Celebrate Lit / July 12, 2024

Trail of Promises

About the Book Trail of Promises

Book: Trail of Promises

Author: Susan F. Craft

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release date: June 25, 2024

A marriage of convenience will protect her reputation on the long trail ahead, but he’s barely more than a stranger…

Tessa Harris is a woman without options. When she’s stranded nearly two hundred miles from her destination, her only companions are a former British Cavalry officer and his two young brothers. Society dictates they cannot travel without a chaperone, but can she trust this handsome stranger to protect her if they choose to marry? And if so, should she show her feelings or guard her heart? She’s learned the hard way how painful it is to love a man who doesn’t reciprocate.

Stephen Griffith has enough responsibility caring for his young brothers, and now he shoulders the massive responsibility of keeping his new wife safe as they cross the wilderness toward a new life. And though he tries to keep her at arm’s length, reminding himself their marriage may only be a temporary arrangement, he cannot seem to shake the feelings growing for her.

When they fall into the hands of outlaws, Tessa and Stephen must overcome their hardest obstacle yet. Only God can bring them safely to the end of the trail where enduring love awaits.

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My Thoughts on Trail of Promises

Trail of Promises is a wonderful historical fiction novel from the 1700’s that involves danger, suspense, and romance. Our danger involves travelling the Great Wagon Road. It’s not for the faint of heart and definitely not to be considered safe by any stretch of the imagination.

Suspense comes from being captured. Well, that’s just one example. There were a few other suspenseful moments. When you’re travelling a dangerous path you have to know suspense will come.

And then there is the romance. It’s a marriage of convenience but can it become more?

She needs him to keep her safe but also to save her reputation.

I enjoy a good marriage of convenience story and watching our characters come to life and learn that they truly can like each other and then seemingly fall in love as well. This follows that path (not to be a spoiler because you had to already know that) but you can’t even imagine the bumps and bruises along the path.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It is the second in a series. You don’t have to read them in order but of course you should! There are more to come and I couldn’t be happier. I’m anxiously awaiting them.

Please stop back by and let me know what you think of this book once you’ve had a chance to read it too.

I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from Celebrate Lit. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.

About the Author of Trail of Promises

Susan F. Craft retired after a 45-year career in writing, editing, and communicating in business settings.

She authored the historical romantic suspense trilogy Women of the American Revolution—The Chamomile, Laurel, and Cassia. The Chamomile and Cassia received the National Illumination Silver Awards. The Chamomile was named by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance as an Okra Pick and was nominated for a Christy Award.

She collaborated with the International Long Riders’ Guild Academic Foundation to compile An Equestrian Writer’s Guide (www.lrgaf.org), including almost everything you’d ever want to know about horses.

An admitted history nerd, she enjoys painting, singing, listening to music, and sitting on her porch watching geese eat her daylilies. She most recently took up the ukulele.

More from Susan

Tessa Harris and her father, Thomas, are portrait artists, limners, who travel from town to town seeking commissions.

Limners were among the first to record glimpses of life in colonial America. By the early 1700s, wealthy colonists hired limners to paint portraits of their families. These limners, mostly self-taught, generally unknown by name, turned out naive portraits in the Elizabethan style, the Dutch baroque style, or the English baroque court style, depending upon the European background of both artist and patron.

Rather than a true portrait, the paintings were most often idealistic and did not give a true representation of the personality of the sitter and were often two-dimensional. Artists focused on the material wealth of the subject, giving much attention to their clothing and accessories. Some artists painted only the faces of their subjects, explaining that they need not bother with tedious sittings and that they would paint the bodies and clothing later. They would show their subjects English and French prints from which to choose whatever costumes and backgrounds they preferred.

Like most artisans of their time who found it difficult to support themselves with paintings only, limners also worked in pewter, silver, glass, or textiles or took jobs doing ornamental paintings of clocks, furniture, signs, and carriages. Many painted miniatures—tiny watercolor portraits—on pieces of ivory, often oval-shaped and commonly worn as jewellery. Limners also painted on paper and canvas and earned, on average, $15 per portrait.

Limners Samuel McIntire and Duncan Phyfe became celebrated painters of furniture.

Famous colonial portrait artists included Joseph Blackburn, Peter Pelham, John Smibert, John Singleton Copley, John Trumbull and Charles Wilson Peale. An American artist, Benjamin West, became a painter to the king and president of the Royal Academy in London. American artists flocked to his studio to learn under his tutelage, including Gilbert Stuart, who painted a famous portrait of George Washington.

In 1754 in British colonial New York, an artist took out the following ad in the Gazette and the Weekly Post: Lawrence Kilburn, Limner, just arrived from London with Capt. Miller, hereby acquaints all Gentlemen and Ladies inclined to favour him in having their pictures drawn, that he doesn’t doubt of pleasing them in taking a true Likeness and finishing the Drapery in a proper Manner, as also in the Choice of Attitudes, suitable to each Person’s Age and Sex, and giving agreeable Satisfaction, as he has heretofore done to Gentlemen and Ladies in London. He may at present be apply’d to at his Lodgings, at Mr Bogart’s near the New Printing Office in Beaver-Street.

I pray that my Great Wagon Road series honors the Lord and the gifts He has given me and that you will love my characters as much as I do. Soli Deo Gloria.