Review: An OK read.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 21, 2013
Felicity Beaumont is the opposite if what one would expect a young privileged daughter of a wealthy businessman to be. When her father cheats his slaves in keeping them in bondage she goes behind his back to free them, buying fare on Jake McCade's riverboat to transport them to freedom.Disguising herself as a boy - the story opens with her cutting off her hair - she accompanies her father's slaves on their journey on Jake's boat. Her disguise is uncovered when she's injured in a storm and Jake decides to drop her off with his aunt but agrees to continue to transport the slaves to their freedom in St Louis. When Felicity's father discovers her ruse and catches up with them, he forces them to marry under the treat of having Jake charged with kidnapping her otherwise.Felicity was quite an admirable character; she has a wonderful relationship with her father's slaves who all adore her. She's feisty, and has a strong belief in doing what is right. There's an interesting cast of secondary characters: Jake's cousins, his aunt, a lady doctor among others.While this was an interesting story, for some reason the intimate scenes (there were several long ones) between Jake & Felicity felt flat and somehow too wordy & I ended up skipping thought them. Otherwise a good enough read.