The Dawn Wakers

Westward Wanderers, Book 2

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The Dawn Wakers

By: Angela Castillo

Narrated by: Ginger White

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Continue the series

Season of Flight

By: Angela Castillo

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Listener received this title free

I loved this Oregon Trail story! It doesn't end when they arrive in Oregon, but continues until they're finally reunited and Thaddeus has his church established!
The narration was exceptional! Her soft melodious voice was very enjoyable to listen to!

Christian Historical Romance

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The Dawn Wakers (Westward Wanderers #2)
by Angela Castillo
Narrated by Ginger White.

We follow the life of Ellie during her time on the Oregon Trail, helping her mother to care for her four siblings. On the trail Ellie meets Ami ( the protagonist of Westward Wanderers #1 ) and they become friends. Ami meets and falls in love with Shiloh the trail guide and quits the trail for Montana promising to keep in touch.

Life on the trail is harsh, lack of food, the arduous everyday chores, patching and repatching scarce clothing...but despite this Ellie and Thaddeus find solace in each other.
Thaddeus is the son of another family also making the journey, his father expecting him to follow in his footsteps and become a banker but Thaddeus has other dreams and ideas. He has his own plans, to become a missionary or a preacher. The two of them meet regularly and realise they have feelings for one another.

This is the second book in the Westward Wanderers series by the talented Angela Castillo, seen from the perspective of Ellie and Thaddeus. It is another great story, like the first and once again we discover details of how hard life was during the voyage and also why people chose to embark on such a journey in the first place selling their homes and most of their belongings for a dream or a promise of a better life. Travelling must have been hard enough for a couple alone but for Ellie's mother, alone and with five children to feed and care for, without a man to provide and protect them must have been terrifying. To make things even worse Ellie was still in a weakened state, recovering from scarlet fever when they set off on their departure for Oregon.

This is a historical, Christian fiction read having much to offer and can be a great part of any reader's book collection. A compelling story of romance, suspense, history and more as told by Ginger White, a vibrant, articulate, and easy listening audiobook narrator.

A compelling story of romance, suspense, history

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I loved this second book still on the pioneering trail it is described so well you can imagine yourself there, narration brilliant looking forward to book 3

A lovely pioneering adventure book by great author

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Listener received this title free

I was looking forward to The Dawn Wakers since it was to follow the story of Ellie and Thaddeus, who had become dear and interesting characters in the first book. I was also curious to see how they would fare in the rest of the journey to Oregon, since Ami's story didn't show that. However, I didn't end up enjoying this one as much as the previous one since I didn't know this book was divided into two parts, and the second one has the MCs separated. While I understand that it was somewhat necessary, that it helped them grow, I'm not a fan of that, and it was made especially worse thanks to the introduction of Mr. Billings just before that happened. It's been a while since I've had a strong (negative) reaction to a character, but this one took the cake. How her immediate adult relatives could be so blind to things, but all the young ones and friends could see it so clearly, was beyond me. And his constant leering looks and then threats ended up being tiresome. Still, rant aside, Ellie and Thaddeus's story is really sweet, and I enjoyed learning more about the role of the preacher in those times.

The continuity of the narrator was great, since that meant the characters had the same voice as what the listener was used to in the first book. She gave a good performance and brought to life the new characters—I especially enjoyed her wide array of female voices.

Overall, if you want a Christian Historical Romance with a hard-won HEA, then go ahead and give this one a chance. While my expectations have somewhat dimmed for the next one, I'll still be checking it out. ~ 3 stars

Speed listened at: 1.5x

didn't enjoy it as much as the first

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