A Moonbow Night by Laura Frantz

After fleeing Virginia, Temperance Tucker and her family established an inn along the Shawnee River. It's a welcome way station for settlers and frontiersmen traveling through the wild Cumberland region of Kentucke--men like Sion Morgan, a Virginia surveyor who arrives at the inn with his crew, looking for an experienced guide. 

Though he balks when Tempe is appointed to lead his team through the wilderness, it isn't long before Sion must admit that her abilities may outmatch his own. But can the tenuous tie they are forming survive the dangers waiting just around the bend? 

With her signature sweeping style and ability to bring the distant past to vivid life, Laura Frantz beckons you to join her in a land of Indian ambushes, conflicting loyalties, and a tentative love that meanders like a cool mountain stream.

(excerpt from back of book)

A Moonbow Night reminds me of the  landscape it takes place in, you never know what the next bend may bring. Laura Frantz is a skilled storyteller, weaving together her characters and their worlds like the pieces  of  a  tapestry. Every story unfolds just as she intends without anything being revealed before its time. Considering how often historical books can fall into a predictable outline the way Frantz was able to tease out a story, allowing characters and readers alike to live within the not knowing was  refreshing and kept me on the edge of each page.

Franz also excelled at breathing life into her main characters, giving them the highs, lows, and quandaries  one would expect to see in believable characters. The slow glimpses into the inner working of Sion and Tempe seemed less like revealing a character and more like getting to know someone.

That said, I do think one of the main weaknesses  of A Moonbow Night is that the same care and concern developed for the central characters (or annoyance in the case of one) didn't necessarily translate into the same care for the rest of the cast. Aside from Nate and Cornelius I would be hard pressed to name the other men on the team or what their motivations were.  This lack of development made some of the scenes at base camp feel less impactful as I wasn't as invested in those characters.  

For anyone who loves historical fiction and desires a strong plot with mystery, solid characters, and lots of heart I would strongly recommend giving Laura Frantz a try.

4 out of 5 stars.

I received this book as part of the Revell Reads book tour in exchange for my honest opinion.