Forever By Your Side by Tracie Peterson is the third book in the Willamette Bride series. It can be read on its own but there are shared characters in all three novels, so reading them in order would be suggested.

Connie has returned to the Reservation where she grew up in the Pacific Northwest. She is accompanied by her best friend Tom. They are there to research Native American family histories and stories for the Bureau of Ethnicity. Connie has another purpose for returning. Her parents have been accused of trying to incite a war between the Indians and the government. Connie is determined to prove their innocence.

Forever by your Side is set in the 1880s and, through Connie's eyes, looks at the treatment of Native Americans after the Trail of Tears. While the horrors of the Trail of Tears have been well publicized, they did not end when the Native Americans arrived on the reservations. In this novel, Tracie Peterson takes a clear and honest look at the abuses and crimes that occurred against Native Americans and were often blessed by the government. Peterson also introduces a real life character, Helen Hunt Jackson, a poet who became an activist for the Indian tribes. Jackson wrote a book called A Century of Dishonor in 1881. Peterson refers to this book in Forever By Your Side.

Although this is primarily a historical fiction novel, it also involves romance, mystery, and crime. If you want to learn more about Native American history while reading well-written historical fiction, this book is for you.

I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House via Netgalley. My review is voluntary.