I just love this cover in this series! Don’t you? Not only does this book feature the woman always wearing trousers in Eagle Harbor from the first book, but Naomi redeems the bad guy, making him into an excellent hero. Let’s get to the interview.
 Illinois, Michigan , Chicago , 1880s , 1880-1900 (US Turn of Century) , Businessmen, Servants , Socially Unequal Romance, Upstairs/Downstairs , Rawlings-Naomi |
No matter how hard she tries to help, Rebekah Cummings always ends up causing more problems than she solves. This time, though, things will be different. She’ll find a way to pay her family’s debts, even if doing so requires leaving Eagle Harbor. Maybe then they’ll start treating her as a capable woman who makes her own choices. Gilbert Sinclair is going to marry an heiress. With his latest business venture sunk at the bottom of Lake Superior, he needs money to replace the steamship he lost, so he heads to Chicago where his father’s business connections should land him a suitable wife. Like most things in his meticulously planned life, everything goes as expected—until he discovers Rebekah Cummings working as the new cook on his ship. Rebekah well remembers the pain she endured the last time she tried trusting Gilbert, and Gilbert can’t afford to pursue the love of a working class woman. But they can’t stop the forgotten feelings swirling between them—or ignore the sacrifices they’d both have to make for a future together. |
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Others in this Series:
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Questions about Naomi’s Story
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
The chemistry between the hero and heroine. Rebekah and Gilbert both have small roles in Love’s Every Whisper, the preceding book in my Eagle Harbor Series. If you’ve read that book, you know Rebekah Cummings never picks the easy way to do anything. She has a way of creating sparks wherever she goes, whether she wants to or not. In many ways, her confidence and fearlessness is ahead the period in which she lives, and she was a really fun character to write because of it. Also, she provides an excellent contrast to Victoria, the heroine from Love’s Every Whisper, who struggles with her confidence and self-esteem.
What was the hardest part of your book to write?
The part near the end where everything blew up. I thought I knew what I wanted to do and that it would work out well, but when my critique partner read it, she came away saying “Everything is wrong and I don’t believe any of this.” So I rewrote, and rewrote, and rewrote more. The rewrite turned out much better than what I originally had, so I’m pleased, and I think readers will be too.
What research did you have to look up to make your character’s professional decisions authentic?
Cranes, believe it or not. Gilbert Sinclair is supposed to be a businessman, but his love of engineering keeps getting in the way of the business plans his father has for him. Gilbert spends most of the novel trying to go around his father and find a way to put into production a shipping crane that he invented. So I had to do enough research on cranes to make it seem like Gilbert knows what he’s talking about.
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Questions about Naomi’s Reading
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What other Christian Historical Novels are similar to yours in setting or storyline? That’s a good question. Jody Hedlund is probably very similar to me, both in setting and storyline. She’s written several books set in Michigan, and her newest novel Undaunted Hope, is actually set in the same historical Michigan town on Lake Superior as my Eagle Harbor Series. The one difference between us is Jody puts villains in her novels who usually cause trouble for evil reasons and purposely try to hurt others in her stories. I usually don’t have purely bad villains in my novels. I lean more towards having characters want two different things and so they end up fighting, but the characters themselves often aren’t all bad. For example Gilbert Sinclair is the antagonist to Rebekah’s brother, Elijah Cummings, in Love’s Every Whisper. But Gilbert is the type of character that could then go on to have his own story because his actions and motives were understandable, even if they set him against the hero of the previous novel. But if readers like Jody Hedlund’s novels, then it’s pretty safe to say they’d like mine too. |
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Which was the last Christian Historical Novel you read, and what was your favorite thing about it? Fire and Ice by Mary Conneally. It’s been a while since I read a Mary Conneally novel. She has a certain trademark with and hilarity to her novels, and so reading Fire and Ice was like a breath of fresh air, simply because her writing is so different. I laughed the whole way through that novel. |
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What Christian Historical Novel are you most excited to read that hasn’t yet come out? Well, I’ll claim author privilege, so even though not all the novels have released yet, I’ve read them all since I know the author. But Roseanna White’s Ladies of the Manor Series is excellent. The Lost Heiress is out now, and The Reluctant Duchess is coming out next, and both are great books. The series has a bit of suspense that runs the whole way through, so while each novel is a separate romance, trouble follows the characters through all three books. |
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What was the last Christian Historical Novel whose characters stayed in your head days after you finished reading it? With Every Breath by Elizabeth Camden. Honestly the hero wasn’t a super likable, swoon-worthy hero. But his dedication to fight tuberculosis and the sacrifices he was willing to make stayed with me for a long time. |
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Naomi is giving away a copy of her book and I’m giving away winner’s choice of ebook of any of the books mentioned above. Enter the Rafflecopter below!