Giveaway of Laura Frantz's The Colonel's Lady ends Oct 8

Seldom have I been so immersed in a story world. I am so thankful this was not a quick read for me. It was long, luxuriant, and utterly consuming. My pool deck, my bedroom, the doctor's office, and every spare minute in the car turned into the Kentucky wilderness this summer. I experienced Roxanna Rowan's vulnerability to heartache, imminent Indian attack, a Spartan existence within the stockade walls of a military fort, but most alarming of all, the dangerous charms of Colonel Cassius Clayton McLinn. McLinn is a man among men, redoubtable in stature, in reputation, in authority, and in making Roxie's sensible heart betray her. The daughter of a soldier, she proves herself as determined and formidable as he in a contest of wills and of romance. What I found most appealing was the way the author crafts relationships. Believable and sympathetic supporting cast, such as Bella the freed slave woman who befriends Roxie, almost steal scenes with their pithy humor and poignant roles. The setting itself assumes a character-like quality. The harsh frontier winter slowly yields to the change of seasons, mirroring a theme throughout the story of redemption from darkness and despairing circumstance. This is a book that almost defies genre, because it is so much more than a romance, though the romance itself pulled at my heart so relentlessly I could never go long without turning another page. Heart-achingly beautiful and sorrowful and so full of longing, the hero and heroine move beyond sympathetic to saturating, engaging the reader's highest hopes and deepest longings. And yet, this is a story of the power of hope itself. Hope in God. Hope in the future. Hope in the better angels of our nature. And for me, hope that more novels of this caliber will continue to flow from a master storyteller like Ms. Frantz. In fact, Laura has a new one out--Love's Reckoning--which promises to be as good or better. Enter for a chance to win my gently used copy of The Colonel's Lady, and rush out to buy your copy of Love's Reckoning! Leave a comment here for one chance to enter, and follow by blog for another chance, share this post link on facebook or twitter for another. Tell me what you did and how many entries I owe you. :) Winner announced Monday Oct 8th noon EST