Book Review: "Under the Northern Lights" by Tracie Peterson

Cold yet heartwarming

Tracie Peterson's Alaskan Quest series reintroduces us to Jacob and Leah Barringer, first seen as children in her Yukon Quest series. Now grown up and independent adults, the two still live up in Alaska and have come to adore their new home. In Under the Northern Lights, the second book in the series, Leah has just married Jayce Kincaid and is ready to settle down and have a quiet life with him. Unfortunately for her, Jayce's evil twin brother Chase kidnaps her and Helaina Beecher, the Pinkerton agent searching for Chase. While the two women have to fight for survival against Chase, Jayce and Jacob go out to search for the women they love in hopes of rescuing them. When something happens that nearly destroys Leah, the four have to to depend on faith in order to move on.

I love seeing characters reappear in books. I wanted to know what happened to Jacob and Leah at the close of the Yukon Quest series when they were children. Now as their adults, the pair have had to share their own hardships and triumphs. Alaska is always a great setting because it's so vast and big and like Hawaii, familiar yet different at the same time. I'm glad that Helaina's character changes throughout the story. In the first book, she is very stubborn and headstrong because she's trying to prove to herself and others that she can survive on her own. In this book, Leah has to force her to realize that finding Chase is not the most important thing in the world. I also felt sorry for Leah with what she went through. The turn of the events at the end though are rather interesting and I bet her and Jayce would have appreciated modern technology for their situation! She rightly feels bitter and I believe that she is allowed to. The only thing I didn't like was she felt guilty over feeling bitter but I feel that in her situation she had an absolute right to. I love when I feel like I'm drawn into a book and that happened several times while reading this one. I actually felt cold when reading certain scenes and had to get a blanket. Recommended for Peterson fans and anyone who enjoys a good historical fiction story.

Under the Northern Lights by Tracie Peterson is published by Bethany House (2006)