Great Lakes Lighthouses

What does The Great Lakes Lighthouse Brides Collection have to do with Colonial America? Nothing. But ...

Founding CQ author, Carrie Fancett Pagels and I are both authors in this upcoming collection that releases in November. 

Carrie and I both love the Great Lakes and there is a lot of Colonial history here. However, the first Great Lakes lighthouse was not erected until 1825 in what would become the state of Michigan at Fort Gratiot.

Faster, cheaper, and free from attacks by Natives, shipping on the Great Lakes was the answer to moving a lot of people and materials in and out of the northern Great Plains. But it wasn't necessarily safer. Rocks, shoals, islands, and other obstacles - many of them difficult or impossible to see in the dark or during bad weather -  ripped open the hulls of unsuspecting ships.

Lighthouses were the answer, and they popped up along the shorelines of the Great Lakes in amazing numbers from 1850 - 1860. Construction slowed during the Civil War, only to increase with even more lighthouses build between 1870 - 1925. 

Along the shorelines, on riverbanks, and on islands that dot our great inland seas, many of these lighthouses still stand tall and strong and still guide vessels along their way. New technology has replaced the lonely lighthouse keepers, but many of the buildings are open to tourists and include an intriguing glimpse into the past.

If you're roaming around the Great Lakes, take time to visit one of these lighthouses. You won't regret it!

Pegg Thomas
Writing History with a Touch of Humor

Review of "The Promise Keeper" by Lisa Norato

by Elaine Marie Cooper

I am delighted to review Lisa Norato's latest release, "The Promise Keeper." I give it a resounding Five Stars!

Here is the Back Cover Blurb:

The new keeper has manned Pilgrim Light for a year now, and though her father recruited him for the post, Iris Moon has never seen the fellow nor will anyone discuss him. Rumors circulate he was once a pirate and had been imprisoned. Lured by the secrecy, Iris rows out to the light to meet the solitary keeper. He's a curmudgeon who remains as mysterious as ever, until confusing dreams haunt her, causing Iris to suspect they share a past connection.

Jonathan Mayne sailed with Captain Moon's family as a young cabin boy during the earliest years of Iris's life. A grown woman, Iris holds no memory for her childhood friend, who now guards the bay from a lonely lighthouse tower. When a shipwreck survivor bent on revenge washes up on the shores of the Moon family mansion, will Johnny be able to protect Iris from her dead mother's secret while keeping a promise to her father never to expose it?

Here is my review:

From the opening lines to the final scenes of The Promise Keeper, I was captured by the story, the characters and the twists and turns that kept me reading, long after I should have been asleep. Lisa Norato has a winner on her hands!

The plot weaves a complicated yet easily followed tale of intrigue involving two continents, two generations, and two love stories. Lisa’s writing flowed like a smooth running brook with descriptions of settings that made you envision them as if you were there. 

Her knowledge about the sea and ocean going vessels was so clear, even to a landlubber, but not so much as to overwhelm a reader with technical details. It all blended into the story.

The characters in this novel were so well crafted and believable with dialogue befitting the times that added just the right flavor to make you realize you were reading about the early 19^th century.

The Promise Keeper is more than just historical romance—it is filled with intrigue, suspense, and realistic characters whose faith is tested.

The author obviously did painstaking research for every detail that found its way into her narratives. What a pleasure to read such a well-developed book. Bravo, Lisa Norato! 

Author Bio:

A native New Englander, Lisa Norato lives in a historic village with homes and churches dating as far back as the eighteenth century. She writes Christian seafaring romance of suspense and adventure set during New England's Federal Era. 

In the Sea Heroes of Duxbury novels, Lisa's goal is to spin stories rich in historical detail which will transport readers back in time and encourage Christians in their faith  and in finding the courage to place their trust in God.

She has received critical praise for her romantic fiction from reviewers such as Publisher's Weekly, Booklist and RT Book Reviews. Her previous novels include a western time travel and a contemporary romantic comedy.

To purchase The Promise Keeper, click here