The Colonel's Lady Therapeutic Review and Giveaway

Laura Frantz's Kentucky historical was such a pleasure to read! Here's the backcover blurb:

Can love survive the secrets kept buried 

within a tormented heart?

Roxanna Rowan may be a genteel Virginia woman, but she is determined to brave the wilds of the untamed frontier to reach a remote Kentucky fort. Eager to reunite with her father, who serves under Colonel Cassius McLinn, Roxanna is devastated to find that her father has been killed on a campaign.
Penniless and out of options, Roxanna is forced to remain at the fort. As she spends more and more time with the fiery Colonel McLinn, the fort is abuzz with intrigue and innuendo. Can Roxanna truly know who the colonel is--and what he's done?

Immerse yourself in this powerful story of love, faith, and forgiveness set in the tumultuous world of the frontier in 1779. 

Immerse is the right word, folks. I had this book read in 24-hours flat, and I slept a good 8 of that. I couldn't put it down.

The Colonel's Lady deals with guilt and it's repercussions in a person's life. Guilt can be a driving motivation--either toward or away from something. Colonel McLinn is such a well-portrayed character struggling with the sins of his past and how they have affected not only his own future, but the future of others. His erratic behavior and personality has a lot more to do with this than the fact that he has fiery red hair!

Roxanna has her own demons to deal with, like not quite meeting the standard set before her by a domineering mother. When two cultures collide in marriage, one often tries to get the upperhand. With Roxanna's father on campaign with the war, Roxanna's mother's genteel upbringing held sway in their home...and Roxanna was constantly held under scrutiny and found lacking. As a result, she second-guesses herself and assigns dubious motives to the actions of others...making her her own very likable enemy in many ways.

I think women everywhere will identify with Roxanna. Not a one of us haven't felt the way that she most assuredly did. I found myself rooting for her to overcome her past with her mother and former relationships and embrace a healthier self-confidence.

Her self-esteem is essentially in tatters at the start of the book--the result of past relationships gone awry--which makes for some great interactions between her and Cassius McLinn and she comes to realize that she's not such a failure, even at her "on the shelf" age. Romance readers will be panting for the first kiss--I know I was!

 I've seen the effects of domineering parents all too often in my office, and I love how Laura brings Roxanna through a beautiful character arc to a side of hope and healing. This was my first book to read by Laura Frantz, but it won't be my last.

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