HELLO FRIENDS, I HAVE ANOTHER GREAT ON FOR YOU! HERE IS MY REVIEW SPOTLIGHT OF A PLACE TO CALL THEIR OWN BY DEAN PACE-FRECH FOR YOU! I HAVE MY REVIEW, LINKS, AN EXCERPT, AN AUTHOR BIO AND LINKS, AND A RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY! LET'S GET STARTED:
THIS IS THE PERFECT QUOTE FOR THIS STORY! HERE IS MY REVIEW:
A Place to Call Their Own by: Dean Pace-Frech
reviewed by: Becky
Frank Greerson and Gregory Young have been discharged from the Army and are headed to their childhood homes. They both defied their parents in 1861 when they joined the Army. After battling southern rebels and preserving the Union of the United States of America, the two men set out to battle the Kansas Prairie and build a life together. Once they find their claim, they encounter common obstacles to life on the Kansas Prairie in 1866: Native Americans, tornadoes, wild animals, and weather.
When a prairie fire destroys their crops and takes their neighbor’s lives, Frank and Gregory are instructed to find their young son’s aunt. Faced with leaving a destroyed claim, the railroad coming through their land, and dwindling funds, Frank and Gregory must decide whether to leave the place they have worked hard to make their own or fulfill their friends' dying wishes.
I love a great historical, but sadly they are few and far between, but I can safely say that this is a great historical! Dean Pace-Frech gives us a story of two Civil War Army buddies that become so much more, but in a day and age where they had to hide their feelings.
Frank and Gregory decide when they are discharged from the Army that they will make a life together on a homestead, away from prying eyes and disapproval of their love for each other. They encounter many interesting people both good and bad on their travels, and when they finally decide to build a home they encounter bad weather, Indians, and so much more. Will they be strong enough to survive it all?
When two years pass and a fire sweeps through and claims their crops and their neighbors lives, making the two responsible for getting their son to his only living relative, it is a time to decide if they stay on the land they built a life on, or if they start over and begin a whole new life elsewhere.
This is a low heat story, but that is of no consequence, as this is a story that is sweet and a joy to read. Grab this story friends and enjoy it just like I did, if you are fans of historical MM fiction, this one is for you! Thanks Dean, for a refreshing, wonderful historical that will stay in my heart for a long time to come!
the 5 1866 almanac rating :)
I DID THAT RATING IN HONOR OF A FATHERS REMEMBERED ADVICE! HERE ARE THE BUY LINKS:
GRAB IT FRIENDS, YOU WILL LOVE IT! HERE IS AN EXCERPT FOR YA:
You
two together, or…” Mr. McAvoy asked with a puzzled look on his
face.
Mrs.
McAvoy raised an eyebrow, also curious about the situation.
Gregory
gave Frank a nervous and mischievous look and answered, “Ah, yes,
sir. We planned to each get a claim and build one house for now, help
each other out.”
The
answer seemed to satisfy both Mr. and Mrs. McAvoy. “That sounds
like a good idea. It’d be nice to have a few neighbors around to
help with things once in a while. And what I wouldn’t give to have
had just one other man to help me with some of the house building and
stable. You stay around here, and you’ll need a stable. Wolves and
coyotes will get your livestock if you don’t.”
“How
did you protect yourself before? This stuff doesn’t get built in a
day.” Gregory asked.
“It
takes ’em a while to figure out you’re here. And of course, it’s
worse in the winter than this time of year. They haven’t been quite
so bad the last few weeks, have they?” he directed to his wife.
“No,
they calmed down. Hopefully they’ve been preying on the deer that
are eating my potato plants.” answered Mrs. McAvoy. “You two want
to stay for supper? I’ve got a big pot of rabbit stew on the
stove.”
“It’ll
be good, I promise. She’s done great cooking whatever I can find
for us,” Mr. McAvoy added.
Gregory
ignored the invitation. “How’s the hunting around here? You do
good during the winter months?”
“Yeah,
in the fall it’s the best—the animals are all fat and sassy from
the summer. You can tell the bucks from the does, and you don’t
have to worry about orphaning a young deer like you do now. There are
plenty of rabbits and prairie chickens right now. You can find
squirrels…”
“And
the meadowlarks do fine, too, in a pinch,” piped in Mrs. McAvoy.
“Now, what about supper?”
“We
appreciate the offer, ma’am,” Frank spoke up. “But we’re just
trying to find us our claims and be done with traveling. We’ve been
traveling nearly six weeks now. It has been that long since we had a
decent home-cooked meal, but we need to keep moving on today.”
They
both remembered the last time they joined anyone for dinner. The
McAvoys seemed harmless, but Frank and Gregory were both a bit shy
about joining anyone else at this point.
“Yeah,
we’re getting close to where we want to settle,” Gregory added.
“We appreciate the offer and all, but we just want to keep moving.”
Mrs.
McAvoy smiled, turned, and ran into the house with her load of
laundry. Neither Frank nor Gregory knew if she was hurt because they
declined the supper invitation or just needed to get back to her
household chores.
“We
understand that. Took us nearly six months to get here from New York,
where we come from. We stayed with some relatives along the way, but
the missus did appreciate it when we finally stopped here.”
“Well,
we appreciate your hospitality and all your help. We should probably
get going,” Frank said, glancing at Gregory.
“If
you happen to end up around here, don’t be strangers. Just let us
know where you’re at,” Mr. McAvoy replied.
“It’s
a deal, sir,” Frank said and extended his hand.
Mr.
McAvoy walked over and took it. After they were done, McAvoy stepped
away from the wagon.
Gregory
slapped the reins and yelled “giddyap,” and the horses sprang
forward.
A
frantic Mrs. McAvoy yelled from inside the house, “Wait!”
Frank
grabbed Gregory’s arm to stop him. Gregory pulled back on the
reins.
Mrs.
McAvoy came out of the cabin with a small basket covered with flour
sack cloth.
“This
here isn’t much, but maybe it will allow you to rest once you stop
for the night. I put two crocks of my stew in there and part of the
bread I baked for our supper tonight. I don’t know why I did it,
but something told me to make extra bread today.”
“We’re
mighty obliged, ma’am. This will help. Now we don’t have to worry
about hunting anything for our dinner. We’ll just warm this by the
fire and be ready to go,” Gregory spoke up.
“Yes,
ma’am. We are getting a bit worn out by this trip,” Frank said.
He grinned at Gregory and said, “Hopefully, we’ll be finding our
home soon.”
Both
men tipped their hats once more, and Gregory got the horses going
again.
Dove
and Daisy lumbered along for the rest of the afternoon and into the
early evening. Before they realized it, the wagon climbed a gentle,
gradual grade. The early evening sun blinded them as they reached the
crest of the ridge. At the top, Frank looked over his shoulder where
the wagon had just been. There he saw the trail left by the wagon and
horses in the prairie grass. To the west, a line of trees indicated a
creek, river, or some sort of waterway. The sun drenched the entire
landscape in its golden hue. He looked at Gregory, and they both knew
this was their new home. They had arrived on the homestead.
“Welcome
home, Frankie!” Gregory yelled at the top of his lungs.
CAN I JUST TELL YOU ONE MORE TIME HOW GREAT THIS STORY IS! HERE IS A BIO ON DEAN WITH SOME SOCIAL LINKS:
With
inspiration from historical tourism sites, the love of reading, and a
desire to write a novel, Dean started crafting his debut novel, A
Place to Call Their Own, in 2008.
After four years of writing and polishing the manuscript, it was
accepted and originally published 2013. His second novel,
Disappear With Me, set in Edwardian
England was published later that same year. Both novels were
re-released in May 2015.
Dean
lives in Kansas City, Missouri with his husband, Thomas (legally as
of February 14, 2015), and our two cats. They are involved in their
church and enjoy watching movies, outdoor activities in the warmer
weather and spending time together with friends and family. In
addition to writing, Dean’s hobbies include reading and patio
gardening.
Dean
is currently working a standalone title, Need
Your Love,
set in 1966, and The
Higher Law,
a continuation of the story of Frank and Gregory’s family set in
the 1930s.
Email
deanfrech@aol.com
Blog:
Dean's Web
Site
Facebook:
Dean
Pace-Frech, Author page or send a friend request Dean
Pace-Frech.
Twitter:
@deanpacefrech
Google+:
+deanpacefrech
Goodreads:
Dean
Pace-Frech
Pinterest:
Dean Pace-Frech
I CAN'T WAIT FOR THESE BOOKS! I AM SO GLAD THERE WILL BE ANOTHER BOOK ABOUT FRANK AND GREGORY'S FAMILY! CLICK ON THE RAFFLECOPTER PIC BELOW TO ENTER TO WIN ONE OF THREE COPIES OF DEAN'S BOOK 'DISAPPEAR WITH ME', GOOD LUCK GUYS!
THANKS FOR JOINING ME FOR MY REVIEW SPOTLIGHT FRIENDS! YOU WILL LOVE THIS BOOK! :)
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