Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schulyer is the story of our brilliant first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, and his wife, Betsy Schuyler. It begins with their Revolutionary War courtship. Although born poor and illegitimate, as an Aide de Camp to General George Washington, Hamilton dares to reach, boldly pursuing Betsy, daughter of a wealthy and prominent New York family. After the war, Hamilton engages in nation building. Like all mission-driven men, he is preoccupied, often absent, and not the best provider. The trials of making ends meet and raising their ever-growing troop of children falls to Betsy, who accomplishes her task with grace and devotion. Conflict is built into their marriage. It does not simply spring from Alexander's agonizing childhood experience of bastardy, abuse, and abandonment. To quote Alexander Pope, Hamilton's favorite poet: “And hence one Master Passion in the breast

like Aaron's serpent, swallows up all the rest..." Betsy's passion is Alexander. Alexander's passion is America. Though Hamilton's financial acumen and political courage is crucial to the formation and survival of our nation, his star sets quickly. Disillusioned, political power broken, his adored eldest son killed in a duel, Hamilton goes to his own famous duel with Aaron Burr in the spirit of those noble Romans he so steadfastly admires, preferring death to dishonor.

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This was a well-researched and well-written story about Alexander Hamilton, his wife, children, and colleagues. I remembered much of the history but Ms. Waldron did such an outstanding job describing the characters, scenery, and historical facts I felt like I was living, not just reading, the history. I look forward to reading more from this author.

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Northern Soldiers killed Liam’s parents and left the half white, half Chinese boy for dead. The feared Quantrill’s raiders, rescued him to fight for the racially intolerant south. To hide his Chinese roots, he changed his name and posed as an Indian scout. After the war, all Quantrill’s men were to be rounded up and hung so he joined a horse drive to Canada. Someone among the Chinese miners murdered the tax collector pitting the Chinese against the white community. Kola is forced to decide which side he will support.

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Park's debut novel is a ringing success! Based on family history Park has crafted a multilayered story full of memorable characters dealing with some touchy issues with a clear deft hand.

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Pregnant and alone, Tsopo, Wind, leaves her Blackfoot people to save her lifelong friend, Kom-zit-api, An Honest Man, from untrue accusations. Kom-zit-api finds Wind and asks her to be his sits-beside-him wife. Before she can give him an answer, he dies saving her from Crow warriors. Trapper, Jake McKinney hears her cries and finds her down on a ledge, birthing a child that has arrived too soon. Now Wind finds herself at a crossroads. Ashamed and confused, she accepts McKinney’s offer to go with him to the Big Belt Mountains, where his Confederate war buddies are prospecting for gold. They meet brothers, Tucker and Alexander Walsh on the trail. McKinney, with his valuable bales of furs and buffalo robes, and the Walsh brothers, with their four wagons of supplies, strike a partnership. They’ll start up a general store for miners on the east side of the Missouri River near Diamond City. Wind reveals possession of a gold nugget the size of her thumb. Her father gave it to her, and she knows where in Confederate Gulch it was found. The men make her an equal partner in their business they are now calling Whispering Wind. Nothing like her peaceful village, Wind finds herself among ramshackle clusters of tents, lean-tos, and crude log cabins. The main street is a knee-deep mud trail mixed with horse manure, lined with make-shift stores, hotels, rowdy saloons, and a single assayer’s office. Wind aspires to find love and happiness where greed rules actions above common sense. Dressed like a white woman, hiding her part Blackfeet blood, she faces being one of a few women in a wild, lawless mining territory. Who can she trust? Can she survive where so many men have failed?

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Good story. Heroine caught between two worlds and has to make a choice.

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They met on the eve of a battle. One enlisted to avoid prison, the other enlisted to avoid the money lenders. On the bloodied fields of France, Harry Connelly collapses beside the corpse of Andrew Conroy. It’s a risk, a hanging offence, it’s his only hope for a future. Harry swaps identity discs. Now known as Andrew, he is just another face in post war London until a letter arrives with a proposition. Accepting will plunge him into a nightmare of murder, family jealousy and greed. To survive he must live this lie without a mistake, until he falls in love with Lacey. To keep her he must tell the truth and face the consequences.

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This is a must-read novel.

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Celia has always wanted to work on the family farm but her father refuses to allow it, saying it is not woman’s work and she takes a job at the local printing works. When war comes and the farm hands join up, she hopes her father will relent. But it is too late as her boss has taken on sensitive work for the Ministry of Information and Celia has to stay on at her job having signed the Official Secrets Act. Romance blossoms when she meets her brother Edgar’s RAF friend, Matthew. But tensions arise when Edgar begins to have doubts about his role in the war. Celia quarrels with Matt when he confides his concerns about Edgar’s problems and their effect on morale. She loyally takes Edgar’s side but still hopes she and Matt can make up their quarrel. But before she can do so, he flies off on a mission and is shot down. Will they ever be able to resolve their differences and find happiness?

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This is a must-read novel.

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It is 1896 and nineteen-year-old Pearl Owens wants adventure just like her idols Anna Leonowens and Annie “Londonderry” Choen Kopchovsky. In the 1860s, Anna Leonowens taught the wives, concubines, and children of the King of Siam, while during the years 1894-1895, Annie “Londonderry” Choen Kopchovsky became the first woman to travel around the world on a bicycle. She was testing a woman’s ability to look after herself. To fulfill her dream Pearl is on her to the Yukon River area with her cousin, Emma, to write articles and do illustrations about the woman and men who are looking for gold in the far north. Sam Owens, Pearl’s cousin and Emma’s brother, has been searching for gold with two friends, Gordon and Donald, for five years without success. Gordon and Donald have decided their quest is futile and it is time to return home. But Sam wants to stay a while longer. Then they hear word of a new gold find on Rabbit Creek. Over the next ten months, the lives of all five are changed due to love, gold, and tragedy.

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Lovely written story about the rough and ready days of the Klondike Gold Rush. A tribute to the courageous young women who made the dangerous journey and persevered in the harsh climate.

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French-Canadian soldier, Napoleon, proposes to Lea during WWI, promising golden fields of wheat as far as the eye can see. After the armistice, he sends money for her passage, and she journeys far from her family and the conveniences of a modern country to join him on a homestead in Saskatchewan. There, she works hard to build their dream of a prospering farm, clearing fields alongside her husband through several pregnancies and even after suffering a terrible loss. When the stock market crashes in ’29, the prairies are stricken by a long and abysmal drought. Thrown into poverty, she struggles to survive in a world where work is scarce, death is abundant, and hope dwindles. Will she and her family survive the Great Depression?

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Ms de Montigny's contribution to the Canadian Historical Brides series is well written and true to the time period. A wonderful addition to the series.

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In celebration of Canada’s 150th Birthday, Books We Love, with the support of the Government of Canada, is publishing a series of novels set in each of the Canadian Provinces and Territories. Each book features a historical event or location as well as the story of a bride and groom, representative of the men and women who came to Canada in search of a new life and new freedoms. These books combine fact and fiction to show how these brides and grooms, all from diverse backgrounds, joined in marriage to create new lives and build a great country.

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Wonderful and colourful look into the early days of the Mennonite community in Manitoba. Authentic, with great attention to detail. The writing rings true to the Mennonite way of life.

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Yaotl and Sascho splashed along the shores of the becha spears hefted, watching for the flash of fin to rise to the surface and sparkle in the sunlight. Tender feelings, barely discovered, flushed their faces. Waving their spears they laughed and teased one another with sprays of newly melted ice water. In the distance, the warning about the kw'ahtıı sounds, but on this fatal day it goes unheard; Yaotl and Sascho fall into the hands of the Indian Agents. Transport to Fort Providence residential school is only the beginning of their ordeal, for the teachers believe it is their sworn duty to “kill the Indian inside.” All attempts at escape are severely punished, but Yaotl and Sascho, along with two others, will try, beginning a journey of 900 Kilometers along the Mackenzie River. Like wild geese, brave hearts together, they are homeward bound.

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This novel rings with authenticity and will keep the reader spellbound from first page to last.

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Sarah Collins set her sights for California and a new beginning, but never imagines a war party's attack on the wagon train she joins. A sole survivor, Sarah must find her way back to civilization, and a man of half-blood happens along at just the right time and becomes her hero...or is the whole scenario only a dream driven by all the romance novels she reads as an editor? Sarah wakes, her cheeks damp with tears. Like a dust devil in a dying windstorm, all traces of her handsome rescuer vanish with a farewell kiss and the annoying blast of an alarm clock...until he appears at her door as a new neighbor. Will Sarah find a way to win the love she tried so hard to capture in her dream without being declared insane, or will the sexy woman living an apartment away beat Sarah at her own game?

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Historical novels always grab my attention and this book was written with not just heart stopping action but a wealth of detail that completely drew me in. It is not enough to just read the word on the page, but to see, smell and feel what the characters see, smell and feel. The mores of the time regarding attitudes to people of mixed blood are finely drawn, as is Sarahs' growing interest in and compassion for Gray Wolf. I didn't expect the twist in the tale and won't divulge here so as not to give away an interesting and unexpected ending. A fully recommended read.

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