Another wonderful historical adventure romance in the Mayflower series! One of my favorites in this series so far, this epic road trip begins in 1794 Tennessee and ends in Kentucky as the group travels along the newly expanded Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap.

This well written tale pulled me in and had me holding my breath at times, as the tension mounts later on with perilous situations. The romance is a slow build to a sizzling, sigh-worthy one, well worth the angst. I fell a little in love with Thomas, the strong, brooding sacrificial hero. He was a bit of a Joseph type whose past was the key to the present needs of the moment. A flawed hero whose faith struggles move from doubt to hope and trusting in God as "the Way, the Truth and the Life."
Kate was a sweet, lovely, courageous young woman whose own faith grows through her ordeal, as she clings to the promise that God is with her and never abandons His children. The history is seamlessly threaded throughout the story without any dry narrative. I enjoyed reading the author's notes at the end with research highlights.

Historical Christian romance fans will probably enjoy this book. Recommend!

The Cumberland Bride is a book in a series of books by Barbour Publishing called The Daughters of the Mayflower. I have thoroughly enjoyed this series. This is a new to me author and I loved this story. The historical aspects of the frontier and the dangerous plot kept me glued to each page. I felt as if I was there enjoying the beautiful scenery of the Cumberland Gap. The romance however, was what kept me turning the pages. It was so well done and oh so precious, that I wanted the story to continue. As I said, this is a new to me author and I am thrilled to have found her. I can't wait to read more from Ms. McNear.
*This book was given to me by Barbour Publishing. I was not under any obligation to leave a review. This is my honest opinion.

I absolutely adore this series! (I'm not-so-secretly hoping they add some more to the list as well). I love how the series has been laid out in a way that each of the authors contributing are able to create their own stories that both stand alone, and fit together at the same time. I've been able to read stories from author's I've read in the past, along with being introduced to some that are new to me. Shannon McNear is one of them. Her writing style fit in very well with the series, but it's also peaked my interest to look into more by her.

One character that had me really intrigued throughout the story though was Thomas Bledsoe. His connections (both physical and emotional), to both the "whites" and the Indians really added another layer to the whole story. If his past hadn't been what it was, it would have literally changed the whole book. Often when children learn about history, they hear one side of the story--the one that won out for space in their history books. An entire people can be misunderstood and essentially demonized simply because their side is never considered. Shannon shares some more about this in her author's note at the end, but she shares that she felt it was more important to share something more historically accurate than modernly accepted. I can really respect this. I also was able to learn from it too!

I really felt bad for Kate's character because of how injury-prone she appeared to be throughout the story.  As Shannon shared in her notes at the end, there were a whole lot of dangers and illnesses that travelers faced on their journeys. It certainly wasn't a trip to be taken lightly. Shannon shared that each of the events she had in the story really happened to other travelers, though not all from one story. It's a good thing Kate was a strong young woman, because I would not have enjoyed her journey!

I really enjoyed The Cumberland Bride and I'm curious to see what's next, both for the series and for Shannon McNear! Although the books can easily be read as stand-alone novels, I'd suggest starting at the beginning and reading all of them anyways simply because it really is a great series. I hope you enjoy them too!

*I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley. I was not required to share a positive review. Thoughts and opinions expressed are mine alone.