Book Review: "The Snowflake" by Jamie Carie

In the wilds of the Alaskan gold rush, 1897, Ellen Pierce discovers a man she didn't know existed and a renewed dependence on God in a place called loneliness. She'd lost everything-family, her closeness with God, her heart - until the crystal blue eyes of a leader of men stepped up and asked her one question. Will she join the trek to Dawson or stay the winter on an ice-locked steamship full of strangers? Buck Lewis is folk lore in the flesh, but his heart has been rendered asunder. In the land of snowflakes two roads converge. Will he choose the road less traveled?

Jamie Carie is always good with combining romance and passion into her stories that make them well written and believable. I have enjoyed her previous books that take historical fiction and put a good love story in them. This book is another wonderful addition to the rest of her works. The focus in this book is on Ellen and Buck, two souls who are joined together by the Alaskan frontier. The romance, while short due to the length of the book, is a highlight of the story as the characters have great chemistry together. I enjoy books set during the Alaskan gold rush especially during winter time. I feel that I can relate to the story better when I read it while freezing.

Ellen's relationship with her brother is a bit frightening. Her brother appears to be either bipolar or at least having severe depression. He doesn't want Ellen to leave him but he hates her as much as he loves her. She refuses to leave because of a promise she made to her mother on her deathbed. Therefore she has prepared herself for a lifetime of unhappiness even though she is very young. I was going to be very sad if this had been the entire plot of the book because 1) I didn't want a guy to come and rescue her and 2) her life sounded miserable and I don't think that I wanted to dwell on that the entire time I was reading. Luckily this situation is taken care of in a way that made me satisfied.

I really enjoyed the dancing girl plot. Every other Christian fiction book I have read that's set during this time condemns these women as "fallen women" so it was really nice to see them in a different light. It's good to see that not everything has to be portrayed as sinful until you get saved.

Overall this was a really nice romantic story. It's not very Christmas-y, more winter-ish if anything. So if you're looking for a holiday story, except for the ending it's not really there. Even though this was a novella, I felt like the characters were fully developed and the story didn't feel as if it was cut short. If you're in the mood for a wintry romantic story that has a lot of depth and heart, this is the perfect read for you.

The Snowflake by Jamie Carie is published by B and H Publishing (2010)

This ARC was provided by the publisher