©2001 Tracie Peterson (P)2014 Tantor
Treasures of the North is a Christian romance involving a young woman of good background, Grace Hawkins, who has always done her best to be a dutiful daughter. That all changes when her father announces that he's betrothed Grace to a business acquaintance of his. Grace is quite surprised by this turn of events, as she had wanted to marry for love, but is willing to learn to love the man her father has picked out. Everything changes however when he hits Grace for being out of line (although Grace did hit him first when defending her honor) and Grace realizes that the man has evil intentions.
Grace's fiance is out to see her family ruined. He harbors a deep resentment for the family and has managed to get her father in a situation where he fears him and will do his bidding. He is a man who is used to being obeyed, so when his bride-to-be disappears, he will stop at nothing to destroy her family and get her back. His primary goal is break her spirit and gain an obedient wife.
Grace must give up her sheltered life for a life in the wild as she journeys with only female companions to the great Alaskan frontier. There she hopes to hide until things are safe for her to return home. She worries about her family's safety after the threats her fiance has made, but is determined to escape to safety herself and so turns to God to watch over her family.
Meanwhile, hard working and responsible Peter Colton's family business has been struggling. When an old family friend offers to help fund passage North, this seems like a great chance to help revive the family business. Many men are traveling North to follow the gold rush which could be quite profitable. Little does Peter know that his friend may have ulterior motives other than helping him. Eager to take the opportunity, Peter agrees and is soon on an adventure North.
Grace and Peter soon find each other and a friendship and closeness begins to bloom between the two. However, they can't avoid the past for long. As Grace's past catches up with her it will challenge their resolve as people as well as their faith.
I listened to the audiobook for this one. The audio was well done and easy to listen to. The voices were clear and crisp.
While the basis of the story is solid, the characters are either "very good" or "very bad" and sometimes fail to feel very three-dimensional. I did not feel a connection to the characters and the religious overtones were a bit strong for my personal preference. Readers with a strong religious base may enjoy the book for the teachings it provides and because it is a clean Christian romance.
NARRATED BY: LAURAL MERLINGTON
LENGTH: 10 HOURS AND 21 MINS
SERIES: YUKON QUEST, BOOK 1
RELEASE DATE: 12/02/2014
PUBLISHER: TANTOR AUDIO