Welcome to my stop on the Review Tour, presented by Book Partners in Crime, for Samantha’s Secret by Betty Bolte. Please leave a comment or question for Betty
to let her know you stopped by. You can
enter her tour wide giveaway, for a prize pack including a Heart-shaped smoky
quartz pendant in handcarved jewelry box; signed AMPU Books 1 and 2 (Emily’s
Vow and Amy’s Choice), by filling out the Rafflecopter form below.
Samantha's Secret
by Betty Bolté
Series: A More Perfect Union, #3
Genre: Historical Romance
Release Date: April 21, 2015
Midwife and healer, Samantha McAlester returns from the front lines to find Charles Towne under British siege and the town's new doctor at war with its citizens.
Dr. Trent Cunningham intends to build a hospital staffed solely with educated doctors. What he doesn't need is a raven-haired charlatan spooning out herbs and false promises to his patients, while tempting him at every turn.
Then a mutual friend develops a mysterious infection. Trenton is stumped. Samantha suspects the cure but knows treatment will expose her long-guarded secret, risking all she holds dear... including Trenton.
While it’s often easy to remember America’s fight for
independence from the British during the revolution, we often overlook the
contributions made by the “pioneer” woman to the war effort. They not only supported their husband, son,
or father, who went off to fight in battle, they often took over managing the sole
care of the family, the family’s property and if they were of the merchant
class, the running of the businesses in town.
An occupation or calling often overlooked, and often underappreciated
was that of a midwife and natural healer.
A historical romance focusing on one of three women who had
vowed to remain single and pursue their own course in life, Samantha’s Secret by Betty Bolte focuses on a woman who defies society’s
expectations. A strong independent
heroine, colorful secondary characters and the battle between scientific and
homeopathic medicine take center stage in Ms.
Bolte’s story, while at the same time the author reminds us that the battle
for freedom and equality was far from done.
A well-educated woman by society’s standards, Samantha McAlester
is both a midwife and natural healer.
Having just survived a recent battle outside of Charles Towne, she looks
forward to what the future will bring for her new country. While waiting for the British to depart, Samantha
finds herself having to defend her midwife and natural healing skills from Dr.
Trent Cunningham, a new arrival in town determined to show how “modern
scientific medicine” is the only safe route for the future. While both eagerly approach the “professional”
challenge, Samantha is determined that nothing of a personal nature will grow
between them.
Ms.
Bolte does a good job developing both Samantha and Trent’s
characters; while Samantha is beautiful, she’s also smart, kind and feels the
call to help others. Recently graduated
from medical school, Trent also feels the call to heal but is sure that scientific
medicine is the way to go and while he doesn’t want to insult Samantha, he
doesn’t respect her methods and many times he speaks before he thinks. To be frank, I am just glad that I was not a sick
patient at the time, I think I would probably have died from treatment by
either one of them. Though Samantha’s “herbal”
treatments (with a few changes) would have probably worked out okay. The romance is developed a little too quickly for my tastes, but it is well done and I felt that Samantha and Trent are a good match for each other because of their wit, their desire to help and heal others and their mutual attraction.
The secondary characters are mostly Samantha’s friends (who
are the main characters in previous books) and the townspeople of Charles
Towne. While they all contributed
something to the story, Amy and Emily are Samantha’s closest confidants and the
men they are betrothed to, Frank and Benjamin, quickly become friends with
Trent. While there are no specific “villains”
so to speak, the departing British, the diseases and injuries from the war and
even the lack of freedom women and slaves experience, took their place. I was again reminded of how much both groups
have had to fight in order to become equal to men.
Will Samantha’s homeopathic treatments work when put to the
test? Will Trent realize he’ll need to treat
Samantha as an equal to win her love? You’ll
have to read Samantha’s Secret to find out.
I enjoyed it and look forward to seeing which character Ms. Bolte writes about next.
My
Rating: 4 out of 5 Crowns
4/27 - Monday
4/28 - Tuesday
4/29 - Wednesday
4/30 - Thursday
5/1 - Friday
Book 1: Emily's Vow
Book 2: Amy's Choice
I can't wait to find out what Samantha's secret is! I want to know how she knows the cure.
ReplyDeletelag110 at mchsi dot com
thanks so much for hosting and reviewing.
ReplyDelete