Jane Mannering can shoot a rifle and handle a knife as well as any
Englishman. However, she is no match for the red-painted warriors who ambush
her section of a Colonial caravan the moment she and her comrades reach the
shores of Virginia.
Jane plots their escape during a forced march inland, leaving a trail
of maltese crosses carved on the trees – their pre-agreed upon signal of
distress. All the while, she fumes over what interest their captors could
possibly have in a twenty-three-year-old spinster and a rugged band of brick
masons, sawyers, and farmers.
When the ruthless Chief Wanchese intercepts them at the crossroads of
the Great Trading Path, Jane is shaken to discover their greatest enemy plans
to keep her for himself. It’s a pity he’s the only man on two continents who’s
ever stirred her heart. Alas, she has an entire colony to save, and capturing
his attentions is not part of their escape plan.
Trail Of Crosses (Historical
Romance/Action & Adventure)
By Jo Grafford
Book Two of The Lost Colony
Clean Read
ASIN #BOONFGAEIQ
Price $3.99 Kindle
378 Pages
Rating 5-Stars
“Impossible To Put Down.”
We first meet Jane Mannering in Book One, “Breaking
Ties”, learning that she is a 23 or 24-year-old spinster, not catching men’s
eye, nor wishing to. Tall and thin for a woman, she was raised as a hunter and
trapper, she is equally skilled with a gun, bow, and knife, and can usually
best any man; in fact, she carries three knives on her person at all times. I
liked her immediately, as she reminded me Davy Crockett, and many of our early
tamers of the land. In this novel she takes front stage. Captured by slavers in
asavage attack, she and several companions are taken to a slave market to be
sold. Chief Manteo, who was leading the colonists at the time, sends his cousin
Chief Wanchese to rescue her.
Chief Wanchese has been smitten with the tall woman
ever since the colonists’ arrival, so eagerly trails the slavers. Rescuing her
and several others, he leads them back to his village instead of reuniting them
with their fellow colonist’s. Being her independent nature she refuses to
easily adjust to the role of a woman, wishing to be recognized as a hunter,
trapper, and fighter, but Chief Wanchese is determined to tame this proud
woman, and make her his mate. All this
while slavers and enemy tribes persists in causing problems, a fierce cyclone,
and smallpox plaque the village, as well as unrest within the camp itself.
Believe me, this is not just a romance novel, we have plenty of action, and the
characterization is wonderful. I did get a chuckle when Jane kills a hooded
cobra (native of Asia, not America) in the New World.
Most often reality is harsher than fiction, but it’s
in our nature to hope terrible situations end with a positive outcome. Many
rumors still contend that The Lost Colony was slaughtered by the indigenous
peoples in the New World. However, some facts do remain to lead us in the
opposite direction that some may have survived. During the early 17th
Century to mid 18th Century natives were found with light skin, blond
hair, and blue eyes, a strong indication that the survivors of The Lost Colony
intermingled with the local native tribes; many claimed their forbearers
originally arrived from the sea in great boats. Whatever the truth of the 115
colonists that disappeared, we want to believe the best in their disappearance.
Although Jo Grafford’s novel is fiction, we can still hope that her Romantic
tale about the Lost Colony is at least partially true. This was a wonderful
read, and I highly recommend it to readers of historical romance, and high
adventure. There is never a dull minute in this great action adventure novel of
another period. There is one problem with the book, however - I didn’t want to
put it down!
Tom Johnson
Echoes Magazine
