Naomi D Musch

Naomi Dawn Musch was born and raised in central Wisconsin and now makes her home in Wisconsin's vast northwoods where the vistas are ripe to feed the imagination of anyone interested in history. She and husband Jeff have three grown children and two under wing on their150 acre farm where they dabble at raising a menagerie of animals.


Naomi has been publishing a regional newsletter for home educators for the past thirteen years entitled Apples of Gold. See the page "Apples of Gold for Home Educators" for more information. She is also a staff writer for Living Stones News, a regional Christian newspaper; and a regular contributor to Home School Enrichment magazine. http://www.livingstonesnews.com/, http://www.homeschoolenrichment.com/ http://www.applesofgoldnews.com/

Besides writing, Naomi enjoys homeschooling her children, gardening, taking walks in the woods, a little basketball, and fellowshipping with friends.

The Green Veil - Book One of the NEW Empire in Pine Series


Colette loved Manason long before he came back into her life. But in Wisconsin's virgin pine country where lumber barons ruled private empires, her vow was to his enemy.

One is the man she missed. The other is the man she married.

Lumberman's daughter, Colette Palmer has understood the industry since her youth -- and she's always loved timber cruiser Manason Kade -- even though he only remembers her as a child. Leaving Michigan to settle with her family in the Wisconsin wilderness, and separated from him by miles and years, compassion compels her to marry another.

Manason longs to plant roots of his own in Wisconsin Territory. But when he stakes his claim and challenges the illegal log harvesting of a rival company, Colette's husband swears to ruin him. Then one day Manason and Colette meet again. Now, she will have to choose between her first love and her commitment to her marriage vows, while her faith and an empire in pine hang in the balance.

Read more: http://www.naomimusch.com/empireinpineseries.htm

Available now from Desert Breeze:
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-134/Naomi-Musch-Empire-in/Detail.bok


My review:

The Green Veil
Empire in Pine, Book One
By Naomi D Musch
c. Jan 2011
Desert Breeze Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-61252-013-1

The Green Veil satisfied my Wisconsin home historical, romantic suspense and thrill-seeking reader needs all in one beautifully written novel. Her characters were so captivating right from the opening scene, which is a preview from the middle of the story, that I couldn't stop reading. Thank goodness I was reading on my computer and could turn pages faster, although I have a blister on my thumb.

Musch's historical fiction is straight from early Wisconsin settlement times, with all the grit, romance, hardship and lore of the Great North Woods. Lumber barons took land and timber by right, by force and by theft. Colette "Lettie" Palmer is a young girl when her father follows Harris Eastman from Michigan to Wisconsin Territory in 1841.

When the Palmers and the Harrises settle in Grand Rapids, Colette becomes a companion to young Mrs. Harris, helping at her home and impressing Mr. Harris with her quick grasp of business. Colette has left behind dear friends in Michigan, including her childhood love, Manason Kade. Colette makes a new friend as soon as she and her family move in. Joe Gilbert will never be more than a dear friend to Colette, not that he doesn't wish more. A few years later, Colette's father suffers a terrible accident which causes him and Colette's mother to move to Milwaukee for medical care, leaving Colette with the Eastmans. Meantime, Manason follows his dream to the lumbering trade in Wisconsin and discovers underhanded practices in the timbering industry. When Mrs. Harris eventually carries a pregnancy almost to term, it's not hard to figure out what's going to happen. Through a series of miscommunication and missed connections, Colette makes life choices out of pity and the goodness of her heart, while never forgetting her longing for Manason. When Manason finally meets Colette again, he is too late to declare his true love. Eastman's jealousy plays out in his underhanded treatment of Manason.

Colette's marriage to an "exacting" man is trying on many fronts, but her faith is always a foundation no matter how difficult everything else becomes. When her circumstances take another life-altering change, she must choose again—but will she decide her fate for the right reasons this time?

This period of Americana is rare in historical fiction. It's a delight to explore the 1840s with Musch, who did an excellent job of putting the reader in time and place with rich detail.

I received an advanced reader copy from the author to review.