About the Book

Book: Rose

Author: Rena Groot

Genre: Christian Historical Romantic Fiction

Release date: April 28, 2022

Strong, determined Rose finds more than she bargained for on a wagon train headed out West on the Oregon Trail. Will she be able to leave the comforts of high society behind to survive the rigors of the trail? Will she humbly admit her need for strength, hope and courage from God? What is God saying to her about Lachlan, her surprise chaperone? Why did God bring Lachlan into her life if their dreams collide? Rose has dreams of being a teacher in town. Lachlan’s dream is to be a rancher, far from any town. Must Rose abandon her dreams to embrace his…or will she let this gentle giant of a man leave to pursue his own dreams?

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  *I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own and are not an endorsement of agreement with authors and their opinions presented.

Author Interview 

1. Why did you want to become an author? 
I didn’t decide to become an author. God decided for me. Words just insisted on being written. Something deep is released in me when I write…a part of me I didn’t know existed. It’s funny, an old friend knew me as a Kindergarten teacher. She read The Narrow Path Trilogy and her response was, “Rena wrote THAT?”
 
2. What step of writing this book was the most challenging and why? 
This is probably not the answer you are expecting. My biggest challenge was quitting. I once wrote all night because the story wanted so badly to be written. 
 
3. Which character in your book do you relate to the most?
Rose. She is basically me living over one hundred years ago. 
 
4. If you could meet your characters in real life, what would you talk about? 
Everything…but mostly how utterly and completely amazing God is. 
 
9. How did you celebrate when you completed your book? 
I caught up on my sleep…haha. 
 
11. What message do you hope readers take away from your book? 
That God can be trusted—even when His ways seem perplexing and we don’t understand. 
 
Thank you, Katie.
Blessings,
Rena Groot

About the Author

Hi. My name is Rena Groot. I have a Bachelor of Education from the University of Alberta and a Masters of Religious Education from the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary in Cochrane, Alberta. I have been a teacher in Canada and China, have published eight books, I have designed a digital course called Broken to Beautiful-Transformed By God’s Power, I have been a tour manager from the Rockies to the Pacific, have been a missionary to the ends of the Earth, a mom of four—and the most important part—I am a child of God.

More from Rena

My middle name is Rose. I was named after my grandmother, Rose. As far as I know, I never met my father’s mother, Rose. Her life, and my dad’s, were an enigma to me. While writing this book I found out Rose had two other grandchildren I knew nothing about—my brother and sister I didn’t know existed. God is so amazing! (This is attached to the email)

One of my favorite recipes is fry bread. On days we stay in camp, I make enough for the week. It gets a bit hard towards the end of the week, but softens when it’s dipped in stew. Here’s the recipe: Four cups flour, one quarter cup shortening—I use bacon fat—four teaspoons baking powder, three-quarters cup of milk, one teaspoon salt, and oil or fat for frying. If the dough is too thick or thin, Willow said to play with it until it feels just right. It can also be made into a dessert if you put milk, cinnamon, and berries on top.

Johnnycake’s delicious with beans. It’s so easy to make. You need two eggs, two cups of sour milk, one half cup flour, two tablespoons molasses, one teaspoon salt, two cups cornmeal, one teaspoon baking powder, and two tablespoons butter. You mix all the ingredients then bake it in a Dutch oven over the fire until it’s cooked.

Cheese is easy to make. It’s a good way to use the two gallons of milk we get from our cow and the goat each day. We are getting so much we have been sharing. Willow showed me how to gently heat the milk in a pail on the fire until it’s blood warm. Rennet is needed to make cheese, so I use a flask made from a cow’s stomach because it has rennet in it. I had no idea. I pour the hot milk into the stomach flask and wait. After it’s been left a few hours, I pour it out, break up the curds, and mix them with salt. I wrap the curds in a cloth and put them in a round wooden frame called “the follower.” (Thankfully, Lachlan had the good sense to buy one of those also). The curds are pressed in the follower. The cheese is usually aged for at least two months before it can be eaten.