Book Review: The Major's Daughter

From The Back:

She Staked a Claim on His Land,
So He Decided to Stake a Claim on Her Heart
Caroline Adams returns to Indian Territory after tiring of confining society life. She wants adventure, and when she and her friend Amber come across swaggering outlaw Frisco Smith, his dreams for the new territory are very persuasive. With the much-anticipated land run about to happen, she may just join the rush.

Growing up an orphan, all Frisco Smith wanted was a place to call his own. It's no wonder he fought to open the Unassigned Lands to people with the same longing. After years of sneaking across the border, he's even managed to build a dugout house on a hidden piece of property he's poised to claim.

But when the gun sounds, everyone's best plans are thrown out the window in the chaos of the run. Caroline and Frisco find themselves battling over a claim--and both dig in their heels. Settling the rightful ownership will bring these two closer than they ever expected and change their ideas of what a true home looks like.

Reflections:

The Major’s Daughter is the final instalment of Regina Jennings’ Fort Reno trilogy, a frontier love story which unfolds against the backdrop of one of the most underrepresented time-periods of American history in fiction, the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889. 

The novel’s protagonists are Caroline Adams, the titular major’s daughter who craves independence, and Frisco Smith, an orphan who became a roguish lawyer. Both feel confined by societal expectations and view staking a claim of their own in the Unassigned Lands as the only avenue to freedom, but, with both their dreams riding on the same plot of land, Caroline and Frisco’s relationship alternates between flirtation and bickering. 

The author has neither of her main characters obviously “in the right”, with both being endearingly empathetic and selfishly obstinate in regards to their land dispute and budding romance. Their character growth is the most entertaining and rewarding aspect of The Major’s Daughter. The excitement and turmoil of this particular historical setting is another phenomenal component to the story; the love story is decidedly enhanced through Jennings’ depiction of a town being established literally from the ground up. 

The charming prose is easy to engage, and the story is both tender and rather comedic. The romantic storyline includes an element of faith as well as a suspenseful mystery regarding a nearby settlement. Amber and Bradley, the protagonists from a previous instalment of the series, are also point-of-view characters. Despite the continuation of their romance, this book can be comfortably read as a standalone novel.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.

Regina Jennings

Regina Jennings (www.reginajennings.com) is a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University with a degree in English and a minor in history. She's the winner of the National Readers' Choice Award, a two-time Golden Quill finalist and a finalist for the Oklahoma Book...

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