An Uncommon Woman by Laura Frantz – Revell Books Review

Happy New Year my girls! I can’t believe it’s already 2020, and yet I feel like it took so long to come. I hope you all had a good time celebrating!

I actually finished reading this book before Christmas and I had to schedule this post ahead so it would post when they wanted the review posted XD. It was a good one!

The complication of life with Indian people and the frontier is so intensely woven together into the complicated list that comes down to reality.
Personally, I always enjoyed stories about Indian captives returned, and this book did a beautiful job of portraying that heavy life.

I liked Tessa a lot. I loved her life and the way she was quick to step in where needed. I loved her rough frontier woman upbringing and the way that shone in her character, but the longing for civilization and flare made me feel her hunger.
Her family was so much fun too! Although I feel like things with Jasper fell apart too quickly and then somehow repaired too quickly, I did sort of kind of wish I got to know him a bit more as a person rather than just the angry brother.
Cyrus and Zadock were fun, and of course Ross was such a darling baby boy. I still don’t know Lemuel the least bit.

Keturah was interesting and I enjoyed unraveling her story.
Clay Tygart was… curious. I never really fell for him, and yet I had a respect for him. I wish we would have gotten a little more backstory details from him.

The plotline was good. Honestly clearly good. I enjoyed the complications and the conflicts and minor plot twists and the progression. It wasn’t too fast or too slow. The relationship between Clay and Tessa was so WELL DONE. It wasn’t rushed, it wasn’t dramatized, and it wasn’t overstretched. It was natural and there and that was really good.

There were a couple minor things that I felt were incorporated for no reason, like Ruth, McKee, Girty, and even the ferry. I wish we had gotten a little more about Tessa’s father as well.

Content:
There was no alarming content. There are plenty of talk about Indian’s, referring to them as red skins, and lots of prejudice and hatred towards them.
There are no graphically described scenes, but there are a couple of violent scenes that do have blood and injuries.
There are plenty of romantic feels and emotions and heat and jitters. There are two detailed kisses and some minor suggestive sentences towards the end of the book [SPOILERS]after Clay and Tessa marry[END SPOILER].
There was a tiny bit of talk about Indian beliefs and mystics, but nothing was detailed, described, or practiced.

All in all it was a good book. I enjoyed it. It’s one of the few Indian captive returned stories that I actually thought was well executed. I just wish there was a little more detail on the characters rather than setting the tension and stage of their way of life. Four Stars!

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. A positive review was not required and all opinions are my own!

Live, Laugh, and love, girls!
~Libby