspirational romance
Inspirational author Rita Gerlach writes historical romance with the touching honesty of human failings. Before the Scarlet Dawn, book one in the Daughters of the Potomac series, tells the heartbreaking story of Eliza Bloome, a displaced vicar's daughter who defies societal snobbery to follow her heart and begin a new life — with a man far above her station — in America.
Here's the sitch: Having built the beginnings of a fortune in the colonies, Hayward Morgan returns to England to collect a wife. When he rescues the feisty vicar's daughter from men intent on doing her harm, the attraction is instant. But Eliza's place in society isn't remotely equal to his, and his parents would never allow the vicar's daughter to rise to their tier of society through marriage. Therefore, he dismisses the attraction and moves on.
But Eliza cannot. The boy who tormented her as a child has become the man who has stolen her heart. She's sure he will grow to love her, if he can just look past her lack of position.
Hayward soon discovers that finding a wife is more difficult than he expected. No woman of his society is willing to leave England for the relative wilderness of the Colonies — not even for such a desirable match as he.
But Eliza Bloome is more than willing. Convinced she loves Hayward, and about to be evicted from her home, Eliza knows she is the right wife at the right time. When a family argument changes Hayward's circumstances, he finds himself at Eliza's door, ready to accept her unconventional proposal.
America isn't at all what Eliza thought it would be, and Hayward is much more passionate about joining his newfound countrymen in revolution than in letting himself fall in love with his beautiful new wife. As war forces them apart, Eliza must forge a future built on the hope of Hayward's return and eventual love. But in the lapse of that hope, one choice threatens to destroy everything — and everyone — she loves.
Hits & misses: When Hayward Morgan appeared at just the right moment to save the day, I thought I knew how his character's story arc would form. But the author surprised me, building Hayward into a complexly layered hero/villain throughout the course of the book. Something about him rubbed me wrong from the very beginning — and I think that was the author's intent. But it was that little twinge of discomfort (perhaps it was women's intuition?) at the beginning that allowed me to believe the direction his character took later in the novel. Hayward pulled my emotions in every direction. One moment I ached for the pain of his past, the next I really, really despised him for his behavior in the moment.
In the beginning, Eliza is a strong but compassionate soul. But as the story progresses, her feistiness sadly wanes. Blinded by the loneliness of unrequited need, she is willing to do whatever she can to earn Hayward's abiding love. I found Eliza to be, at times, a bit weak in Hayward's presence — and a little too quick to capitulate to the demands of others. Yet, as her situation grew increasingly dark, Eliza's resilience outweighed those surface complaints, allowing her to experience fully human failings.
As Hayward's character develops, arcing first upward, then deeply and darkly down, I found myself biting my lip, hoping he wouldn't do what I thought he might do. But he did — and, even though I expected him to commit some sort of dastardly deed, the dastardliness of it took me by surprise, making those little twinges I had in the beginning shine like spotlights on the worst of his Fitzwilliam Darcy-like leanings. It will be interesting to see how — or if — Gerlach chooses to redeem Hayward in the next books of this series.
The repetition of one particular phrase added a slightly maudlin aroma to the reading and a few journey details stood out as unlikely, but Gerlach's effort toward making her setting atmospheric to the times paid off. Her characters took the expectations of their sexes and stations quite seriously and neither they, nor the situations in which they found themselves, seemed ahead of their time. I may not have respected Eliza entirely, but I believed the way her convictions were damaged by the gradual breaking of her hope. The weakening of her character, and the resulting actions that betrayed both Hayward and her own beliefs, came off as painfully true to her situation and the times.
To read or not to read: Juxtaposing the passion of American Revolutionaries against the restraints of Georgian English society, author Rita Gerlach has created an achingly vivid frame on which to stretch the canvas of her new series. Tracing the painful path a life takes when innocence and love are taken for granted, Before the Scarlet Dawn is an artfully hewn tale of romance tempered by fear — and the hope of love, devastated by war.
A writer, performer and accomplished partaker of dark chocolate, Serena Chase lives in Iowa with her husband and two daughters. Her reviews can also be found at the blog Edgy Inspirational Romance.
http://books.usatoday.com/happyeveraf...
--------------------------------------
Genre: Historical inspirational romance
Inspirational author Rita Gerlach writes historical romance with the touching honesty of human failings. Before the Scarlet Dawn, book one in the Daughters of the Potomac series, tells the heartbreaking story of Eliza Bloome, a displaced vicar's daughter who defies societal snobbery to follow her heart and begin a new life — with a man far above her station — in America.
Here's the sitch: Having built the beginnings of a fortune in the colonies, Hayward Morgan returns to England to collect a wife. When he rescues the feisty vicar's daughter from men intent on doing her harm, the attraction is instant. But Eliza's place in society isn't remotely equal to his, and his parents would never allow the vicar's daughter to rise to their tier of society through marriage. Therefore, he dismisses the attraction and moves on.
But Eliza cannot. The boy who tormented her as a child has become the man who has stolen her heart. She's sure he will grow to love her, if he can just look past her lack of position.
Hayward soon discovers that finding a wife is more difficult than he expected. No woman of his society is willing to leave England for the relative wilderness of the Colonies — not even for such a desirable match as he.
But Eliza Bloome is more than willing. Convinced she loves Hayward, and about to be evicted from her home, Eliza knows she is the right wife at the right time. When a family argument changes Hayward's circumstances, he finds himself at Eliza's door, ready to accept her unconventional proposal.
America isn't at all what Eliza thought it would be, and Hayward is much more passionate about joining his newfound countrymen in revolution than in letting himself fall in love with his beautiful new wife. As war forces them apart, Eliza must forge a future built on the hope of Hayward's return and eventual love. But in the lapse of that hope, one choice threatens to destroy everything — and everyone — she loves.
Hits & misses: When Hayward Morgan appeared at just the right moment to save the day, I thought I knew how his character's story arc would form. But the author surprised me, building Hayward into a complexly layered hero/villain throughout the course of the book. Something about him rubbed me wrong from the very beginning — and I think that was the author's intent. But it was that little twinge of discomfort (perhaps it was women's intuition?) at the beginning that allowed me to believe the direction his character took later in the novel. Hayward pulled my emotions in every direction. One moment I ached for the pain of his past, the next I really, really despised him for his behavior in the moment.
In the beginning, Eliza is a strong but compassionate soul. But as the story progresses, her feistiness sadly wanes. Blinded by the loneliness of unrequited need, she is willing to do whatever she can to earn Hayward's abiding love. I found Eliza to be, at times, a bit weak in Hayward's presence — and a little too quick to capitulate to the demands of others. Yet, as her situation grew increasingly dark, Eliza's resilience outweighed those surface complaints, allowing her to experience fully human failings.
As Hayward's character develops, arcing first upward, then deeply and darkly down, I found myself biting my lip, hoping he wouldn't do what I thought he might do. But he did — and, even though I expected him to commit some sort of dastardly deed, the dastardliness of it took me by surprise, making those little twinges I had in the beginning shine like spotlights on the worst of his Fitzwilliam Darcy-like leanings. It will be interesting to see how — or if — Gerlach chooses to redeem Hayward in the next books of this series.
The repetition of one particular phrase added a slightly maudlin aroma to the reading and a few journey details stood out as unlikely, but Gerlach's effort toward making her setting atmospheric to the times paid off. Her characters took the expectations of their sexes and stations quite seriously and neither they, nor the situations in which they found themselves, seemed ahead of their time. I may not have respected Eliza entirely, but I believed the way her convictions were damaged by the gradual breaking of her hope. The weakening of her character, and the resulting actions that betrayed both Hayward and her own beliefs, came off as painfully true to her situation and the times.
To read or not to read: Juxtaposing the passion of American Revolutionaries against the restraints of Georgian English society, author Rita Gerlach has created an achingly vivid frame on which to stretch the canvas of her new series. Tracing the painful path a life takes when innocence and love are taken for granted, Before the Scarlet Dawn is an artfully hewn tale of romance tempered by fear — and the hope of love, devastated by war.
A writer, performer and accomplished partaker of dark chocolate, Serena Chase lives in Iowa with her husband and two daughters. Her reviews can also be found at the blog Edgy Inspirational Romance.
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