Revell Book Tours Presents: Love's Reckoning (The Ballantyne Legacy, #1) by Laura Frantz

On a bitter December day in 1785, Silas Ballantyne arrives at the door of master blacksmith Liege Lee in York, Pennsylvania. Just months from becoming a master blacksmith himself, Silas is determined to finish his apprenticeship and move west. But Liege soon discovers that Silas is a prodigious worker and craftsman and endeavors to keep him in York. Silas becomes interested in both of Liege's daughters, the gentle and faith-filled Eden and the clever and high-spirited Elspeth. When he chooses one, will the other's jealousy destroy their love?

In this sweeping family saga set in western Pennsylvania, one man's choices in love and work, in friends and enemies, set the stage for generations to come. Love's Reckoning is the first entry in The Ballantyne Legacy, a rich, multi-layered historical quartet from talented writer Laura Frantz, beginning in the late 1700s and following the Ballantyne family through the end of the Civil War.

About The Author

Laura Frantz is a lover of history, is the author of The Frontiersman's Daughter, Courting Morrow Little, and The Colonel's Lady, and currently lives in the misty woods of Washington with her husband and two sons.

My Review:

A book that I could not put down! Amazing look into our country just after the Revolutionary War.
The story begins at the home of Liege Lee in York, Pennsylvania. Young Silas Ballantyne has just arrived to finish out his apprenticeship and become a Master Blacksmith. He will be done in a few months, and then he wants to head West. Right here I think West, but West is Pittsburgh...the smaller world.
When Liege sees what a talent Silas posses, he will do just about anything to make him stay and takeover his business.
Liege Lee has two daughters, one Elspeth a spoiled and rather lazy girl of loose morals, the other Eden, a Godly girl who loves her family and does most of the work to help her Mother. Enter Silas and immediately Elspeth wants him, and Eden will let her, but she secretly likes him.
Liege seems to be one angry and unlikeable man, he does seem to favor Elspeth, and with her approval is set to make Silas marry her using an old tradition saying the apprentice must marry into the family. Silas isn't interested. He sees through Elspeth, but in time seems to be taken with Eden.
There seems to be one tragedy after another, some so heart wrenching. You begin to wonder what is going on and if they will survive. A lot of questions will be answered, but you will need to get to the end of this great book to find out. Some are not answered, but maybe in the next book which I can not wait to read.
You will not be disappointed in this one, Laura Frantz has offered us a feast to become lost in!

I received this book from the Publisher Revell, and was not required to give a positive review.