What I loved about This Courageous Journey

I’ve always been a sucker for good historical fiction. Hello, my name is Joy, and I love history. Pair it up with a well-researched novel and you’ve got the sweet spot: escape into an entertaining story, learn about another time and place, and maybe even let God speak into your heart. (By the way, there is a giveaway at the end of this review of This Courageous Journey! Make sure you read to the end to enter for an Amazon gift card!)

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Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong century. But then, I wouldn’t be able to share these reviews with you or get nerdy with you about Bible study…I wouldn’t have been able to go to seminary, and some of the things God has called me to do just wouldn’t have been on the radar back then. So I guess God knew what he was doing when he put me in the here and now :).

Still, I love the chance to live the life of some of the first Western female preachers in the early 1900s Canadian West (you can read my review of The Calling of Emily Evans here), or figure out my faith alongside women on the wrong side of the American Civil War in the Secret Refuge series. In worlds where women didn’t always have a say, I’m especially drawn to stories of the times when they chose the hard roads. Western adventures, you bet! This Courageous Journey is one of those stories.

This Courageous Journey

This Courageous Journey tells the story of Noelle, a Civil War era writer who can’t seem to land a job because, you guessed it, she’s a girl. She travels from the Eastern United States with her close friend’s family to live in Western Canada with her oldest brother. Her two journals record the stories she wants to write about the West and her own experiences along the way.

Noelle has already made a more independent decision than most women her age in her time, just by getting on the train with Elmer and Louise. But as their little group is guided through the treacherous Montana Territory mountains and winter fast approaches, Noelle has to make even more tough choices that will put her family, her reputation, and her physical safety on the line.

My Favorite Part of This Courageous Journey

Without giving away spoilers, my favorite part of Noelle’s story is when the tables are turned and her guide – the man, the expert in survival, the one who knows where they are and where they are going – has to put his life in Noelle’s hands. This gal pulls it together because there is no other option, in that special way that awful circumstances bring out our best and our worst.

I love the way Noelle has to wrestle with real-life questions. Propriety or safety? Does reputation matter? How do you know what the right choice is? And what do you do when you start to care for someone who doesn’t share your beliefs? Her situation may be 160 years past, but the questions remain for us today.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, adventure, and especially survival in bleak circumstances.

This Courageous Journey is on Tour with Celebrate Lit

About the Book

Book Title: This Courageous Journey

Author: Misty Beller

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release date: October 9, 2018

As the fifth daughter in a family of nine children, Noelle Grant has spent her life working to be unique. Her love of stories helps define her goal—to be known around the country as one of the top news correspondents of her time. And what better way to uncover sensational stories than to travel through the mountain wilderness to visit the brother she hasn’t seen in years? The trip comes together perfectly as she plans to journey with family friends who will be settling in the same area. Her first inkling that things may not be as perfect as planned comes in the form of the mountain man they hire as their guide for the final leg of the journey.

When Daniel Abrams agrees to guide the small group of easterners along his usual journey northward to the Canadian mountains, his gut tells him he’s making the wrong decision. But if he doesn’t take them, who will? The man in charge refuses to consider turning back. As they start out, Daniel can’t help but notice the woman traveling under the care of her friends. Though she appears too genteel to last long in these mountains, she soon reveals a strength that draws him more than he should allow.

As the dangers of this wilderness become more than the group bargained for, Noelle is faced with the choice to delay her journey northward or proceed alone with the man she’s come to trust against all reason. She never imagines her decision will place her—and the man she loves—in a situation more hazardous than any story her imagination could conjure.

Click here to purchase your copy!

About the Author

Misty M. Beller writes romantic mountain stories, set on the 1800s frontier and woven with the truth of God’s love.

She was raised on a farm in South Carolina, so her Southern roots run deep. Growing up, her family was close, and they continue to keep that priority today. Her husband and daughters now add another dimension to her life, keeping her both grounded and crazy.

God has placed a desire in Misty’s heart to combine her love for Christian fiction and the simpler ranch life, writing historical novels that display God’s abundant love through the twists and turns in the lives of her characters.

Guest Post from Misty

Ever Been Struck by Lightning?

One of the fun things about being a writer is the crazy topics I get to research. Without giving away too much of the story, part of my research for This Courageous Journey included uncovering what happens when lightning strikes a person. It turns out anything can happen!

Surprisingly, about nine out of ten people struck by lightning live to tell their story. Each person’s experience seems to be different—some are knocked unconscious, while others are horribly aware of everything happening. One person who was struck said it seemed as if time slowed to a crawl and a white haze surrounded him like a bubble, as excruciating pain shot through him.

People usually try to determine the path the lightning traveled through them, based on where burn marks appear on both skin and clothing, but sometimes that can be difficult if jewelry or coins were touching the body. Survivors might suffer a variety of short- and long-term effects, including—but not limited to—cardiac arrest, confusion, seizures, dizziness, muscle aches, deafness, headaches, memory deficits, distractibility, personality changes, and chronic pain, among others. That may sound like an awful list, but it does beat the alternative!

As I considered the possible effects of a lightning strike when I was writing This Courageous Journey, I was reminded once again how magnificent God’s creation is. Both the incredible power contained in one streak of lightning, and the beautiful inner workings of the bodies He created for us. As the Psalmist said, we are “fearfully and wonderfully made!”