This is the last book in "The Ribbons of Steel" series.

In the earlier books, Carolina Adams lived in Oakbridge, her family's plantation. James Baldwin had been hired as her tutor and eventually became engaged to her sister, Virginia, but his love for Carolina caused him to break the engagement & take a job with the Baltimore & Ohio railroad. Years later he he found that she had married Blake St John & was suspicious that his father, Leland Baldwin, was a swindler. Blake was killed, and Carolina traveled to Oakbridge, meeting James on the train. Not long after they married.

This story starts out with a visit to James Baldwin by his father, Leland, at the St. John house. Leland felt that since he had stopped swindling people he didn't need to reimburse those he had swindled. James was watching for Carolina to arrive home. His mother, Edith, had passed away a few weeks ago. She had inherited her family plantation, but Leland couldn't manage it properly & they had sold it. James was concerned that his father could go to prison for his swindling, but his father felt the situation was Carolina's fault since she had brought it to James' attention. When Leland became unable to breath James had Mrs. Graves send for the doctor.

James & Carolina were together when the doctor came to tell them that his father had had a heart attack. The doctor didn't think he would recover, but might linger for a few months if he had a will to live. The doctor had told his patient that he only had a short time to live. Carolina noted that James tended to blame himself for his father's bad choices, and James felt that he hadn't listened to his father enough to realize how badly off things were. James hadn't cause these things to happen, but James insisted on blaming himself. His father was dying & he would have to stay with them. James couldn't understand Carolina's cruelty & left the house.

Carolina was ashamed that she insinuated that her father-in-law deserved his affliction. She was very angry with him for what he had done & didn't want to spend her time caring for him. Mrs. Graves gave Carolina the advice she expected she would have gotten from her own mother if she hadn't been confined to a mental institution. Mrs. Graves offered to sit with him while Carolina thought things out. ( )

This is the third and final story in this series and the authors ended it well, with a hint of more to come (which you will find in the "Ribbons West" series). This is a historical fiction taking place in the mid 1800s. This story takes place when the railroads were being built and a lot of this story is based upon what is happening with the railroad progression.

Any story that makes you laugh, cry, get angry, or causes any other emotion while reading it, makes you feel like the author did their job. In this story I felt a lot of anger at certain individuals and wanted to hug and encourage others.

Carolina and James Baldwin are now married and starting their family. But Carolina is determined to keep them together as a family, so she convinces James to pack up their family and follow him to a rural town in the Allegheny Mountains while James works on the Kingwood Tunnel for the B&O Railroad. There you will experience the highs and lows of the family as their family grows, love blossoms and Carolina and James come to understand one another even more. Carolina will have to go back home to where she grew up, to Oakbridge Plantation, and face some challenges there with her loved ones. It is a time of unrest and a time of growth and through it all there is always a "Promise for Tomorrow". A series I am glad I took the time to read as they were full of history, but also of love and real struggles that people would have to face in that day and age. I will look forward to following this family in the next series of books, called "The Ribbon West" series. ( )

I kept picking this book up and putting it down, picking it up and putting it down. For weeks, actually. At one point I even skimmed it, reading pages at a time, from start to finish, trying to find something to pull me in, but it actually had the opposite effect. I realized so much time had passed in between the last book and this book. Obviously the author felt that the story had been well enough resolved as well, and had moved forward to find a new plot. But I just wasn't into it anymore. And I really didn't want to hear anything more about railroads.

Third book in the Ribbons of Steel historical fiction series highlighting both the expansion of railroads to the near west in the early 1800s and the developing issues surrounding slavery in the south. The Adams family, protagonists in the story, are plantation owners, and middle daughter Carolina is the main character highlighted throughout the three book series. I'm rating the series as a whole because it is difficult to read the first book without wanting to find out what happens to Carolina and her siblings and parents. As with other series by these two authors there are definite villains in this series who are either redeemed or receive their comeuppance before the series ends. I enjoyed it, but one must like historical fiction in order to truly like these books. ( )

Challenges await Carolina and her young family as she steps out of her comfort zone again in book 3 of the Ribbons of Steel series. As with the first 2 books, the authors delve deep into the character's psyche and fill the book with historical detail. While spirituality is a theme throughout the books, it is not gratuitous and continues to allow us to see what motivates and provides us with a deeper understanding of what drives their choices. ( )