Through the Fire
Beth Trissel
The Wild Rose Press

Review:

Rebecca Elliot, recently widowed, is on her way with her younger sister, Kate, to relatives staying in a remote fort. As their party travels at slow pace through thick forest, they find themselves viciously attacked. Rebecca barely manages to fight off one savage when she finds herself taken captive by another. In the melee, she loses sight of Kate.

Rebecca finds herself a prisoner of Shoka, a half-Shawnee warrior who fortunately speaks English. Despite his efforts to make her comfortable in his company, she keeps trying to escape. As they travel on, thrown together to survive in the wilderness, they begin to care for each other. Aware of their growing feelings, they’re unable to deny the truth to themselves – and to others. Yet dangers lurk from both native and white men, threatening their new-found love, and their lives. Only following a mysterious white wolf helps them escape the worst dangers. On their march towards the fort, they are forced to defend and fight for each other.

During their journey, Rebecca is re-united with her sister. But how much time will they have together, now that Kate has eyes only for a dashing Frenchman? And with a massacre unavoidable, their lives are once more in peril. Barely escaped with their lives, Rebecca has to confront her past to create her future. But does her future include Shoka?

Ms Trissel spins a very fine yarn with Through the Fire. Her vivid imagery takes you right back into the action. The colours, scents and views tickle the senses. The deep description of scenery and historical setting gave me just the right idea of what Rebecca went through, both physically and emotionally. Ms Trissel knows how to tell a wonderful tale.

A beautifully written love story, with enough dangers lurking to keep us on our toes. Perfect reading material.

5 out of 5 stars

By Steph Patterson

As many of you know, Through the Fire was the grand winner in the Grab A Reader Contest, thanks to my faithful friends and fans, and consequently is the subject of discussion at Writers and Readers of Distinctive Fiction’s Book club, Lost In A Good…Book from 10/20/09–10/30/09.
At: http://blog.elceepublishing.com/

Also featured are the two other winners, Margaret Tanner with Devil’s Ridge and Susan Macatee with Erin’s Rebel. I am delighted to be in such fine company. So, get your books and get on board!

Discussion Leader - Author Annette Snyder says:

“As I sip my Chamomile brew wearing my favorite fall sweater, I’m reading our October, Lost in a Good Book Selections. Margaret Tanner takes us to another era with Devils Ridge. Reading Through the Fire, Beth Trissel transports us to the French and Indian War and Susan Macatee sends us on a journey in time with Erin’s Rebel. So, join Lynda Coker, me and three talented authors while we discuss their work here during the October session of Lost in a Good Book, WRDF’s online book club.”

A bit more on all three novels:

Erins Rebel
Philadelphia newspaper reporter, Erin Branigan, is engaged to marry and up-and-coming lawyer, but dreams of a man from the past change those plans and start her on a journey beyond time. After a car accident, Erin wakes to find herself living in the 1860s in a Confederate army camp. Captain Will Montgomery, the man of her dreams, is now a flesh and blood Rebel soldier who sets her soul aflame. But the Irish beauty holds a secret he needs to unravel before he can place his trust in her. Can she correct a mistake made long ago that caused his death and denied her the love she was meant to have? Or is she doomed to live out her life with nothing but regret?

Devils Ridge:

Set during the 1st World War.

By the time Ross Calvert discovers Harry Martin is in fact Harriet Martin she has fallen in love with him. Realizing she has failed in her final effort to protect her shell-shocked brother, she puts a desperate proposition to Ross. Marry her and she will give him an heir. Ross accepts. However, he is tormented by the betrayal of his former fiancée Virginia. On his honeymoon he meets her again and is still infatuated. With the army recalling him to the Western Front, he faces a terrible dilemma, taste Virginia’s passion before he heads to the trenches of France, or keep his marriage vows to Harry. With the spectre of war hanging over them, there are even bigger obstacles for Ross and Harry. Ross returns to the trenches, and a man seeking wealth at any cost, endangers Harry’s life in a way she had never imagined possible.


THROUGH THE FIRE

At the height of the French and Indian War, a young English widow ventures into the colonial frontier in search of a fresh start. She never expects to find it in the arms of the half-Shawnee, half-French warrior who makes her his prisoner in the raging battle to possess a continent––or to be aided by a mysterious white wolf and a holy man.

~The French and Indian War, a Shawnee warrior, an English lady, blood vengeance, deadly pursuit, primal, powerful, passionate…THROUGH THE FIRE~

For more on my work please visit: www.bethtrissel.com

Through the Fire is available in both digital download and print at The Wild Rose Press, Amazon, Barnes&Noble, (online) and other major online booksellers.

I've signed with the Wild Rose Press for my Golden Heart® final manuscript, THROUGH THE FIRE, release date TBD.

At the height of the French and Indian War, a young English widow ventures into the colonial frontier in search of a fresh start. She never expects to find it in the arms of the half-Shawnee, half-French warrior who makes her his prisoner in the raging battle to possess a continent––or to be aided by a mysterious white wolf and a holy man.

Through the Fire also finaled in the 2008 Golden Heart ® Contest

Through the Fire~by Beth Trissel

Will love inflame these two natural born enemies in fiery destruction?

Hear the primal howl of a wolf, the liquid spill of a mountain stream. Welcome to the colonial frontier where the men fire muskets and wield tomahawks and the women are wildcats when threatened. The year is 1758, the height of the French and Indian War. Passions run deep in the raging battle to possess a continent, its wealth and furs. Both the French and English count powerful Indian tribes as their allies. The Iroquois League, Shawnee, and others bring age-old rivalries to the conflict—above all the ardent desire to hold onto what is theirs. Who will live, and who will fall?

Rebecca Elliot is an English lady, Shoka a half-Shawnee, half-French warrior. Rebecca fled an abusive father in London to elope to America with her young British captain. Shoka was a guide for English traders, befriended by an itinerant priest and betrayed by his wife. Rebecca left Philadelphia a widow, courtesy of the French and Indian War, to seek a beloved uncle in the Virginia colonial frontier. She has unwittingly entered a dangerous world of rugged mountains, wild animals, and even wilder men. The rules are different here and she doesn't know them.

Shoka is the hawk, swift and sure, and silent as the moon. He knows all about survival in this untamed land and how deadly distraction can be. He makes Rebecca his prisoner, but the last thing he wants is to lose his head and already shredded heart to another impossibly beautiful woman...this one with blindingly blue eyes and a blistering temper.

Rebecca wants Shoka to guide her to Fort Warden where her uncle and cousins may be sheltering. Shoka wants to sell this furious Englishwoman to a Frenchman before she draws him under her spell, but if he lets her go he can no longer protect her. If he holds onto her can he safeguard his heart? Rebecca is torn between a growing attraction to her magnetic captor and loyalty to her people. With dark forces gathering against them, will Rebecca and Shoka fight together or be destroyed?

Through the Fire is "meticulously researched...a cascade of bold action and passion." ~ Film consultant and author Jim Great Elk Waters (View from the Medicine Lodge, Seven Locks Press), a retired Shawnee URB sub-chief