Chasing the Sun Book Review

I received a free review copy of Chasing the Sun by Tracie Peterson from Bethany House Publishers and was really excited when I saw this book in my mail box. Tracie Peterson is one of my most favorite Christian authors and I really wanted to read this book anyway. From the opening pages to the end, the story flowed and kept me entertained.

The heroine, Hannah Dandridge, finds herself responsible for a Texas ranch, as well as her two younger siblings, after her father leaves for Vicksburg to tend to his ailing mother during the Civil War.  As time goes by, she has received no word from her father and starts to worry.  Hannah then learns that he has been taken prisoner by the Union army and waits patiently for further word to come through her father's law partner, Herbert Lockhart.

Meanwhile, William Barnett, who was off fighting in the war at his father's insistence for the Union, returns only to find his home confiscated by the Confederacy and given to the Dandridge family-staunch Confederate supporters.  Hannah and William attempt to sort out who truly owns the ranch through legal channels while both agreeing to live on the ranch, but Lockhart won't stay out of it.  He tries to coerce Hannah into marriage so he can take control of the property that he desperately wants.

As Hannah and William wait for the matter of ownership to be settled by the judge, their opinions of each other starts to change.  As they find themselves becoming attracted to each other,  Lockhart keeps meddling and will stop at nothing to get Hannah to marry him, including lying, forgery papers, and murder.

In the end, the real owner of the ranch hardly matters as Hannah and William have fallen in love.  But after the judge rules on the case and the owner is revealed, Lockhart threatens Hannah that he will kill her siblings if she doesn't agree to marry him.  He tries to kidnap her and confesses to the murder of her father in the process.  Luckily, William, accompanied by the local sheriff, arrives just in time to save the day.  


Overall, Chasing the Sun was a fun read.  It had twists and turns that kept the book moving.  The only complaint I have for the book is that the ending is rather abrupt.  It alludes to a trilogy with Hannah's siblings as the main characters, but future books in this series are about completely different people.  I wanted more and am disappointed that this is the end.