Publication Date: April 26, 2016
Kensington
Paperback & eBook; 352 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Bound for a new continent, and a new beginning.
In her illuminating debut novel, Aimie K. Runyan masterfully blends fact and fiction to explore the founding of New France through the experiences of three young women who, in 1667, answer Louis XIV’s call and journey to the Canadian colony.
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.
“An engaging, engrossing debut.”—Greer Macallister, USA Today bestselling author of The Magician’s Lie
“An absorbing adventure with heart.”—Jennifer Laam, author of The Secret Daughter of the Tsar
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound
Review: Promised to the Crown is a novel of the women the came to settle in New France. I've not read anything about the history of Canada's settlement, so I was really excited to read this book. It figures around three women, Elizabeth, Nicole and Rose, all who have had different trials that have brought them thousands of miles from home.
It is the kind of book you can't put down. If you judge by the cover you might dismiss this book as just another fluffy historical novel. It isn't. Aimie Runyan doesn't forget the hardships that these women dealt with in New France. She didn't forget them as she created the characters. Each woman had a hardship that sent her two the new world.
I loved the friendship between Elizabeth, Rose and Nicole. Each woman came from different backgrounds in France and when they arrive in New France they end up in different circumstances. Each woman has a different set of challenges to deal with, most of them deal with loss and others deal with dramas that are stirred up because of family in France.
I was pleasantly surprised at how things ended for Rose, as things that were part of her past seemed to be pushing her in directions other than marriage.
This book could have easily turned into fluff, since the book focused on how these women came to the New Word to be brides, but Ms. Runyan gives so much more and the characters really grow into admirable women.
This was a fabulous book. I can't wait for the second book in the trilogy. I can't wait to find out what happens to the characters in the next two books, particularly the native girl that had lived with Nicole for a time, Manon.
Rating: 5 flowers
About the Author
Aimie K. Runyan, member of the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and Women's Fiction Writers Association, has been an avid student of French and Francophone Studies for more than fifteen years. While working on her Master's thesis on the brave women who helped found French Canada, she was fortunate enough to win a generous grant from the Quebec government to study onsite for three months which enabled the detailed research necessary for her work. Aimie lives in Colorado with her husband and two children.For more information please visit Aimie's website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads.
Blog Tour Schedule
Tuesday, April 26
Review at Historical Fiction Addicts
Wednesday, April 27
Review at Let Them Read Books
Thursday, April 28
Interview at Book Nerd
Interview at Books and Benches
Friday, April 29
Review at A Chick Who Reads
Saturday, April 30
Review at With Her Nose Stuck in a Book
Monday, May 2
Review at A Book Drunkard
Tuesday, May 3
Review at Seize the Words: Books in Review
Wednesday, May 4
Review at Ageless Pages Reviews
Interview at A Literary Vacation
Thursday, May 5
Review at Reading Is My SuperPower
Friday, May 6
Review at Puddletown Reviews
Monday, May 9
Review at Cynthia Robertson, writer
Tuesday, May 10
Review at A Bookish Affair
Wednesday, May 11
Review at Creating Herstory
Thursday, May 12
Interview at Creating Herstory
Interview at Author Dianne Ascroft's Blog
Monday, May 16
Review at Beth's Book Nook Blog
Tuesday, May 17
Spotlight at Passages to the Past
Thursday, May 19
Interview at The Book Connection
Monday, May 23
Review at CelticLady's Reviews
Tuesday, May 24
Review at A Holland Reads
Wednesday, May 25
Review at Curling up by the Fire
Thursday, May 26
Review at Just One More Chapter
Friday, May 27
Review at Bookramblings
Monday, May 30
Review at Broken Teepee
Tuesday, May 31
Review at So Many Books, So Little Time
Giveaway
Two copies of Promised to the Crown by Aimie K. Runyan are up for grabs! To enter, please use the GLEAM form below.
Rules
– Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on May 31st. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Giveaway is open to US residents only.
– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion
– Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.
Promised to the Crown
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