Trail of Promises

A marriage of convenience promises to develop into a true romance in Craft’s satisfying if somewhat heavy-handed latest Great Wagon Road novel (following Love’s Winding Road). In 1753, as tensions rise between French and British colonists in North America, budding artist Tessa Harris is traveling from Pennsylvania to South Carolina when an ambush by French outlaws leaves her father dead and the 19-year-old alone and vulnerable. Thankfully, handsome former British cavalry officer Stephen Griffith is also headed to South Carolina and agrees not only to accompany Tessa, but to marry her in order to protect her from scandal. Despite her misgivings about hitching her wagon to a stranger’s, Tessa is gradually drawn in by Stephen’s tenderness and bravery. There’s not much time for the heat to build, though, before the pair are taken hostage by the same men responsible for Tessa’s father’s death. Before they can start a new life together, Tessa and Stephen must first draw on their ingenuity and faith to escape their captors. Readers will forgive the stock characterizations—Tessa is a delicate heroine recovering from tragedy; Stephen is her stoic protector—as Craft deftly balances high-intensity action with moments of genuine heart. This is swoonworthy. (June)