The Rose Legacy: A Review

In the first book of her Diamond of the Rockies series, author Kristen Heitzmann introduces readers to the charming Carina Maria DiGratia. Carina is a proud but wounded young Italian woman from California who flees from her past. Little does she know that her idyllic-sounding new hometown of Crystal, Colorado is anything but safe and peaceful. In fact, it is a mining town full of opportunists and unsavory characters.

When Carina finally arrives to her new home, after several mishaps on the road, she is further disappointed to find that the lovely home she purchased is neither lovely nor hers. In fact, squatters have taken up residence in her abode, forcing Carina into the hands of a local attorney and playboy, Berkley Beck. Beck offers Carina employment as his secretary and lodging at a local hotel, promising to help her win back her house.

Just as Carina begins to trust Beck, Quillan Shepherd, a merchant freighter who did not make a good impression on Carina, starts to put Beck's actions into question. All of this while Beck is putting Shepherd's actions in question. Who can Carina trust?

I don't want to give away any more of the story, so I will get to the "guts" of my review.

This was an amazing book. I found myself not wanting to put the book down. Heitzmann's characters are engaging and her plot has unexpected and welcome twists and turns. If you like romantic Christian novels with more novel than romance, then this book is for you. I loved that Heitzmann didn't "dumb down" her story line to "get to the good parts." Overall, I give it five starts (out of five).

If this story line sounded familiar to you, it might be. Heitzmann originally had the book published in 2000. But it was republished by Bethany House in 2009 with a new design and cover.

I liked this story so much that I went on a search for the second book in the series, but I couldn't find it anywhere but online. My only complaint about this novel is that Bethany House didn't republish all three Diamond of the Rockies books at once - I can't wait to read the next one!

Note for Full Disclosure: While I do not receive any monetary compensation for my book reviews, I am provided with free complimentary copies of each book. That being said, this review is completely my own, and free from the influence of Bethany House Publishers.