Book Shelf – Spies of the Civil War Series
Gold Illumination Award for Romance Fiction: Byway to Danger, Book 3 in Spies of the Civil War
Silver Illumination Award for Romance Fiction: River of Peril, Book 5 in Spies of the Civil War
Avenue of Betrayal, Book 1 of “Spies of the Civil War” series, released February 8, 2022. It’s available at the following retailers:
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books
Here’s a bit about the book:
Betrayed by her brother and the man she loves … whom can she trust when tragedy strikes?
Soldiers pour into Washington City every day and begin drilling in preparation for a battle with the Confederacy. Annie Swanson worries for her brother, Will, whom she’s just discovered is a Confederate officer in his new home state of North Carolina. Hiram, her wealthy banker father, swears her and her sister to secrecy even as Annie battles feelings of betrayal by her adored big brother. How could he forsake their mother’s abolitionist teachings?
Sergeant Major John Finn camps within a mile of the Swanson’s mansion where his West Point pal once lived. Sweet Annie captured his heart at Will’s wedding last year and he looks forward to reestablishing their relationship—until he’s asked to spy on her father.
To prove her father’s loyalty to the Union, John agrees to spy on them though Annie must never know. Then the war strikes a blow that threatens to destroy them all.
Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble
Here’s a bit about the book:
In times of war, is anything as it seems?
Her aunt’s invitation to Richmond is just the change Beatrice Swanson needs after her brother’s release from a Union prison. Bea’s father agrees to the trip with a condition—one that tosses her emotions into swirling confusion.
Though Jay Nickson wants to serve his country as a Confederate soldier, his work is too important to the government. Bea’s interest in his job, which includes secrets that would benefit the Union, arouses his suspicions. Is she spying for the North? His growing feelings for her are hard to squelch.
Though she participates in activities to benefit Confederate soldiers, Bea struggles with her own loyalties and her father’s demands. Where does her cousin, Meg, go on her solitary errands? Bea’s own growing love for Jay, a Southerner, only adds to her confusion. Tensions escalate in Richmond as the Union army approaches, drawing her into more secrecy. Where does her allegiance lie? And how will she be forced to prove it?
Nothing in war is simple…especially when the heart becomes entangled.
Byway to Danger, Book 3 of “Spies of the Civil War” series, released July 19, 2022. It’s available at the following retailers:
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, Books 2 Read
Here’s a bit about the book:
Everyone in Richmond has secrets. Especially the spies.
Meg Brooks, widow, didn’t stop spying for the Union when her job at the Pinkerton National Detective Agency ended, especially now that she lives in the Confederate capital. Her job at the Yancey bakery provides many opportunities to discover vital information about the Confederacy to pass on to her Union contact. She prefers to work alone, yet the strong, silent baker earns her respect and tugs at her heart.
Cade Yancey knows the beautiful widow is a spy when he hires her only because his fellow Unionist spies know of her activities. Meg sure didn’t tell him. He’s glad she knows how to keep her mouth shut, for he has hidden his dangerous activities from even his closest friends. The more his feelings for the courageous woman grow, the greater his determination to protect her by guarding his secrets. Her own investigations place her in enough peril.
As danger escalates, Meg realizes her choice to work alone isn’t a wise one. Can she trust Cade with details from her past not even her family knows?
Released March 26, 2024! Available on Amazon
In a world turned upside down by war and betrayal…will his role as a spy bring them closer…or tear their future apart?
The war that Julia Dodd prayed to avoid is now reality, and with it, her world has been turned on its head. Her fellow citizens, who stood with her in their support of the union, have crossed firmly to the side of the south. And her mother, lost in her grief over the loss of her husband and children, can think of nothing but protecting Julia’s brother’s inheritance. She insists that her daughter seek a wealthier husband than Ashburn Mitchell.
Ash knows what his fellow citizens think of him when he refuses to fight for the Confederacy. Shouldering the accusation of being a coward and refusing to hide behind his limp, Ash remains in Vicksburg to support his family as a saddler while his two best friends join the fight. Struggling to increase his business so he can marry the woman he loves, Ash becomes a spy in support of the Union. He can’t fight for the South but won’t raise a musket against them.
As tragedy instigates Ash to risk greater danger to speed the end of the war, Julia can only pray it won’t cost them everything. She’s already lost her father and two siblings. Must she lose the man she loves too?
Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, and Books2Read.
Released October 15, 2024! Available on Amazon!
Amnesia stole his memory, and now he’s fighting for the wrong side.
Orphaned and alone at sixteen, Felicity has found solace in serving others as a volunteer nurse. When she discovers her Confederate soldier beau, Luke Shea, among the wounded in her ward, her worst nightmares come true. Luke’s shrapnel wound has stolen his memory, leaving him with no recollection of their love or his past. As Felicity struggles with the loss of the man she once knew, she turns her attention to the service of her broken country. But the more she learns about the brutal war, the more she realizes she can no longer stay silent. She becomes a Union spy, plunging herself into danger.
When Luke Shea awakes in a hospital with no memory of the last five years, he’s shocked to learn he’s been fighting against the Union he once so strongly supported. And when he learns of his past courtship with his nurse, Felicity, he struggles to understand the man he was and what happened in those missing years. Determined to atone for his Confederate past, Luke also joins the Union cause as a spy.
As danger lurks at every turn, only a Divine hand can not only protect their lives, but give them a second chance for love and the future they both crave.
Buy links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, and Books2Read.
Released on February 11, 2025! Available on Amazon.
A Southern belle fights to reclaim her home, but will her spying destroy the Union officer she never meant to love?
Savannah Adair has endured the unimaginable, hiding in a cave while her beloved Vicksburg was under siege. With the city now occupied by Union soldiers, Savannah cannot stand by and do nothing. So when one of the gaunt, half-starved Confederate prisoners asks her to spy for the South, she can’t refuse the chance to take back her home.
First Lieutenant Travis Lawson takes pride in the Union army’s hard-fought victory, but he quickly realizes that the challenges of rebuilding and reconciliation are just beginning . . . and not everyone is appreciative of changes he’s making. Namely, the fiery and alluring Savannah Adair. Despite their differing loyalties and the societal divide between them, Travis cannot deny the growing feelings he has for her. When he is tasked with finding Southern spies in Vicksburg and he captures a female spy, Travis is forced to consider that the woman he’s beginning to love may be the enemy.
Buy links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, and Books2Read.
Sandra Merville Hart 