Review: Touching the Clouds by Bonnie Leon

Touching the Clouds
by Bonnie Leon

Genre: Inspirational Historical Fiction
Publisher: Revell
Cost: $9.99 (Kindle)

What I Liked:
First of all, the time period is my absolute favorite. I love Depression-era books. WWI and II books. Adore. I'm hopiong that the following books in this series will stay in this time period. I'm so glad to see that big publishers are taking chances on less familiar time periods. I hope to see more books in the early 20th century written about American history. That's definitely my favorite historical period. SO well done on that front, for certain sure.

Now, for the story. Amazing! I absolutely adored this hero. He reminded me a little of Michael Hosea from Redeeming Love in his rugged, backwoodsy, tender-hearted way. Kate, the heroine, was nothing like the heroine from RL, but for some reason, this book had that flavor. An excellent writing style, rich historical detail, a poignant love story with as difficult a path to its resolution as I could really tolerate. Both characters had such difficult pasts, and such hard presents, but not in a way that made the book unreadable. It's just not your typical fluffy historical romance book. This was a book that had to work hard for its hope, in a lot of ways.

But the writing was just so excellent. I found myself halfway through the book before I even knew what was happening. I can just imagine being the first editor to read this. Golden would have been my first thought. It's really an excellently crafted plot, the characters seem real to me, and I care about what happens to them. When I would put the book down, I was always looking forward to coming back to it. And I find myself, even now, wondering if I should re-read it before I get to RWA Nationals, just so I can read it again before I pass it along to someone else.

This is the first in a series of books, and like Jill Eileen Smith's Wives of David saga, I definitely have my opinions about whom I hope gets featured in upcoming books. I think I've become a Bonnie Leon fan for life. As long as her other books live up to this quality, she won't be rid of me anytime soon.

Book Blurb:
Kate Evans is an adventurous and independent young woman with a pioneering spirit. She pilots a mail-delivery plane in the forbidding Alaskan wilderness, the lone woman in a male profession. But even that seems easy compared to finding true love. She likes a fellow pilot and would even consider marrying him--if it weren't for Paul, a mysterious man on her mail route with a gentle spirit and a past to hide. Can Kate break through the walls Paul has put up around his heart? And will her quest for adventure be her demise? Book 1 in the Alaskan Skies series, Touching the Clouds will draw readers in with raw emotion and suspense, all against the stunning backdrop of the Alaskan wilds.