Refining Fire by Tracie Peterson
Posted: 03 Jul 2015, 22:14
Christian Romance
This is the 2nd book in the Brides of Seattle Series, however it can be read as stand alone.
Militine is a very bitter young woman in 1889 Seattle Washington. She has turned her back on God. Her best friend Abrianna Cunningham is the adopted daughter of the prioress of the Madison Bridal School, very religious and zealous in her beliefs, to the point of being obnoxious at times. Both young women live at the Madison Bridal School of Seattle. Militine has a past that she is running from and what better place to hide than the Bride School.
Abrianna is a little general and determined to open a food house (soup kitchen in our time) on the docks for the homeless, poor, and disenfranchised. She pulls in Militine and 2 young men that watch out for the women at the school, Thane and Wade. Thane is a voluntary fireman and boat repairman, he never talks about his violent past to anyone except Wade; Wade is a Christian and a carpenter by trade; he loves Abrianna. The food house is a resounding success. Ms. Peterson painted a vivid picture of how we fight spiritual battles with ourselves. Thane is fighting such a battle but his friend Wade is diligent in presenting the message of God, his forgiveness, and his love. Of course there is a villain, Priam Welby who is very sly in hiding his true nature from Abrianna whom he desires. The history of human traffic is long and our villain is in the illegal trade of foreign antiques and human trafficking. Ms. Peterson used this unsavory history in her story. Ms Peterson also portrayed Seattle's history of water shortage due antiquated water and hydrant system to fight fires and the great Seattle fire.
Ms. Peterson did a great job of showing the growth of our characters spiritually. We watch Militine and Thane become loving, forgiving, trusting people; they fail in love. The message of Gods love and forgiveness is throughout this story, but presented in such a way as to not be preachy or pushy. Ms Peterson gave Abrianna several hurdles to overcome, her fathers sudden appearance, a new Pastor that doesn't like woman in positions of power and wants to subdue Abrianna, a villain that is courting her, and sweet Christian Wade that loves Abrianna.
We have 2 very different personalities in Abrianna and Militine. Abrianna is an extrovert very forceful in her presentation of God and I felt Ms Peterson was showing how each of us can appear when we are in the mist of doing the jobs we feel God wants us to undertake. She is force to be reckoned with. We watch as she travels the snares of courting. Militine is an introvert. She is hiding her feelings and her past, terrified of being hurt again and the past rising its head. She believes God has abandoned her, and we get to watch her grow into a wonderful and loving person as she comes to know Gods love and the love of Thane.
The story never lags, it kept me interested from the first chapter. It has a lot of action, the history in the story was fascinating, and a woman's place in that time period was illuminating, especially as portrayed by the Pastor of her church. I found Abrianna refreshing as she would not fit in the woman's mold as it was thought in 1889. The romance in the story is very clean. Ms. Peterson included mystery, faith, selfishness and unselfishness, forgiveness, guile, reunion,evil and love into a wonderful book anyone should enjoy.
I would highly recommend this book.
This is the 2nd book in the Brides of Seattle Series, however it can be read as stand alone.
Militine is a very bitter young woman in 1889 Seattle Washington. She has turned her back on God. Her best friend Abrianna Cunningham is the adopted daughter of the prioress of the Madison Bridal School, very religious and zealous in her beliefs, to the point of being obnoxious at times. Both young women live at the Madison Bridal School of Seattle. Militine has a past that she is running from and what better place to hide than the Bride School.
Abrianna is a little general and determined to open a food house (soup kitchen in our time) on the docks for the homeless, poor, and disenfranchised. She pulls in Militine and 2 young men that watch out for the women at the school, Thane and Wade. Thane is a voluntary fireman and boat repairman, he never talks about his violent past to anyone except Wade; Wade is a Christian and a carpenter by trade; he loves Abrianna. The food house is a resounding success. Ms. Peterson painted a vivid picture of how we fight spiritual battles with ourselves. Thane is fighting such a battle but his friend Wade is diligent in presenting the message of God, his forgiveness, and his love. Of course there is a villain, Priam Welby who is very sly in hiding his true nature from Abrianna whom he desires. The history of human traffic is long and our villain is in the illegal trade of foreign antiques and human trafficking. Ms. Peterson used this unsavory history in her story. Ms Peterson also portrayed Seattle's history of water shortage due antiquated water and hydrant system to fight fires and the great Seattle fire.
Ms. Peterson did a great job of showing the growth of our characters spiritually. We watch Militine and Thane become loving, forgiving, trusting people; they fail in love. The message of Gods love and forgiveness is throughout this story, but presented in such a way as to not be preachy or pushy. Ms Peterson gave Abrianna several hurdles to overcome, her fathers sudden appearance, a new Pastor that doesn't like woman in positions of power and wants to subdue Abrianna, a villain that is courting her, and sweet Christian Wade that loves Abrianna.
We have 2 very different personalities in Abrianna and Militine. Abrianna is an extrovert very forceful in her presentation of God and I felt Ms Peterson was showing how each of us can appear when we are in the mist of doing the jobs we feel God wants us to undertake. She is force to be reckoned with. We watch as she travels the snares of courting. Militine is an introvert. She is hiding her feelings and her past, terrified of being hurt again and the past rising its head. She believes God has abandoned her, and we get to watch her grow into a wonderful and loving person as she comes to know Gods love and the love of Thane.
The story never lags, it kept me interested from the first chapter. It has a lot of action, the history in the story was fascinating, and a woman's place in that time period was illuminating, especially as portrayed by the Pastor of her church. I found Abrianna refreshing as she would not fit in the woman's mold as it was thought in 1889. The romance in the story is very clean. Ms. Peterson included mystery, faith, selfishness and unselfishness, forgiveness, guile, reunion,evil and love into a wonderful book anyone should enjoy.
I would highly recommend this book.