Trilogy on the River

My name is Princess, and I live on the river. In the swamps. When I was nine, Mama left. She hated that Papa traveled on the river all the time to make money. She was lonely. After she left, I was alone. Cree lived two doors down from me. He had three baby brothers, and he was strong. I watched him from my windows sometimes because Mama didn't let me play with him. She was born in the city, so she thought all the people out here were river rats. Cree's mama died, and his dad traveled all the time, too. Worse, when he came home, he drank all the hooch in his still, and he got mean. Cree was as alone as I was. After my mom left, Cree and I decided to be alone together. He crabbed and chopped wood for our stoves and did repairs on our houses so they wouldn't fall down. I cooked the food and took care of his baby brothers. Sometimes when the boys napped we played in the trees, and I taught Cree to read, because his mama never taught him how. Cree was my best friend. C Cree's getting older now. He wants to travel the river like our papas so he can buy us pretty things from the city. He's willing to risk everything to do it, and the river has a lot of risks-floods, alligators, leeches, and neighbors with guns. I tell him we need him more than we need things, but he doesn't get it. He thinks he's failing us. We fight about it a lot, and I hate to fight with Cree. He's all I have. And I'm all he has. I say the swamp is my home, but really Cree is my home. There's nobody else in the world I can talk to and laugh with and love like Cree. I hope he figures that out before something bad happens to him on the river. Swamp Rats is book one of the Trilogy on the River, sweet romance/coming of age book about life on a lazy river delta. Grow up; fall in love; avoid alligators.

Like many young people on the river, Emilie and Luc are married for the benefits of their families. Emilie considers Luc an attractive boy, and she hopes to find the happiness her parents had. Luc, however, has no understanding of women or wives, and he just wants Emilie to care for his ailing grandfather so he won't lose his farm. Emilie is determined to show Luc how helpful a wife can be to him, and she supports him regardless of his cold, silent demeanor or the hurtful antics of his family. Luc's father, though, is determined to convince Luc that a wife is a problem to be returned to her family when his grandfather dies. Eventually both Luc and Emilie's families are working against them, and the pair will need to be united if they are to survive alone in the swamps. Emilie only hopes she can reach Luc's heart before his papa destroys it-and possibly both of their lives-entirely. Swamp Wife is book two of the Trilogy on the River. Drift down the river and enjoy a coming of age romance from a simpler place and time.

When Yeardleigh's papa murders her mama, an unlikely pair steals this city girl to the swamp for safety. Twelve year-old Yeardleigh finds herself left with a family with two boys and a girl, and she has to learn all the ways of river life, nothing like her city existence. As Yeardleigh grows up, she develops feelings for one of the boys, but he makes a decision that leads him away from her and estranges him from his entire family, forcing Yeardleigh to think about family, city life, and what she wants from her future. Tragedy and danger come to both Cy and Yeardleigh, and they have another chance to determine if they could be more than friends. Assuming, of course, they survive the attacks against them. The final book of the Trilogy on the River, Swamp Song is one more trek into the simpler-but never safer-life of a group of folks who live away from the world on the river. Coming of age romance for teens and adults.