From the get-go, Jennifer Uhlarik has crafted a novel that proves all is not as it seems on the outside and that one must look deeper than rumors and innuendos. She has taken actual historic events and paired them with a tale of discovery, heartache, and a wee bit of romance. Jennifer has shown a person can't always judge circumstances by appearances.
Dani Sango has come to town to see what her late father has left her in his will. All she's ever been told about him is that he was a deadbeat and an art forger who spent time in the penitentiary. As she goes through the messages on his answering machine, she hears one from an art curator about something her father wanted to show him. While in her father's house, she is accosted by her father's business partner and his employee, thinking she's an intruder. Once the misunderstanding is cleared up, she finds that she has a true friend in her father's partner who will stand beside her until she can figure out what's what.
In a parallel plot line, Broken Bow and his brother are being moved from the Plains to St Augustine, Florida--against their will. Sally Jo and her fiance', Luke, watch as they come into town and into the fort where they and others will be housed during their "incarceration." Sally Jo's father is a federal judge who, in his quest to seek the best for his daughter, stands between her and what she really wants. Luke has a stutter and to Sally Jo's father, he isn't good enough for her. The commandant of the fort desires to educate the men who have been brought in from the Plains and to teach them the skills they will need to live in a "white man's world."
Brad is the assistant art curator for a museum in Tampa, Florida, who is dealing with a family emergency at the same time as he's trying to find out about the art piece Dani's father contacted him about. He's not all that excited about the art piece because of the timing. His family emergency is taking all of his time and mental efforts just to hold onto his sanity.
For some "time slip" novels, I have a hard time keeping the stories straight in my head as I read them. I did not have that trouble with this one. The two stories are more of a parallel, where one gives background to the other and makes a complete picture in the reader's mind. The fort at St Augustine is quite near and dear to my heart, as it was where my father was stationed for his basic training in the Coast Guard during World War II. It has a rich, deep history that should be mined for its significance in the story of our country.
The situations in the contemporary part of the novel are believable and to a degree, enjoyable. Some of them are tragic, but that just adds life to what Jennifer has put down on paper. The characters are quite engaging and, for the most part, likable. There are a couple the reader would like to take out and hang just for the heck of it, but I think that goes for a multitude of characters in many books. This is a five star book, with two thumbs up, and a priceless art piece no forger could copy.
Barbour Publishing and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.
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