Forever By Your Side by Tracie Peterson is the third book in the Brides of Willamette series. It can be read on its own but there are shared characters in all three novels, so reading them in order would be suggested.

Connie has returned to the Reservation where she grew up in the Pacific Northwest. She is accompanied by her best friend Tom. They are there to research Native American family histories and stories for the Bureau of Ethnicity. Connie has another purpose for returning. Her parents have been accused of trying to incite a war between the Indians and the government. Connie is determined to prove their innocence.

Forever by your Side is set in the 1880s and, through Connie's eyes, looks at the treatment of Native Americans after the Trail of Tears. While the horrors of the Trail of Tears have been well publicized, they did not end when the Native Americans arrived on the reservations. In this novel, Tracie Peterson takes a clear and honest look at the abuses and crimes that occurred against Native Americans and were often blessed by the government. Peterson also introduces a real life character, Helen Hunt Jackson, a poet who became an activist for the Indian tribes. Jackson wrote a book called A Century of Dishonor in 1881. Peterson refers to this book in Forever By Your Side.

Although this is primarily a historical fiction novel, it also involves romance, mystery, and crime. If you want to learn more about Native American history while reading well-written historical fiction, this book is for you.

I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House via Netgalley. My review is voluntary.

Forever By Your Side is the third book in Tracie Peterson's Willamette Brides series, which is also connected to her Heart of the Frontier series. I thoroughly enjoyed Ms. Peterson's Heart of the Frontier series and I was excited that she continued the storyline with her Willamette Brides series. Although Forever By Your Side was well-written, I had a hard time getting through the beginning chapters of the book. I eventually did become captivated by the storyline and the characters, yet I did struggle initially to connect to the plot and the characters.
The themes of the book were excellent and very thoughtfully approached and dealt with. I appreciate how Ms. Peterson addressed the extreme injustices and horrific consequences of racial hatred towards the Native American people. Discrimination, injustice, and any form of hatred is so despicable, yet sadly is part of American history and must not be forgotten or hidden. I appreciate Ms. Peterson using this book to remind us of our history.
Constance Browning has just completed several years of school out east in New York and returns home to the reservation in Oregon where her parents are serving as missionaries. Connie grew up on the reservation and is used to the setting, but is disheartened and sorrowful over the extremely bleak outlook, neglect, unrest, and anger that permeates the village. Connie secured a position with the government to catalogue the native people of Oregon alongside her best friend Thomas Lowell. Although this is an exciting experience and adventure for Tom and Connie, they have another agenda, clearing Connie's parents' innocence. There are rumors spreading of people instigating the tribes into a conflict or even war, causing many to suspect Connie's parents.
Tom and Connie must seek the truth amidst a great deal of distrust, anger, and rightful fear of the government. Can they discover who is truly behind the plots to start a war? Will they be able to clear Connie's parents' names? Will they be caught in the middle of a violent conflict? Will their friends and others in the reservation turn against them or understand the truth? Read the book to find out!
Overall, this was a very wholesome book, full of stories of heartache, trouble, faith, conflict, deception, discrimination, family, love, perseverance, and strength. I would recommend this book. I would highly encourage an interested reader to also read the rest of Ms. Peterson's series, both the Willamette Brides and Heart of the Frontier series. Happy reading!
Disclaimer: Bethany House Publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. All opinions are my own and part of an unbiased review.

Fans of award-winning author Tracie Peterson will relish reading Forever by Your Side. There is a bit of mystery involved in the story and Constance, teaming up with Thomas are determined to solve it. Getting to the bottom of the situation proves dangerous and leads to suspicions that are unfounded. As the truth unfolds, Constance and Thomas learn more about their feelings toward one another in the midst of their peril. Sometimes, that great love of your life is right where you are.

Historical fiction is a genre I enjoy. There are parts of the history of our great country that we are not proud of, yet they did occur. Forever by Your Side is book three in Tracie Peterson's Willamette Brides series. This book is recommended to those who enjoy reading the history of the Pacific Northwest.

Forever by Your Side is the third book in Peterson's Williamette Brides series, following the next generation from her Hearts of the Frontier series. This series works best when read in sequence, and readers won't want to miss anything in the tale of this family's championing the rights of the Native Americans who have been gathered together on reservations in the Pacific Northwest. This book has romance and adventure as Connie Browning and her best friend, Tom Lowell, brave an uprising in order to find the truth as to who is trying to destroy her parents' reputation. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and have appreciated being able to continue on with the stories of this extended family. I am grateful to have received a copy of Forever by Your Side from Bethany House via NetGalley without obligation. All opinions expressed here are my own.

It was wonderful to follow the story further seeing a bit of the history of American Indians and the issues of race relations. A reminder to follow God’s direction and know that your safety is in his hand and He always has a plan for your future.

Forever by Your Side is a nice, clean continuance of some of Tracie Peterson's other books, but is great as a stand alone book. Connie has grown up on a reservation, and her parents are accused of starting an Indian uprising, but she knows they are innocent. She get a job going back to the area with her best friend, Tom. Someone is stirring up trouble among the Indians, but they have to discover who. Great story, exciting adventure!

The third in the Williamette Brides series has Connie returning home with her best friend Tom to document the many different native tribes in Oregon. They are also secretly investigating the charge of Connie's parents giving alcohol to the tribes. This novel relays how badly the natives were treated along with some of the previous quirky laws of Oregon. I found the story to be quite predictable and the villain to be rather obvious. I enjoyed the history.

I have read many books by Tracie Peterson and enjoy learning history while being caught up in the story. She is a wonderful author. This series deals with racism and the fact that hatred in a few people can destroy numerous relationships. At times, it was heartbreaking to think about, but I feel it is important to consider as we move forward in history. This quote really stood out to me, “I do not suggest that either side is perfect, but I do suggest that we are more than willing to look away-completely forget the wrong’s our own people have done.” It is always important to consider both sides of a story and to pray for truth to rise to the top. My only disappointment with this book is that it is the last of the series.

Thank you to Bethany House and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Connie is excited to return home to Oregon with her best friend Tom to work on preserving Indian culture. She's also hoping to prove her parents are not trying to start an Indian revolt. It gets a bit confusing for her when her teenage crush is showing interest in her and her best friend starts looking at her funny. Can she keep her focus and accomplish what she started out to do?

This is the first book I've read in this series. I was expecting more romance as it is part of a series with "brides" in the title. The romance is very back seat in this story to the mystery of who is stirring up the Indians. There are a few little twists but it's a bit predictable. It does highlight some of the many atrocities done to the Indians.

Thank you to Bethany House for providing me with a free e-copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Forever by Your Side
by Tracie Peterson
Bethany House
You Like Them You Are Auto-Approved
Bethany House Publishers
Christian
Pub Date 06 Oct 2020 | Archive Date 31 Oct 2020

Forever by Your Side is the third book in this series and it is great! I enjoyed the story and characters and will recommend it to our patrons.
Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for the ARC.

5 star

I got this book in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed it and spent most of the day reading it. I like how the author weaves parts of history into her stories to give you a better awareness of historical context.

One thing that I particularly liked about this series is that the female leads are all daughters of a previous series. That enabled us to visit "old friends". While this can be read as a stand-alone, I do recommend reading previous series as well as it adds nuance to the story.

This is a fitting conclusion to the trilogy. I can't help but hope that we will get a few more books in the series as I would like to see all the adults get their happy endings!

FOREVER BY YOUR SIDE is the third novel in the Williamette Brides series by TRACIE PETERSON.
The story takes place in 1880, and once again the author deals with the Indian situation and racialism in general.
When Constance Browning and her best friend Thomas Lowell are sent by the Smithsonian Department of Technology to catalog the Indian tribes in Oregon, they are also on the hunt for whoever is inciting the Indians to an uprising and supplying guns and alcohol to the reservation. They also want to clear Connie's parents, Adam and Mercy Browning, from the trumped up accusations against them.
I love the way the family attached to the Portland boarding house, together with the delightful residents, make a reappearance. In fact, family values are strongly brought out in the story as well as Christ's admonition to love our enemies. I also like the way Adam Browning explains his faith to Tom, who has become an athiest due to his abusive upbringing. The Christian message flows beautifully through the book, with just the right Scripture verses at the right time.
This book has a bit of everything - great characters, romance, intrigue, politics,and some legal drama - and it is a really enjoyable and inspirational read. I recommend Forever By your Side to anyone who enjoys Christian, historical, romance novels.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Bethany House Publishers. The opinions in this review are completely my own.