Series: Willamette Brides #2
Published by Bethany House on June 2, 2020
Genres: Fiction, Historical, Romance
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Faith Kenner is pursuing her dream to become a doctor and use her gift to help the native populations on reservations. When she meets Andrew Gratton, a handsome riverboat captain who has been injured, a friendship grows between them--but will the secret of her heritage and rising tensions with the native people prevent them from finding true happiness?
A historical fiction novel about a lady doctor. If this isn’t enough of a novelty, add in the fact that she’s part Native American. I really liked the idea behind Tracie Peterson’s The Way of Love, and found it rather intriguing.
Faith, the main character was a fascinating person. She is a determined lady who wanted to practice medicine, going against society’s norm and taking schooling to become a doctor. Her determination to be a doctor, along with her desire to be an advocate for women and other minorities, shows her to be a person of good character.
I really liked that one of the focal points in this story is that all people are equal, no matter their skin color. Faith finds herself in the line of sight of some dangerous people, all because she didn’t let herself be bullied. She stood her ground and went as far as giving a talk against racism. I found this to be especially timely in light of all that we’ve been going through recently.
Andrew Gratton is a riverboat captain, and a person with whom Faith becomes acquainted at the beginning of the story. He is quite obviously the hero, pretty much from the beginning. He and Faith are almost immediately attracted to each other, and then there’s a bit of romance.
I would have liked to have gotten to know both Faith and Andrew a bit better. (I realize it could be that one reason I found myself floundering a bit, when it came to Faith, was due to the fact that I jumped into this series in book two.) Their characters could have been developed a bit more, and their entire relationship felt a little forced.
I enjoyed reading about this particular time and place in history, and getting to know more about the western US, and Oregon in particular. One thing that really hit me hard was the fact that Black people were not allowed to travel west during this time period. If discovered within the boundaries of Oregon, they could be, and most likely were, beaten. I’ve long known about these terrible injustices, but sometimes it takes a story like this one to make it real. I loved seeing the characters in this book rise to the challenge and try to right these wrongs that had been incurred.
I found this book, The Way of Love, to be an intriguing story about life in Oregon in those early pioneer days. This is a story about life, love, racism, family ties, and standing up for truth, among other things. If you enjoy historical fiction, please be sure and read this one!