Out of the Ashes

Author: Tracie Peterson & Kimberley Woodhouse

Series: Heart of Alaska #2

Publisher: Bethany House

Release Date: January 29, 2018

Rating: 5 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

Another great historical romance set along the Alaskan frontier at the Curry Hotel!

Katherine Demarchis has recently been windowed (and released) from her abusive husband, who was also a US senator. Now a shell of her former self, her grandmother Maria Harrison is bound and determined to get her to find her happiness again.  The last time that she was actually happy was with a young man that she truly loved when she lived in France.  Her grandmother suggest a summer spent in Alaska with a sightseeing trip along the way.  Knowing that she will be constantly badgered by her grandmother if she doesn’t agree, she relents and hopes that just maybe she will be released from the blackness along the way.

Jean-Michel lives with the torments of war in Syria from the Druze revolt. He returned home in France to his sister Colette and their father, but their father took ill rather quickly and passed away.  With his share of the business bought out, Jean-Michel and Collette do not have to worry for money and father wrote them letters before he died suggesting that they take a trip after he is gone.  Shortly thereafter, Jean-Michel receives a letter from Maria Harrison telling him part of the horrors of his lost love Katherine and sends tickets to join them in Alaska this summer.  Might this be what Jean-Michel needs to let go of the past?

Traveling back to Curry again was an absolute treat, especially getting to see so many of the central characters from the first book. The storyline intertwined between that of Jean-Michel and Katherine, Colette, and Allan and Cassidy.  As with the first book, the main characters do not have a central relationship with God which would allow them to release the baggage that they carry throughout much of the book.  As they progress, they find they cannot do this alone.  The suspense is also kicked up a notch when the influenza virus hits the curry hotel and some of the characters take ill, possibly never to be heard from again.

The book is filled with history, suspense, humor, and a resounding theme of forgiveness. I recommend this book to all ages that love a great story about the history of Alaska.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.