HF Virtual Book Tours: Promised to the Crown by Aimie K. Runyan

Title: Promised to the Crown
Author: Aimie K. Runyan
Format: ARC
Publisher: Kensington
Publish Date: April 26, 2016
Source: HF Virtual Book Tours

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "They are known as the filles du roi, or “King’s Daughters”—young women who leave prosperous France for an uncertain future across the Atlantic. Their duty is to marry and bring forth a new generation of loyal citizens. Each prospective bride has her reason for leaving—poverty, family rejection, a broken engagement. Despite their different backgrounds, Rose, Nicole, and Elisabeth all believe that marriage to a stranger is their best, perhaps only, chance of happiness.

Once in Quebec, Elisabeth quickly accepts baker Gilbert Beaumont, who wants a business partner as well as a wife. Nicole, a farmer’s daughter from Rouen, marries a charming officer who promises comfort and security. Scarred by her traumatic past, Rose decides to take holy vows rather than marry. Yet no matter how carefully she chooses, each will be tested by hardship and heartbreaking loss—and sustained by the strength found in their uncommon friendship, and the precarious freedom offered by their new home."

My Two Cents:

"Promised to the Crown" is the story of three women from France who seek to make their futures in Canada, called New France at this time. Nicole, Elisabeth, and Rose are three very different women from very different backgrounds who believe that they are better off going to someplace where they really don't know anyone and marrying a man in the colony. I did not know much about New France and the settlers there before this book but this historical fiction gives a fascinating glimpse into a new world filled with risk and men who could make or break these young women.

All three stories are good and kept me into the book but I was most drawn to Rose's story because of both the tragedy she goes through and the redemption she eventually has. The three main characters are so different and I thought that the author did a really good job of making them and the secondary characters feel really real. I got very attached to the characters and was thrilled to see that there will be a sequel to this book! There are so many ups and downs that the characters go through and we get to see the main characters both at their best and their worst, which really helped to endear them to me!

I've mentioned this again and again but I love how historical fiction allows you to visit a different place and time. I really haven't read much about this time period and I definitely have not read a lot about New France and its settlers. The author adds a lot of really good detail that really made the settlement come to life. I can't wait to get back to this place and these characters! This book is such a treat for histfic lovers!