Fact or Fiction…or Both with Laura Frantz!

Most of my life I’ve read romance novels, suspense and thriller, but a few years ago, I gave historical romance a try. I honestly didn’t expect to like it. I mean how much romance can go on when folks couldn’t even leave the room without someone chaperoning them? 
Was I ever wrong! I can honestly say that some of the BEST romances I’ve read about come from historical romances. Laura Frantz is one author I read early on in my new discovery of historical romance and I can tell you, she is one of my all-time favorites! And she’s super nice! 
I just finished Courting Morrrow Little. One, is that not a great name? Loved it. The story itself is wonderful! Something I love about Laura is the way she keeps you in total angst. It’s off-the-chain! But what really gets me is, I never know if she’s using real-life history or just making it all up. It’s that good. So I asked her about her main character, Red Shirt and she’s here today to share with us what is and what is not real in her story! 
Thanks so much, Laura! Take the floor!
the real red shirt

 
Readers often ask where the inspiration for a character comes from. I always
point to history books and old photographs. Here is the real Red Shirt. Born along Nebraska’s Platte River in the
1830’s to an Indian mother and white father, he is something of an enigma. I
discovered him 20 years ago while researching the Oglala/Lakota (Sioux) Indians
for a Dances With Wolves type novel. He identified with the Lakota and
lived free till his people were placed on reservations. He and his wife, Pretty
Woman, had several children. The photo shows him (far right) accompanying the
famous chief, Red Cloud, in a delegation to Washington DC. Later, he joined
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and then faded from history. There’s a simple
grave at the Rosebud Cemetery that bears his name in South Dakota. I’ve not
been there but I’d like to go. 

I’ve carried him around in my head and heart for a long time:) Of course, I had
to alter him a bit for my book. He had to leave the Sioux and become Shawnee.
And Pretty Woman was a thing of the past! I also had to tweak his name to fit
into the historical context of the 18th-century. Most importantly, my Red Shirt
found freedom in Christ as well as freedom to exist where he pleased. Literary
license is a fine thing. Every reader will have a different picture of him in
their head and heart, too.

What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is
the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs
across the grass and loses itself in the sunset. ~Crowfoot

Visit Laura HERE! at her website
On Pinterest
& Facebook
Thank you so much, Laura! Now, everyone stop what you’re doing and go purchase Courting Morrow Little! You won’t be disappointed, I promise…even you skeptics of historical 
romances! 
Do you like stories that mix fact and fiction? Why or why not? 
Here’s a peek at the novel! 
Morrow Little is haunted by the memory of the day her family
was torn apart by raiding Shawnee warriors. Now that she is nearly a grown
woman and her father is ailing, she must make difficult choices about the
future. Several men–ranging from the undesired to the unthinkable–vie for her
attentions, but she finds herself inexplicably drawn to a forbidden love that
both terrifies and intrigues her. Can she betray the memory of her lost loved
ones–and garner suspicion from her friends–by pursuing a life with him? Or
should she seal her own misery by marrying a man she doesn’t love? This
sweeping tale of romance and forgiveness will envelop readers as it takes them
from a Kentucky fort through the vast wilderness to the west in search of true
love.

Some stuff…and my review of The Colonel’s Lady!

This is the sign inside our
favorite place to eat, The Flying Fish.
  I laugh every time I see it!
You can see why this is my
kind of establishment! 
So Saturday night, to end my birthday week, DH took me downtown to eat at our favorite place, but when I got there…SURPRISE! He’d been sneaky and invited our friends who made a fun spectacle of me! We ate lots of seafood and birthday cake.   


AND…

I’ve been blogging an entire year since last October! Truth is I wasn’t sure I’d even like blogging. “What would I say?”  “Do people really read blogs?” “What if no one likes me?” Turns out, I find all kinds of stuff to say whether it’s important or not, people do read blogs, and I’ve made some lifelong friends because of it! I love y’all! I appreciate you taking time to stop by and read whatever it is I’m writing about and then taking more time to actually comment! You’ve made it so much fun! And for you lurkers, keep lurking. I hope you laugh at times, are ministered to at others, and keep coming back. If you don’t like leaving comments, send me a private email! I’d love to know you’re hanging around. 🙂  




NOW…. A review of….


THE COLONEL’S LADY by Laura Frantz


In the last six months, I’ve just begun branching out of my normal genres of reading. I’ve only read a handful of historical romances. Most of them I’ve liked, but NOT The Colonel’s Lady.

I LOVED The Colonel’s Lady.

Laura Frantz grabbed me from the first page with a heroine who was fragile, yet strong. Naive, yet intelligent and I fell in love with her instantly.

Her hero, Colonel McLinn, well… sigh, dream, wow! Interesting thing about Colonel McLinn; he’s a red head. You don’t see that often with heroes. An Irish tall drink of water with red hair.

The tension between the two was superbly written, the angst for them to be together at an all time high and the twists, fun and delightful…and surprising!

The soft themes of forgiveness and trust blanketed each page in a way that was far from preachy. 

I sighed, swooned, and at the very end…in the words of Casey Herringshaw at her goodreads review “I couldn’t write this book review right after closing the final page of “The Colonel’s Lady”. Why? My heart was too full.” 

I lived at the Fort in Kentucky and near and in the stone house for days after reading this book. 

A romance to read. A book to keep. An author to follow.

My rating: 5 perfect stars

author, Laura  Frantz

Here’s a peek at The Colonel’s Lady
In 1779, when genteel Virginia spinster Roxanna Rowan arrives at the Kentucky fort commanded by Colonel Cassius McLinn, she finds that her officer father has died. Penniless and destitute, Roxanna is forced to take her father’s place as scrivener. Before long, it’s clear that the colonel himself is attracted to her. But she soon realized the colonel has grave secrets of his own–some of which have to do with her father’s sudden death. Can she ever truly love him? 

Unrelated to the post, what is your favorite fall candle scent? I just bought Yankee Candle scents: Farmer’s Market & Pomegranate Cider!