Carved in Stone by Elizabeth Camden

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1900 – New York

Her gilded world holds a deeply hidden secret. 

After years of tragedy, Gwen Kellerman now lives a quiet life as a botanist at an idyllic New York college. She largely ignores her status as heiress to the infamous Blackstone dynasty and hopes to keep her family’s heartbreak and scandal behind her.

Patrick O’Neill survived a hardscrabble youth to become a lawyer for the downtrodden Irish immigrants in his community. He’s proud of his work, even though he struggles to afford his ramshackle law office. All that changes when he accepts a case that is sure to emphasize the Blackstones’ legacy of greed and corruption by resurrecting a thirty-year-old mystery.

Little does Patrick suspect that the Blackstones will launch their most sympathetic family member to derail him. Gwen is tasked with getting Patrick to drop the case, but the old mystery takes a shocking twist neither of them saw coming. Now, as they navigate a burgeoning attraction and growing danger, Patrick and Gwen will be forced to decide if the risk to the life they’ve always held dear is worth the reward.

Ever Faithful by Karen Barnett

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1933 – Wyoming

A man who can’t read will never amount to anything–or so Nate Webber believes. But he takes a chance to help his family by signing up for the new Civilian Conservation Corps, skirting the truth about certain “requirements.” Nate exchanges the harsh Brooklyn streets for the wilds of Yellowstone National Park, curious if the Eden-like wonderland can transform him as well.

Elsie Brookes was proud to grow up as a ranger’s daughter, but she longs for a future of her own. After four years serving as a maid in the park’s hotels, she still hasn’t saved enough money for her college tuition. A second job, teaching a crowd of rowdy men in the CCC camp, might be the answer, but when Elsie discovers Nate’s secret, it puts his job as camp foreman in jeopardy. Tutoring leads to friendship and romance, until a string of suspicious fires casts a dark shadow over their relationship. Can they find answers before all of their dreams go up in smoke?

The Road to Paradise by Karen Barnett

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The Road to ParadiseThe Road to Paradise

1927 – Washington

An ideal sanctuary and a dream come true–that’s what Margaret Lane feels as she takes in God’s gorgeous handiwork in Mount Rainer National Park. It’s 1927 and the National Park Service is in its youth when Margie, an avid naturalist, lands a coveted position alongside the park rangers living and working in the unrivaled splendor of Mount Rainier’s long shadow.
 
But Chief Ranger Ford Brayden is still haunted by his father’s death on the mountain, and the ranger takes his work managing the park and its crowd of visitors seriously. The job of watching over an idealistic senator’s daughter with few practical survival skills seems a waste of resources.
 
When Margie’s former fiancé sets his mind on developing the Paradise Inn and its surroundings into a tourist playground, the plans might put more than the park’s pristine beauty in danger. What will Margie and Ford sacrifice to preserve the splendor and simplicity of the wilderness they both love?

Virginia Autumn by Sara Mitchell

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1895 – Virginia

The second and final novel in Sara Mitchell’s historical Sinclair Legacy series, Virginia Autumn traces the struggles and spiritual growth of young schoolteacher Leah Sinclair and her widowed father, Jacob.

Spinster schoolteacher Leah lives by intellect and reason, unable to relate to the rich, full-hearted faith of her father and two older sisters (whose stories are told in Book One: Shenandoah Home). Yet her dogged pursuit by devout naturalist Cade Beringer suddenly brings Leah face-to-face with her doubts and fears–and with the possibility that love can bloom where she least expects it.

As Leah falls in love, and with his other daughters married and gone, Jacob faces an uncertain future. He realizes that he is too old for adventure and too young to cease working. But when the terribly scarred concert pianist Fiona Carlton enters his life, he begins to suspect that he is not, and never will be, too old for love.

Linking together two old-fashioned love stories, Mitchell beautifully addresses God’s compassion, reminding readers that the Creator is intimately aware of our hidden places of pain, and that his love for us truly is unrelenting.