The Rose Legacy is book one of the Diamond of the Rockies series by Kristen Heitzmann. It is set in Crystal, Colorado, a small mining town. It is small and rough. Carina DiGratia has left her home in California to move to Crystal where she has purchased a house and hopes to find a job. Her wagon carries all she owns and is pulled by her faithful burro. As she makes the climb to Crystal, she thinks of all she has left and why. She has left a large Italian family that is very close and very protective of her. She left because her fiancé Flavio was betraying her with her sister. She felt she could never forgive either of them. Of course, if Flavio follows her and begs her forgiveness, she just might forgive him. Meanwhile, she must continue her journey. Her burro finally gets to a stage where he can no longer pull the wagon up the mountain in the thin air. He stops and then as he starts again, the wagon wheel breaks. What is she to do? She hears a wagon coming from behind and hopes they can help her. Quillan Shepherd is a freighter and his wagon is full and being pulled by four horses. He stops and asks her what she needs and wants out of the wagon. She gets her overnight bag and a satchel with papers in it and hands them to him to put in his wagon. While she watches in horror, he pushes her wagon off the cliff! He tries to explain why but she doesn’t listen. She decides not to ride with him to Crystal. Quillan is attracted to her outrageous behavior but goes on to Crystal to forget her. Carina makes it to Crystal, finds out her house is not hers and her deed is a forgery. Berkley Beck, a lawyer takes her to Meg’s boarding house where she takes the last room. Actually it was paid for but they convince Turner to come back the next day. When his mine strikes silver, he names his mine after Carina and tells her she is his good luck charm. He makes her taking his room into a legend because if she hadn’t, he wouldn’t have gone back to the mine and slept beside it where he found his silver. Carina must find a way to survive in this rough town. She hears the story of Quillan being the son of a prostitute, Rose, and a savage, Wolf. They run a claim in the mountains called the Rose Legacy. When Quillan is born, every time he cries, Wolf goes crazy. No one knows why; but Rose gives her son to the Shepherd family to raise. He is treated fairly well by the Preacher Shepherd; but Mrs. Shepherd dislikes him and tells him horror stories about his family. True or not. Quillan tries to make her suggestions to him come true. If he is beaten because he is supposedly making fun of someone, he turns around and definitely makes fun of them. When he finally leaves home, he eventually makes a living as a freighter bringing goods up to the mining towns. Quillan gets involved in trying to find out who is leading the men to rough up people to run them out of town or take over their claims. They have already run off the sheriff and now there is a new one in town. He wonders if it is Beck and if Carina can help him find proof. Will she?
My introduction to Kristen Heitzmann was through her most recent contemporary romantic suspense novel The Edge of Recall and I loved it. When I found out that she also had previously written a series in my favorite genre of Christian Historical Fiction I added it to my TBR list. Then I discovered that Bethany House was going to re-release the series with beautiful new covers and I could not wait to get my hands on the series! After reading the first novel, I am glad that I did. Originally published in 2000, now being re-released in 2010.Carina Maria DiGratia is a high class Italian transplanted with her family to Sonoma, California. After her heart is broken, she runs away to make someone work for her love. It is after she gets to her destination that she starts a journey of learning that maybe it is God's will but for different reasons than her own. Through this story we get to know Carina and also a less likely character of Quillan. Getting to know his history explains some of her own and God is definitely working in Carina's life in mysterious ways. This is a story of romance, redemption, vengeance and love. It ends with a string that causes a reader to have to get the next book (ordered my from PaperBackSwap thank you very much) and on the edge of your seat you want to know what comes next. I recommend this story, and I'm certain will recommend the series. *Thanks to Jim Hart of Bethany House Publishers for providing a copy for review.*
What do You think about The Rose Legacy (2000)?
A rare 5-star review...I liked this book so well that I remembered the story weeks after reading it and just starting its' review!The main character is a fiesty Italian girl trying to make her way on her own in the wild mining town she moves to in Colorado during the days of panning for gold and digging for silver. She is cheated, tricked, stalked, and rescued...all in a good days work! Watching her grow up during all the troubles she has to face makes this book well worth reading. It wasn't the best book I've ever read, but it was one I couldn't forget...and, for me, that makes it stand out as a great read.
—Sue
This was my first read from Kristen Heitzmann. Historical fiction is not my favourite genre, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was full of action, suspense, intrigue and also compassion for the characters.The first 30% of the book was a slow start for me, but then the pace picked up and I wanted to see what will happen to everyone and the action and mystery just increased. Even the end of the book kept left you with "what will happen know?"Forgiveness and surrender to God was the main theme of the story, and I loved to see how Carina grew in her relationship with God, and I think my best scene for her was at the end, when she knew she have to give over the person she loves to God and just believe and trust that God will sort everything out for her good.I am glad I didn't have to live in that rough place!I really enjoyed it and will definitely recommend it to everyone who likes historical fiction with suspense, or suspense with some historical fiction :-)
—Sarita
This is the first book in the Diamond of the Rockies series. I was unaware that this book was actually published in the year 2000. It now has a new bright and beautiful cover that presents itself as more appealing to the current readers. I have read many Kristen Heitzmann books and loved every one of them. This one did not disappoint either. I found this book to be very enjoyable. It had so much action in it that I had a hard time putting it down. I love books that keep you guessing what’s going to happen next, so much so that you have to continue reading no matter how long it takes just to satisfy your longing to know. I enjoy historical fiction, so this book suited me perfectly. Set in the 1880s this is sure to please any lover of the “good old days” when things were quite simple yet many worlds apart from what we know today. I was disappointed in the ending, but it was an ending that kept me wanting to read the next installment in the series. Since this is re-published, I don’t have to wait for it to come out so that definitely is a positive. I look forward to reading Sweet Boundless and the continuing story of Carina and Quillan.
—Patty LeBlanc
