Will stay on my favorite books list for a long time. Great sense of history and romance. The outcome remained a guess. Great story-telling~ ( )

What a ride! This remarkable coming of age story is filled with a poignant search for lasting Love. The essence of each character floats from its pages. I was delighted by the rich history that filled this novel. I've read countless frontier novels, but this one translates a fierce loyalty and belonging to the fledgling roots of our homeland that's all its own. In The Frontiersman's Daughter, Ms. Frantz has masterfully recreated the lovable, haunting world of the American frontier. ( )

Overall I really enjoyed the book, though at times I felt the author tried to over explain situations. Most of all I loved the factual insight into life on the frontier, and this was painted beautifully. ( )

Where I got the book: Kindle freebie.

I've got to say at the outset that I liked this book a whole lot more than Frantz's latest, Love's Reckoning. The somewhat loosely constructed plot of The Frontiersman's Daughter revolves around Lael Click, the daughter of a remarkable father who was instrumental in founding their small part of Kentucky (called Kentucke because this is the 1800s) and spent some time living with the local Indians to boot, during which time her mom ran off with her uncle. Yep, it's Kentucky all right.*

I thought this was going to be a straightforward romance but no, Lael has THREE men competing for her affections: bully-boy Simon, romantic but Indian (but he's really white but still HE'S INDIAN AND THAT'S A PROBLEM) Captain Jack, and--not appearing until way, way into the novel--Scottish doctor Ian. Much of the novel, in fact, is about Lael being true to her frontier roots despite all her father's efforts to the contrary and all the dire warnings about what'll happen if she doesn't "fort up" at the first sign of Indian activity.

I liked a lot of things about this novel:

- Lael was no Mary Sue - she's more often scruffy than not and strikes me as a real person.
- Frantz's use of the Kentucke dialect did not grate on me like her 'twases did in Love's Reckoning. It felt spot on and I loved it.
- Tons of interesting detail about a time when settlers were always one step from death.
- The men in Lael's life were often secondary to the story and could disappear for months at a time without making the story less interesting. You go, girl.
- I'm a sucker for stories with Indians. YES I LIKED DANCES WITH WOLVES DEAL WITH IT.

Considered as a novel, maybe a bit more structure would have improved matters. There's something a bit rambling about the story. Nevertheless it kept me engaged and, at times, even fascinated. Frantz's writing has its quirks, and the overuse of "nearly" and "almost" in conjunction with a verb ("she nearly stumbled") is one that tended to irritate, but that doesn't mean I won't pick up another Frantz book. And that, dear Reader, is what writers want; if we can get you to come back to the table for more, we know our cooking's good.

*Gosh I'm only kidding, Kentuckians. Chill. ( )

This was the second novel I've read from Laura Frantz. (The first was Courting Morrow Little.) Both have been interesting and heart-warming with lovely characters. The Frontiersman's Daughter begins when Lael Click is a 13-year-old girl with a father who lived with the Shawnee for a few years and adopted some of their strange ways, and a mother who is hiding secrets of her own. The Click cabin in the deep woods of the Kentucke settlement is full of secrets and silence, and Lael longs to know the truth. Occasionally, a tall and handsome Shawnee warrior rides near the cabin, and calls her to come onto the front porch and let down her long blonde hair. It seems he is trying to court her, as he begins leaving gifts for her (such as glass Indian beads and a striped blanket). However, her heart belongs to her childhood friend Simon, who intends to marry her. As the Shawnee warrior's visits become more frequent, her Pa first moves her to an elderly aunt's cabin, who teaches her about herbal medicine, and then far away to a finishing school. Years later, now a grown woman, she returns to her childhood home in the wilderness afer her father's death and her mother has remarried and moved elsewhere. At home, she realizes her childhood sweetheart will soon marry another, and her Shawnee warrior's interest has not waned. Her future is uncertain, and then she meets another complication: a handsome new doctor (and a Scot to boot) has moved to the settlement. He asks for help, but she cannot stand to be around him much. He has a way of seeing the truth, and he is always talking about his faith, one Lael does not share. As she tries to build a life for herself on the frontier, Lael must decide what she desperately needs, what she really believes, and whom she really loves.

I had a hard time getting into the book at first, most likely due to Lael's being only 13 for so long. Once she moves to the finishing school, time passes quickly, and before long she is a grown woman returning to Kentucke. That is where the story really begins. However, I do not think it would have been as enjoyable without all the background details. Lael was such an enjoyable character. I became so absorbed in her story that I could not put it down. She is a strong character, but when it comes to love, she is very vulnerable. You watch her heart break when she comes back and finds Simon with her childhood rival, see her fatuation with the strong, handsome, and mysterious Shawnee warrior, and then finally watch the mature and deep love develop between her and the doctor. However, it's not a simple story by any stretch of the imagination. Her heart is torn between the three men, and at times she cannot make up her mind.

There are also plenty of historical details to keep you riveted. The novel is so realistic that it transports you to the early colonial days. (I am so very thankful not to have lived then!) Lael and Ian care for the settlers when they are injured and during a smallpox outbreak, resulting in many deaths in the fort. It's a tender and heartbreaking story, with a beautifully developed romance and a gentle reminder of God's grace and forgiveness. I'd recommend it to all lovers of historical fiction. ( )