Book Summary (Goodreads): Five years after the final shot was fired in the War Between the States, Selah Daughtry can barely manage to keep herself, her two younger sisters, and their spinster cousin fed and clothed. With their family's Mississippi plantation swamped by debt and the Big House falling down around them, the only option seems to be giving up their ancestral land.
Pinkerton agent and former Union cavalryman Levi Riggins is investigating a series of robberies and sabotage linked to the impoverished Daughtry plantation. Posing as a hotel management agent for the railroad, he tells Selah he'll help her save her home, but only if it is converted into a hotel. With Selah otherwise engaged with renovations, Levi moves onto the property to "supervise" while he actually attends to his real assignment right under her nose.
Selah isn't sure she entirely trusts the handsome Yankee, but she'd do almost anything to save her home. What she never expected to encounter was his assault on her heart.
My thoughts...The opening scene in this historical Christian fiction novel was an explosion of pulse-raising excitement, filled with anticipation of what was going to happen in the lives of Selah and her family. The next scene skipped forward in time, but was equally as thrilling, featuring a disastrous train wreck. Both of these scenes were important to the plot and set up the novel really well, but seemed like the pace slowed down quite a bit after that. The bulk of the story did have some intrigue and romantic tension sprinkled through it, but the pace didn't match the beginning of the novel until close to the end. The hero and heroine were likable characters, and the villain was well-written.
I'm a little unsure how I feel about this novel! I was drawn in at the beginning, but found it hard to stay fully engaged 'til the end. I was a little distracted by some of the vocabulary (ex. exigencies, palanquin, dudgeon, and posit to name a few) and one of the characters that is a regular 14 year old kid most of the novel goes into a highly scientific explanation of something, and after that seemed like your average kid again. These were mostly just distractions, but it was noticeable enough to slow the pace down for me. I love complexity, and even challenging vocabulary, but consistency is important as well. I'm leaning towards 3.5 stars.
Personal takeaway...Your circumstances in life may take some difficult turns, but God can bring beauty from the ashes.
**I was given a free copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley in order to share my honest opinions, which I did.**
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