Winter’s Ravage by Elaine Marie Cooper

No Comments on Winter’s Ravage by Elaine Marie Cooper

Winter's RavageGoodreads ~ B&N ~ Amazon

1779 – New Jersey

During the savage winter of 1779-1780, General George Washington chose Jockey Hollow, near Morristown, New Jersey, to winter down the troops. When they arrived in December, snow already covered the landscape. The men were forced to build log-hut shelters while battling the elements. Food was scarce, and, at times, non-existent. Although Washington begged Congress for help to feed and clothe his men, his pleas went unheeded.

Zadok Wooding’s brother-in-law, Corporal Levi Parlee, wrote home to tell of the Army’s plight, prompting Zadok and a friend from Hartford to begin a long, freezing journey to bring the troops much-needed food and blankets.

Along the way, dangers are encountered, including a kidnapping plot against General Washington. Zadok and his party are stranded for weeks in the snow-covered land.

Meanwhile, two pregnant wives and Zadok’s mother are at home in New Haven. The women face their own dangers, and Aurinda Wooding wonders if the fledgling country is strong enough to win the war against Mother England. Will all be lost in this terrible winter?

Songs in the Storm by Kathy Geary Anderson

No Comments on Songs in the Storm by Kathy Geary Anderson

songsinthestormGoodreads ~ Purchase ~ Sample

1900 – New Jersey/Wyoming

The blood on the handkerchief changed everything.

The year 1900 promises to be a good one for Rob and Maddie Skivington. Recently married, they look forward to building a home near family and friends in the busy industrial city of Newark where Rob owns a fledgling jewelry business. Then, an irritating cough that has plagued Rob for months turns out to be something far more insidious: tuberculosis.

When Rob’s doctor suggests a change in environment and climate, they sell their business and head to Wyoming in a desperate quest for health. They soon find themselves pitted not only against the harsh environment and natural predators, but also against a group of ranchers who seem determined to send them back to Newark.

But sometimes the strongest storms of all are those that rage within. When despair and loneliness and tragedy strike, the couple must turn to God to help them weather those onslaughts or risk being torn apart.

The Trouble with Jenny by Kathy Geary Anderson

No Comments on The Trouble with Jenny by Kathy Geary Anderson

troublewithjennyGoodreads ~ Purchase ~ Sample

1900 – New Jersey/Wyoming

She’s always getting into trouble. He’s always getting hurt.

At the turn of the 20th century, New York socialite Jenny Westraven is in trouble . . . again. An orphaned heiress from a large banking family, she’s expected to follow the rules of society and marry according to her wealth and status. But Jenny craves adventure and anything BUT the ordinary. So, when her guardian aunt and uncle return from a European vacation to find Jenny working as a typewriter girl in a Newark law office, they are appalled. Worse yet, they interrupt a kiss between her and her young boss Mr. “Ben” Bennett.

Jenny has been getting Ben in trouble since he was ten, so he’s secretly relieved when her guardians reject him as a suitor. He has other plans for his life, and they don’t include his troublesome childhood friend. When Jenny uses outrageous methods to reject the suitors her family does approve for her, her aunt and uncle decide to send her to her brother in Wyoming.

Then, a family tragedy takes Ben out west as well, and his path crosses with Jenny’s once again. As they work together to end an injustice, what was merely an attraction between them develops into something more. Unfortunately, Jenny’s involvement with another man comes between them and puts her in the worst trouble of her life.

Now Ben must decide whether to risk his heart to rescue her once again or cut his losses and let her go.

Faithful in Love by Cecily K. Wolfe

No Comments on Faithful in Love by Cecily K. Wolfe

Goodreads ~ Purchase – Sample

1914 – Rhode Island

Faith’s charmed life is complicated by her romantic feelings for her uncle’s apprentice, but will her family’s interference and criminal accusations keep her and Nico apart, perhaps forever?

Blessed from the moment of her birth, Faith Davenport is adored by everyone and has led a life guided by her charitable, Christian parents. At ease with her family’s expectations and her own strength of belief, she finds creative joy in exploring her Uncle Will’s architecture business.

Nico d’Amici is thrilled with the opportunity to apprentice to Will Travers, well-known for his practical and unique architectural designs, but discovers a deeper emotion when a friendship with Travers’s kind, beautiful, and intelligent niece intensifies. Faith’s best friend, her cousin Thomas, intervenes, but his efforts to keep them apart are nothing compared to accusations of theft that threaten not only the friendship between the three of them but Nico’s very freedom.

Can Faith live up to her name as an example of trusting in God’s strength as she fights what may be a losing battle to save the man she loves from prison?

Refiner’s Fire by J. M. Hochstetler

No Comments on Refiner’s Fire by J. M. Hochstetler

refinersfireGoodreads ~ Purchase ~ Sample

1778 – New Jersey/France

With Americas’ fierce fight for independence hanging in the balance, Elizabeth Howard and Jonathan Carleton are driven thousands of miles and a vast ocean apart. While the Continental Army endures a desperate winter at Valley Forge, French Admiral le comte de Caledonne secretly sweeps Elizabeth away to France out of reach of British assassins. Meanwhile General Jonathan Carleton, the Shawnee war chief White Eagle, returns to his people as General George Washington’s emissary, doubting that he will ever return to the white world. But as the war between America and Britain shifts into the fragile republic’s heartland at Monmouth Court House, sinister schemes draw Jonathan and Elizabeth into their own separate maelstroms. Will the Refiner’s Fire tear them from each other’s arms forever?

From the flames of war exploding across land and sea to the dangerous intrigues of the French court and the Shawnee’s bitter resistance to the Long Knives, Refiner’s Fire continues the breathtaking saga of America’s founding in a gripping story of heartbreak, redemption, and the unyielding constancy of love.

The Song of Hearts Set Free by Darlene Panzera

No Comments on The Song of Hearts Set Free by Darlene Panzera

The Song of Hearts Set FreeGoodreads ~ Amazon

1851 – New Jersey

In 1850, Jersey City residents could be jailed for helping runaway slaves escape north…
 
Yet when a southern fugitive saves the life of Annie Morrison’s brother, Will, they feel they should return the favor and hide the man on their family’s rural homestead. Annie’s abolitionist friend, Louisa, encourages her to continue to help those traveling the ‘Underground Railroad,’ but Annie is fearful of the danger…until she meets Isaiah Hawkins.
 
Isaiah is a ‘watcher’ who works on the ferry boats looking for those who might steal the captain’s cargo. Little does the captain know, Isaiah is secretly transporting ‘cargo’ of his own. Except Annie derails his plans when she takes in the fugitive he was meant to escort, and Isaiah must convince her to work with him to get the Underground Railroad back on track.
As Annie helps Isaiah ship fugitives across the Hudson River to New York, her attraction toward the handsome young man grows. But when she sees him aid notorious slave catcher, Simon Cole, the horrid man threatening her family, past fears of betrayal rise to haunt her and she must question—is Isaiah really friend or foe?

 

The Counterfeit Clue by Lisa Karon Richardson

No Comments on The Counterfeit Clue by Lisa Karon Richardson

Goodreads ~ Purchase ~ Sample

1950s – New Jersey

Inspired by the famous Girl Detective, the members of the Olentangy Heights Girls’ Detective Society, affectionately known as the Nosy Parkers, spent their formative years studying criminology, codes, and capers. Unfortunately, opportunities to put their unique skills to work were thin on the ground in the post-war boom of their little corner of suburbia and they eventually grew up to pursue more sensible careers. Until…

Gemma Gaines gave up mystery solving years ago, but when friend is killed in a hit-and-run, all the instincts honed by years in the Olentangy Heights Girls’ Detective Society tell her this may not have been an accident. Then she finds that her friend slipped some cryptic notes into her handbag and she’s convinced murder has been done.

With the doggedness of the great Girl Detective herself, Gemma follows up on the clues. Real-life mystery solving isn’t as tidy as it is in novels though, and before she knows it, her roommate has been kidnapped and it’s all her fault. With the help of a handsome new neighbor – who may be more than he seems – she is soon on the trail of a counterfeiting ring that would like nothing more than to see her put out of circulation for good.

Patriot’s Heart by Penelope Marzec

No Comments on Patriot’s Heart by Penelope Marzec

519ycWnL+1LGoodreads ~ Purchase ~ Sample

1778 – New Jersey

She’ll risk everything to save him…

Agnes, a blacksmith, runs the forge while her father fights in the Continental Army. The morning after the Battle of Monmouth, she discovers a wounded British soldier in her barn. Despite the risk, she vows to heal him as she believes a good Samaritan should. Edwin, third son of the Duke of Dalfour, was supposed to become a barrister. He opted to run away and join the army. Shot on a mission to deliver the general’s message, he wakes in Agnes’s barn unaware of how he got there and missing his horse. If he is caught, he could be hung, but Loyalists are also searching for British deserters. If anyone discovers he is the son of the Duke, he is doomed. Agnes tells everyone Edwin is her mother’s cousin, but she soon finds herself falling in love with him. When Loyalists kidnap her sister, Edwin vows to bring the child back from the British held camp. Can Agnes trust him? Or is he using her sister as an excuse to return to his company? Will Agnes ever see her sister again? And will Edwin break her heart?

Love’s First Bloom by Delia Parr

No Comments on Love’s First Bloom by Delia Parr

Love’s First Bloomlovesfirstbloom

1838 – New Jersey

Ruth Livingstone’s life changes drastically the day her father puts a young child in her arms and sends her to a small village in New Jersey under an assumed name. There Ruth pretends to be a widow and quietly secludes herself until her father is acquitted of a crime. But with the emergence of the penny press, the imagination of the reading public is stirred, and her father’s trial stands center stage. Asher Tripp is the brash newspaperman who determines that this case is the event he can use to redeem himself as a journalist.

Ruth finds solace tending a garden along the banks of the Toms River–a place where she can find a measure of peace in the midst of the sorrow that continues to build. It is also here that Asher Tripp finds a temporary residence, all in an attempt to discover if the lovely creature known as Widow Malloy is truly Ruth Livingstone, the woman every newspaper has been looking for. Love begins to slowly bloom…but is the affection they share strong enough to withstand the secrets that separate them?

The Glassblower by Laurie Alice Eakes

No Comments on The Glassblower by Laurie Alice Eakes

The Glassblowertheglassblower

1809 – New Jersey

Now that Colin Grassick, a master glassblower from Scotland, has arrived to help at the Jordan glassworks, Meg Jordan s dreams of teaching the poor, local children are coming true. Finally, someone will have time to make windows for the rural New Jersey schoolhouse, to keep out the cold and vandals. To Joseph Pyle, the wealthy, arrogant man to whom Meg will soon be betrothed, the destruction of Meg s new windows is inconsequential as his wife, she will be forbidden from teaching. Why would Meg s father insist she marry a man like Joseph and stay away from the endearing Colin?

The Heiress by Laurie Alice Eakes

No Comments on The Heiress by Laurie Alice Eakes

The Heiresstheheiress

1858 – New Jersey

Susan Morris has a large inheritance, yet all but a small allowance is held in trust until she marries. What good works can she do if her future husband has other plans for her money? Daire Grassick arrives at his father’s bedside to learn that the heirloom he reluctantly sold for fare home is more valuable than he imagined – and its loss could mean the ruin of the family business. By the time Daire finds Susan to buy it back, the heirloom is missing. Will they find it before its secret is discovered? Or will God lead them to something of far greater value?