The Crimson Bloom: Book Three of the Georgia Gold SeriesDenise Weimer
May, 2014
Canterbury House Publishing
Idgie Says:
Canterbury is a publisher that "publishes wholesome quality fiction and memoir of an inspirational nature and of the romantic suspense and mystery genres with an emphasis on colorful Southern U.S. regional settings." They are small press and I do feel that shows in that the books sometime feel "self-published" visually, which could turn a reader away in a bookstore. But just because they're not overly glossy with expensive graphics on the cover shouldn't make you turn up your nose.
Now, on to this book. It's part 3 in a series that I have not received parts 1 and 2 of so I can't comment on the flow. I would consider it a great read for the Southern history buff. It takes events of a certain period of time in Southern History and tells about it using fictional characters. Denise Weimer is a historian and it shows in the writing. I would recommend this book for readers who really like to delve into the historical facts and aren't going for grand character development or emotional flow.
Book Description:
"The novel offers a unique look at the period of Georgia history during the Civil War and following the forced emigration of the Cherokees."
With her husband Devereaux Rousseau now a captain commanding Savannah's elite Oglethorpe Light Infantry on the Civil War battlefields of Virginia, Carolyn Calhoun Rousseau must prove her own backbone as she operates the family's last functioning farm in the hills of Ha-bersham County. She draws on the support of her best friend, Mahala Franklin, half-Cherokee granddaughter of a local inn owner. Mahala battles her own frustrations with Jack Randall, rival hotel owner and coastal shipping magnate. Jack's continued reluctance to commit threat-ens to drive Mahala into the arms of her Cherokee childhood sweet-heart, Clay Fraser. Then, tragedy brings Mahala and Carolyn to Savannah just as Sherman advances on the city -- and forces everyone to confront their true feel-ings. Will Jack abandon his ship and its profits to the Yankees in Wil-mington Harbor in order to guide them on a perilous wagon journey across Georgia, or will he abandon the woman he claims to love, but whom he now knows also has feelings for another? And even if Mahala reaches safety, could her discovery about her father's long-ago murder and missing gold prove far more dangerous than the war?