Caress is a classic Rosanne Bittner book filled with a beautiful love story entwined with true history. Blake and Samantha take you on a love story set in the beginning stages of the Civil War, set in Kansas. Reading and feeling like you're living through the danger and fear and trials makes this story a hard one at times, but also a great one, because you have to experience it and realize what all those impersonal history accounts represented. I loved getting to experience George and Jesse's HEA along with Blake and Samantha. Seeing the male friendship between Blake and George, overcoming their current circumstances (let's just say, it's not popular to be a white man with a black man for a best friend). Watching the prejudice first hand hurt along with happy tears seeing love concur all.
One of my favorite moments was when Blake was telling Samantha and her family, yeah, peace is great and all, until someone needs punched. (well, Rosanne Bittner said it much more elegantly, but the thought is the same! and how true it is at times!)
