Arizona, December 1943. After surviving perilous six-month journeys to 1889 and 1918, the Carsons, five siblings from the present day, seek a respite in their home state. While Adam and Greg settle down with their Progressive Era brides, Natalie and Caitlin start romances with wartime aviators and Cody befriends a Japanese family in an internment camp. The time travelers regroup, bury some … ghosts, and continue their search for their missing parents. Then old problems return, new ones emerge, and a peaceful hiatus becomes a race for survival. In INDIAN PAINTBRUSH, the sequel to RIVER RISING and THE MEMORY TREE, several young adults find love and adventure as they navigate the home front during the height of World War II.
more
sometimes can be scary as it covers three different time periods in the series with some type of disaster in each one.
This is a series book so if you didn’t read the first 2, this one is a bit confusing as they refer to times in the past that happened that the reader knows nothing about. It is a time travel book and the 5 children with 2 spouses are traveling through time searching for their parents… who are traveling through time looking for the children. This book doesn’t say why the parents went in the first place of why the children are looking for them or how they all know where and when to go to get to the next time protal, that takes them… they don’t know. Plus, 7 characters, 2 with spouses, the others with friends or jobs … just so many characters and so much going on it was hard to follow somethings. I can’t give it a “word like” as there isn’t one for exhausting to read!
As the story unfolds, the stakes get higher. We meet some old friends from the first two books, which is a real delight, but more than anything, the way Heldt handles the reader’s investment in the characters is a balancing act of precision. I stand in awe at his ability to grip my emotions. I cried my eyes out at times. I was wooed and swayed in the sweet and steamy romance scenes. I was on the edge of my seat during a chase down. I didn’t want the story to end because I was a part of it and loved being there with the Carsons, yet I needed to know what happens next.
Good time travel concepts. Nice to follow the family with their adventures!
The Carson clan is on the move again. They are hoping to find their parents at the next stop. It hasn’t been an easy search and the clan is getting weary. Working from a list they found, the Carson clan travel from place to place. No sign of their parents but they do meet some wonderful people along the way. It’s December 22, 1943. World War II is raging. Would the Carson’s parents be found here?
John A. Heldt is a master storyteller. His writing brings you right into the room with the characters. You are certain if you reach out, you can touch them. Love, happiness, sadness and pain are part of life and therefore part of Mr. Heldt’s books. He is an auto buy of mine and several of my family members. You will never be disappointed by this mans work. The mix of history and modern times is a smooth one. You move effortlessly from one period of time to another. Do yourself a favor, GET THIS BOOK!
I found no issues here.
I gave this one 5 cheers out of 5 because this author is spectacular! The author provided a copy of the book and I chose to review it.
I enjoyed this time travel book and plan to read the next.
3rd book in the series. I recommend you read them in order. I love all the books in the series. This one was fun but sad.
A little too sweet for my taste. This book proves the point that a good story needs some conflict to move the story along.
I had not read the first books and I was sort of lost with all the characters and I gave up.
What would you do for love?
Indiana Paintbrush by John A. Heldt is a great book. The Carson siblings find themselves in the middle of World War 2 and are trying not to get drafted. That is the challenge from them along with of course finding their parents.
What I like:
• That the girls got to be a lot of the main focus this time. That was new, and I love it a lot.
• Natalie didn’t go in as a reporter anymore and worked with her younger sister Caitlin.
• Caitlin got to have a love interest this time around. That was new, and I liked it a lot, but I do feel bad for her.
• Cody is trying to be helpful even if it doesn’t seem like he is.
• The parents are trying to understand their children and where they would go.
What I don’t like:
I didn’t like that the Carson family can’t seem to stop getting into trouble. Well mostly that Greg can’t. That Natalie can’t seem to catch a break and that poor Caitlin has to deal with heartbreak. Those two deserve so much more than what they got. Well, Caitlin does since if you’ve read the book, you know that another Carson sibling has found their true love. The last thing that I didn’t like is that their parents can’t seem to find their kids. But all of this leaves room for the next book in the series.
Five Star
Indiana Paintbrush by John A. Heldt much like the first two books in the series is another excellent page-turner. I wanted to know more and more even though I don’t really like World War 2. Although, the war seems much different reading about it in a book than learning about it in History class. I do feel bad for some of the characters since they have to go through some heartbreak. I can’t wait to read the next installment in this series. I am giving it a five-star rating and recommending it to anyone that likes a book with history, romance, time travel, and drama.
Anyways until the next time enjoy this review brought to you by,
Baroness Book Trove.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
If you would like to read more reviews like this one, please go to baronessbooktrove.com
INDIAN PAINTBRUSH is the third instalment in John A Heldt’s adult, historical, time-travel series focusing on the Carson siblings-Adam, Natalie, Greg, Cody and Caitlin. INDIAN PAINTBRUSH can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty although I recommend reading the series in order for backstory and cohesion.
Note: Indian Paintbrush, the favorite flower of Caitlin Carson, is a short-lived, wildflower found in forest clearings and grasslands across the Western, and Southwestern United States
Told from several third person points of view INDIAN PAINTBRUSH follows the Carson siblings, a family of time travellers, as they go in search of their missing parents Tim and Caroline Carson. Months earlier, the siblings discovered their parents were missing but an itinerary of places and timelines found the family on a journey of their own. Starting in 2017, the siblings travelled back in time to 1889, 1918, and presently in the tumultuous era of 1943-44. Adam and Greg, having fallen in love, would bring their new significant others along for the ride.
When the Carson siblings entered the portal in 1918, they had no idea what to expect in 1943 Arizona, an era fraught with the uncertainty of war. The 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor resulted in the forced internment of of Japanese-Americans at the Butte Camp in Rivers, Arizona, as America prepared to go to war. Struggling to locate their parents, always one step ahead or behind, Natalie, Cody and Caitlin would each discover love, but not all loves are meant for a happily ever after.
John A Heldt’s pulls the reader into a turbulent past; an era of distrust and anxiety; the unpredictability of war; and the knowledge of what was, and what would never be. Secrets revealed, and threats from the past force the siblings to, once again, run for their lives but along the way, the Carson clan would welcome two new travellers on their voyage of discovery and love.
INDIAN PAINTBRUSH is a complex story line awash in colorful facts, historical fiction, and the possibility of what might have been. A contemporary family caught up in the past, the Carson siblings, know that to interfere in history, could mean a different outcome for everyone concerned. Knowledge is a powerful tool but to reveal what was and what will be places everyone in danger including the people they love. An amazing storyteller, John A Heldt pens a story of survival, loss, history and love.