Rating: 
Summary: Yawn on Distant Shore.....
Review: I found this sequel to be a big disappointment and pales in comparison to Donati's first book. This time around, the characters bordered on boring, the plot lines forgetable and Donati's sweeping prose sadly absent. I thought this was an overall tough read. Hopefully the next one will be more of a page turner like the first one was.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent, well written sequel!
Review: This is a great sequel to Into The Wilderness. Completely lives up to expectations. If you liked the first one, you'll love this one too! I couldn't put it down and finished in two days - perfectly set up for a third one - can't wait!
Rating:
Summary: excellent sequel
Review: After anxiously waiting for the continuing saga of Nathanial and Elizabeth...when i received the book..I couldnt put it down. I was totally enthralled. I think James Fenimore Cooper would be proud of what Sara Donati has done with the characters he immortalized in The Last of the Mohicans. I look forward to reading her next book and hope that she continues the saga with many more.
Rating:
Summary: Dawn on a distant Shore
Review: I couldn't put this book down! I love the way Sara writes and the way she writes makes me feel that I am there personally. A wonderful family are the Bonner's and I hope she continues the series. A must read for anyone who enjoys an adventurous tale. Aloha, Jennifer
Rating: 
Summary: Promise not realized...
Review: Sara Donati's first book (Into the Wilderness) was one of the best historical/romance novels I've ever read. Unfortunately, this sequel doesn't live up to the first. Story line not as compelling, characterization much weaker, even the romance scenes don't have the fire and sexual tension of the first novel. It's gets somewhat better towards the end of the book, but it's slow going to get there. I hope the author's next work is truer to her literary background and not so much influenced by stock ideas of what historical fiction or romantic fiction should be.
Rating:
Summary: Juicy read
Review: In 1794 at the edge of the wilderness in Upstate New York, Elizabeth and Nathaniel Bonner live in marital bliss. Their idyllic life turns even more blissful when Elizabeth gives birth to twins. However, Nathaniel soon learns that the British government in Canada has arrested his father, Hawkeye.Nathaniel travels to Canada to help his father, but instead finds himself incarcerated as an American spy. When Elizabeth discovers that her spouse could be hung for espionage, she takes her two children and Nathaniel's pre-teenage daughter from another marriage in order to intercede on his behalf. Her efforts go astray when someone kidnaps the twins. Elizabeth and Nathaniel follow the trail to his ancestral home in Scotland where they hope to once again become the loving family they were before Hawkeye was imprisoned. The sequel to the exciting INTO THE WILDERNESS, DAWN ON A DISTANT SHORE continues the post Revolutionary War adventures of the Bonner family. The lead couple is an invigorating duo who will charm readers even though at times their discussions seem so emoted that they feel comical. The support cast provides humor and depth as they help bring the late eighteenth century to life. The story line is impressive as the plot fully entertains the audience. Sara Donati creates an Americana epic that will receive much acclaim from fans and critics. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: another must read...
Review: I am thinking that I already did a review for this book...regardless...It being the book to follow "Into The Wilderness"...makes it worth a double 5 point review! After falling upon "Into The Wilderness" , by chance and loving it, I was very excited to see this book come out. I read both of them when they were first out and have shared them with everyone I know that enjoys historical fiction. Sara did her homework. The story follows the descendants of the character "Hawkeye" from James Fenimore Cooper's great novel "The Last of the Mohican's". A surprise in the first book, "Into the Wilderness" was the cameo appearance of a character from Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series,Ian Murray. That was a treat. This book has so much detail that some point I found myself saying..."well, can we move on now?" but I soon regretted my impatience because what I hurried through was as it turned out a vital part to something that came up at a later date. So..as my final comment re the book and the author...Sara Donati, I think you are a fantastic writer and I anxiously await your next book!!
Rating: 
Summary: A Cut Above the Ordinary
Review: Sequels often are big let-downs, but fortunately that is not the case with "Dawn on a Distant Shore," the second book in a projected five part series that started with "Into the Wilderness." Elizabeth and Nathaniel Bonner are still the focus of the story, which moves along at a fairly brisk clip, although it does falter toward the end when the action moves from Canada to Scotland. Elizabeth still exhibits the same moral and physical courage as she did in the first book of the series. When her husband Nathaniel follows his father Daniel to Montreal, the younger man is also arrested and is likely to be hanged as a spy. Elizabeth, having given birth to twins, takes her babies to Canada in the dead of winter to try to save him. As in the previous book, no one is ever quite who or what they seem, and the Bonners encounter many shady characters in trying to determine Daniel Bonner's heritage....the secret of which lies in Scotland. Sara Donati is a gifted storyteller. She has a good ear for natural sounding dialogue, her plotting is refreshingly original, and her characters are appealing -- even the "bad guys" have shades of gray in their character. My main criticism of this book had to do with the slowing of the action once the story moved to Scotland, and the fact that Nathaniel's daughter (Hannah or Squirrel) from his first marriage has started to take center stage. For some reason authors seem to feel compelled to make children in historical novels into little adults, and Hannah is no exception to that "rule." Her emotions are simply too adult-like to be appealing to this reader. However, I still highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for something a little different in an historical family saga. The fourth book in the series will be out in hardcover this fall.
Rating:
Summary: ENTERTAINING HISTORICAL ADVENTURE EPIC...
Review: This is the second in a series of three published books by this author. Following on the heels of the author's enormously popular debut novel, "Into the Wilderness", this novel attempts to pick up where the other one left off. While eminently entertaining, it does not reach the heights of the author's beautifully written, debut novel. In this sequel, Elizabeth and Nathaniel Bonner have their idyllic married life in late eighteenth century Upstate New York shattered shortly after Elizabeth gives birth to a set of fraternal twins. Nathaniel, upon learning that his father, Hawkeye, an intrepid backwoodsman with strong ties to the Mohawk nation, has been arrested in Canada, departs to the rescue. When he sets foot over the border, he, too, find himself arrested as a spy and imprisoned in Montreal with his father, victim of a sinister plot. Elizabeth, never one to sit by idly, packs up the twins, and she, too, goes to the rescue. The Bonner men, however, are released through the intervention of others before Elizabeth and her entourage arrive. The hand of fate deals them yet another blow, however, when they all are spirited away by ship to Scotland, where the Catholic Earl of Carryck awaits their arrival. It seems that the Earl has determined that Hawkeye is his long lost first cousin and, consequently, his heir. The Earl means for Hawkeye or Nathaniel to inherit the Earldom, in order to thwart his Protestant adversaries. Unfortunately for the Earl, the entire Bonner family proves to be uncooperative, leading to many adventures, both on land and on the high seas. Part of the charm of the author's debut novel lay in its telling of life in Upstate New York in the late eighteenth century, with all of its historical underpinnings. That is entirely is lost here, as this novel takes a decidedly international turn. Some of the adventures are a little too far-fetched, making the novel seem a bit incongruous at times, though still eminently readable on its own terms. Those who enjoyed the author's debut novel will, undoubtedly, enjoy this sequel, though with an underlying layer of disappointment that the debut novel proved to be just too hard an act to follow. Still, notwithstanding this, I am looking forward to reading the third novel in this series, "Lake in the Clouds", as will all fans of this author.
Rating:
Summary: Dawn on a Distant Shore
Review: This story took me across the pond and into a world of adventure. The love that Nathaniel and Elizabeth have and the family devotion is magic. Thank you Sara for allowing me to live this story.
|
