Into the Valley: The Settlers — Rosanne Bittner

Into the Valley is the moving story of one woman torn between two brothers who have drastically different visions of the future of their country. In 1780, during the turbulent days of the American Revolution, Annie Barnes is engaged to stable, loving Luke Wilde, an Ohio Valley farmer who is satisfied with his life and not at all sure that it's right or advisable to fight the British crown. But because of a life-changing experience in her childhood, Annie also has strong feelings for his brother, Jeremiah Wilde, a wanderer who becomes deeply involved in the patriot cause and ends up bringing the war a little too close to Annie and Luke's settled life. As the brothers become dangerously embroiled in the fighting, Annie's relationships with both of them are twisted, tried, and tangled beyond recognition. As Luke and Jeremiah face unimaginable dangers, Annie must confront her feelings about the future-both of the land she adores and the brothers she can't live without. The second novel in Bittner's ambitious Westward America series, chronicling the history of the settling of America through the stories of its brave pioneers, Into the Valley is a story of war's unexpected effects on the lives of ordinary citizens, and of the courage of the early patriots showed in gaining America's independence.