About the Book:

In 1837, Juniper Collins and her sisters are shocked by their father’s deathbed request for them to return a special set of beads to a Piegan Blackfoot woman he credits with saving his life during his travels West. Together, the sisters set out for the trapper rendezvous to find the woman, but their mission turns more daunting when they come upon the mass of men and lodges spread out in the Green River Valley.

Riley Turner came West to find peace and quiet and live off the land, but when four unprotected women arrive at the rendezvous, he feels compelled to help them and is more fascinated by Juniper than any other woman he’s known.

As their search brings only empty leads and dead ends, the sisters must decide whether to return East or stay in the mountains to continue looking–and that’s if the mystery woman is even still alive. Is the risk to honor their father’s last request worth the danger they find at every turn?

My Thoughts:

Though Misty Beller has many books to her name I’d yet to read one. It’s always nice to come across an author that you aren’t familiar with and discover you enjoy their writing.

The Rendezvous, where all the trappers and many native Americans tribal people went to gather supplies, and the actions of the wagon train master, set the stage for immediate tension. You can’t help but appreciate Riley, whose heart is to protect.

The sisters seem far more naive than I would have expected for four women who set off across America on their own, but their confrontation with reality opened the door to their path of growth and development.

The twists and turns of this novel kept me engaged. The intersection of cultures was also well developed. I appreciated even the small ways that healthy perspectives were contrasted to unhealthy ones (as in the assumption about whether natives were at the heart of the crimes, or not).

While some of the plot direction followed predictable tracks, I found myself immersed in the story and I look forward to the next book in the series and the continuation of the journey to return the beads. In the meantime I’ve already picked up some other novels by Beller to explore.

I was given a free, digital copy of this book with the expectation that I would leave an honest review of my opinion.