Daughter of Liberty, book 1, American Patriot Series by J. M. Hochstetler*****

American Colonist Oriole, wanted for crimes against the King, barely escapes after a harrowing race through the night fleeing British officers who are determined to catch him-this time. Hiding behind shrubs he waits till they give up once again before he rides to his fellow loyalists meeting place and turns over the documents he is carrying. Oriole is part of the sons of liberty who have banded together to get out from under the British king's rule. Once he returns home he changes out of his disguise, hiding the clothing/wig in the bottom of a trunk in his room and gets ready for bed. Only a few of the sons of liberty knows his identity, "he" is actually a young woman, Elizabeth Howard. Elizabeth's parents are loyal to the king and do not know that their daughter sneaks out at night to spy for the sons of liberty.

Elizabeth is warned by fellow sons of liberty to be very careful around the new British officer of the Seventh Light Dragoons, Johnathan Carleton. Confident in her success in learning British military secret plans from the other officers in Boston, she does not see any problems with a new officer. However, she finds she is attracted to Johnathan and must guard her heart if she is to carry out her missions. Despite her attempts to harden her heart, she falls in love with Johnathan.

Johnathan appears to be a dedicated British officer and is not as easily lead by Elizabeth in sharing military plans with her. He too is drawn to Elizabeth and fights his ever growing feelings for her. He tries to avoid her but finds that they are thrown together more often than he would like, or not as much as he would like if he is honest with himself. One of Jonathan's orders is to find the ever elusive Oriole and capture him. In his investigation, the clues seem to point to Elizabeth's involvement but he is not sure how. Until he can find out positive evidence of where her true allegiance lies, he must guard any romantically involvement with her despite being in love with her.

As things heat up between the British and the Americans, it is hard to know who to trust on either side. There are spies on both sides, even among their own ranks. Along with the spy Oriole, the British seek to find another notorious spy known as Patriot. Finally a trap is set to capture Oriole and Patriot together. By this time, Johnathan is positive that Elizabeth is Oriole and sets out to help her escape. This is her first face-to-face meeting with Patriot, as she gets away he is captured. Later when she is with the sons of liberty she learns that Johnathan is Patriot and devices a plan to help him escape before he is hanged.

I was drawn into this book from the first page to the last and didn't want to put it down until I finished it. I am not much on a political story but the setting in Americas 1776 time period has always interested me. There is so much to our great country's founding and this book certainly explores that as well as being full of adventure, suspense, conflict, terror, romance and much more.

~~I received a free e-copy of this book~~

I am a fan of history and have read other books about the war for independence. This book shows the tremendous struggle that many had with the idea of "change". Some were very loyal to what they had always known, but others found the courage to respond to the need for change and independence. The characters are well defined and you cannot help "rooting" for them as they meet their daily experiences and the risks that they encountered. Seeing the influence of God in their lives made it realistic and encouraging. I would definitely recommend this book.

I was hooked from the first book in the series. As a history major, I've always enjoyed books that were accurately written and exciting to read, such as Kenneth Roberts' novels.

The American Patriot Series is great, because it follows the characters through the various events in history and gives a scrupulously accurate picture as well as an exciting story. What would it be like to be a spy for Washington (the original GW, that is) or be captured by Indians and be adopted by the tribe? I recommend them all highly.

A female patriot spy falls for a British military officer and wonders if he will turn her in if he finds out the truth. The first book of many that follow the Civil War and this romance from town to town and battle to battle. I have the first four ebooks of the series and I hope that the rest will be available soon.