Thursday, May 21, 2020

Colonial Wilderness Fiction at It's Best and Most Romantic -- Book Review: Beneath a Blackberry Moon (Boxed Set) by April Gardner

I’ve had the good fortune of hooking into some stellar reads so far this year, but I have to say that of them all, April Gardner’s Beneath the Blackberry Moon trilogy (Creek Country Saga)  ranks as the most romantic yet. Gripping, while at times gritty and harsh, yet beautiful, tender, and utterly moving, I was utterly invested in this twisting, epic story. Gardner enriched the three-part tale with enough danger, uncertainty, and occasionally heartbreak, to keep me holding my breath from the very beginning and right on through.
Creek Country Saga

BENEATH A BLACKBERRY MOON:
The Red Feather
The Sacred Writings
The Ebony Cloak
The Untold Stories


What engages me about the author’s writing is her ability not only to provide a powerful emotional experience to her readers, but to create really layered heroes, heroines, and villains. Totka Lawe is 100% male, with all his beauty and brawn, his flaws and foibles. The antagonists—of which there were plenty—all came with depth of character as well. Even the minor characters were fleshed out to create a vivid casting of this Colonial wilderness world Gardner paints.

I could not wait to get back into this tale each time I was forced to stop reading. I would literally fall asleep at night with burning eyelids, sleep for ten minutes, and wake up to read a little more. 

I read the first three books in the series, a few of the extra scenes (Untold Stories), and now I’m looking forward to reading the next books. I’m anxious to find out about the Bitter Eyes. April Gardner has written her way onto my list of favorite authors.

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