Laura Frantz has gone and swept my heart away again in this inspiring historical romance set in the wild Kentucky frontier of Daniel Boone, James Harrod, Benjamin Logan, and Simon Kenton. I have enjoyed all of this author's novels, and A Moonbow Night follows in the tradition of her first, The Frontiersman's Daughter, which also made my reader's heart skip a beat. It's a rough and tumble frontier, where a settler might be taken down by a Shawnee arrow or burned out and captured at any time during the effort to carve out a home in the wilderness. Temperance Tucker - Tempe - is a young lady equal to the challenge, though her deep, abiding heartache over the death of her true love, James Boone, has wiped away her fear of death, and she lives recklessly in a temptation of fate to join him. Until her heart is drawn to life again by Crown surveyor, Sion Morgon. Morgon is a woodsman like Boone. He's a steady man who is keen to the Indians' own games when it comes to wilderness warfare. Not since the chilling death of his young wife Harper has he been drawn to a woman the way lovely and wild Tempe Tucker draws him. Yet, neither they nor their loved ones might survive the costs that come amid the dangerous struggles between the Indians, the settlers, and the great armies vying for a continent. One might think it unlikely that a woman like Tempe could do the things she does in this story, yet history itself tells us she might, and Frantz has woven the story with realism and believability, causing us to consider the true character of those who settled the wilds. With a cast of characters as compelling as the country itself and beautiful storytelling that woos an historical fiction lover's soul, A Moonbow Night will mesmerize you as completely as the misty moonlight sparkling over a waterfall at midnight. ( )

Being a history lover, I enjoy books set in the past as it gives me some insight as to life during that time period. I enjoyed reading about Temperance Tucker's life and how she was able to defend herself on the Kentucky frontier. I don't know that I could have been as rugged as she was and been able to survive during that time. I enjoyed seeing the story play out between her and Sion and how they learned to get around each other's pasts.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but the review is my own. ( )

Friday, January 20, 2017
A Moonbow Night by Laura Frantz, © 2017

and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,
Acts 17:26 NASB

Surveying the first great gateway to the west in "Kentucke" between the Cumberland Gap, follow the buffalo, the Native American, the longhunter, the pioneer... All traveled this route through the mountains into the wilderness of Kentucky and the banks of the Ohio River at the Falls of Ohio, aside trails, mountains, settlements, and countless rivers. Sion Morgan and his mapmaker, Cornelius Lyon, have differences as they strive to work together within the unknown land around them.

He'd forgotten what it was like to feel a bond, kinship. To come home. To be greeted, open-armed and openhearted...
--A Moonbow Night, 77.

To be a wanderer, could he take a risk? Reading Laura Frantz' books you become part of the narrative in a way that only a soothing ripple of a stream could be. Relaxing, tender, awaiting a coming storm that would send currents rushing over the rocks embedded beneath. Is is like a lone dog wanting to come in from the shadows to feel a touch but yet not eager to forge beyond its trembling. Sion Morgan does feel and seeks solace amid the everyday separateness of heart expanded beyond his remembrance. A fondness he desires to renew.

"A full moon ... ample mist ... patience."
--Ibid., 111.

Maintaining direction, his steps seemed to rebound back to where he had circled to begin ~ the Moonbow Inn. There were other travelers gathered, those who had passed along the word that there was unsettling ahead. Was there unsettling, here, for his heart?

Temperance, a name given that formed her steps. Tempe hastened to assist her mother as the Inn's hustle and din of hungry passers drew them to aromas permeating the keeping room, consuming the staples becoming meager. Respected as a sharpshooter, she had a skill needed for food when she had learned early on by her father. Now it stood before her as a reference and a following.

As their paths cross continually, they learn to maintain a semblance of aloneness ~ together. Sion needing direction; Tempe, needing a freedom to become.

Laura Frantz' story tells of a people who staked out land ~ the disruption of those displaced ~ a land that wasn't fenced or marked off, except for the familiarity of a known land to those who roamed it. My heart goes there too. This is a story of those who came, marking new lands they hadn't traveled.

On the vast,
uncharted Kentucky
frontier of 1777...

***Thank you for authoring, Laura Frantz, and Revell Reads Fiction for sending me a copy of A Moonbow Night. This review was written in my own words. No other compensation was received.*** ( )

Title: A Moonbow Night
Author: Laura Frantz
Pages: 384
Year: 2017
Publisher: Revell
My rating is 5 out of 5 stars.
Fantastic! That is just one of the many positive words I could have chosen to describe this wonderful story. I am a big fan of Laura’s writing and this book just brings that thought home even more. The story is set in the Kentucke territory in 1777. The two main characters are Temperance or Tempe and Sion Morgan. Sion is a surveyor for a company out of England who has been hired to survey the Kentucke territory. Tempe, her mother and brother operate an inn in the middle of nowhere in hostile Indian Territory. Her father, a Patriot, lives close by, but he lives in hiding as he is wanted for killing a surveyor hired by King George in Virginia, which caused the family to flee Virginia and is how the family has ended up in Kentucke.
Tempe is extremely knowledgeable about the land, herbs, food, guns, tracking and just about anything necessary to survive in this wilderness. She has a deep appreciation for God’s beautiful land and takes daily rambles to immerse herself in His creation. She is still grieving her fiancé who was killed four years ago by local Indians and at times longs to be with him. Then, Sion Morgan arrives at the inn looking for a guide. Tempe becomes his guide at the insistence of her father. As they set out on their arduous journey, the threat of an Indian attack is a constant worry. The Indians call surveyors “land stealers”, so they have no love lost when they encounter any white people be they surveyors or not. Along the way, Sion and Tempe develop a mutual respect and attraction for each other. Sion has lost his wife in an Indian attack three years ago, so he and Tempe have this type of loss in common.
Laura Frantz is passionate about the genre in which she writes and it shows in her detailed and vivid descriptions of the beauty of the land, the lifestyle of the characters and the history of the times. I was so involved in this story that I would have to put the book down to do something only to find myself drawn back to the book as soon as possible. I was riveted as the tension from Indian attack and the relationship between Sion and Tempe as the constant harsh details of life where made alive before my eyes. I liked learning about Kentucke during this time in history as well as what the relationship was between the Indians and the pioneers. I cared about what happened to the characters as I was emotionally vested in the story, which I think is something a good author as the God-given talent to accomplish. There is much more that happens in the story than I’ve mentioned, so please do yourself a favor and pick up this great story and read it for yourself!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255. “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” ( )

My thoughts: First of all, I was struck by curiosity about the probability of a "Moonbow" (think.... "rainbow" but at night). So as I began reading Laura Frantz's latest frontier story, I did a bit of research - specifically into the Moonbow in the Kentucky area. Fascinating bit of information and, yes, they do exist!

The first pages of A Moonbow Night left me feeling the cold icy sting of a Winter storm in the mountains of Western North Carolina and East Tennessee. As the surveyors trekked through the woods trying to avoid the Indians by being as quiet as possible and not lighting the fire that could warm their feet and cook food that would bring their body temperatures to more normal range, the cold seeped into their very being.

It is 1777 and the surveying party of men was surprised to find three women and a man managing an inn of sorts in an isolated part of the wilderness, but they were delighted to partake of the wonderful food and shelter from the elements after being on the trail so long.

Frantz is a true-to-the-period author as she writes of happenings, people, and the land of early frontier days in the settlement of America. In this story, the British were inciting the Indians against the westward movement of settlers and particularly surveyors. It simply was not a safe land through which to perilously journey.

This is a book of historical Christian fiction that brings the reader a terrific frontier adventure and a sweet romance as it develops between two individuals who have previously experienced great personal loss and who are strong characters.

DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy from the publisher to facilitate a review of my personal opinions. I was not compensated for a reward. ( )