Prairie Rose (by Catherine Palmer)

I'd never heard of Catherine Palmer. But I spotted a series of three romantic historical fiction books by this author. They were very inexpensive on the ship MV Doulos, when it visited our town, so I thought I had nothing to lose by buying them.

'Prairie Rose', first in the trilogy, features a nineteen-year-old orphan in America called Rosie. The stories are set around 100 years ago.

One day Rosie is up a tree, praying, when she observes a fight. She gets involved, then ends up travelling out west to Kansas to look after a small boy, for a surly farmer.

Rosie is a superb cook, and soon settles down and makes friends in the neighbourhood. Inevitably, romance blossoms in many directions... it was all a bit predictable, but a pleasant enough read. The characters were well-rounded and believable, and the story interesting. The Christian input is not too heavy, and the settings felt authentic.

Recommended in a low-key way.

The sequels to this, which both stand alone (albeit based in the same town) are:

• Prairie Fire
• Prairie Storm