Aaron Long’s goal is to drive his freight wagon through Montana Territory before the first big snow of the season. He happens upon a terrible accident that left another freight driver dead and a pregnant widow too close to delivering her child for comfort. A two-week trip will get her to the nearest doctor. His newly-found faith will not allow him to leave her on the side of the road to wait for the next wagon, as Mrs. Barlowe suggests. Several days might pass before that happened.
Katie Barlowe figures she has another month before her baby is born. Her husband was buried on the ranch they’d tried to start. All she wants is to get to a doctor and then head back to Pennsylvania to raise her child alone. Should she trust Aaron to get her there? The handsome driver who walked with a limp seemed trustworthy enough, yet Katie has learned that few men deserved her trust.
The author whirled me right into the story from the first page. The pair face one challenge after another. Each difficulty threatens their journey.
Surprising twists kept me turning pages. This is the first book in the series that I’ve read. The author did a great job summarizing earlier important events that affected this story and then plunging back into the action.
Well-written romance. This is not the first book I’ve read by this author, and it won’t be the last.
Recommended for readers of inspirational historical romances.
Learning that citizens of Vicksburg, Mississippi, didn’t celebrate our country’s Independence Day for about a century prompted me to dig into the city’s history during the Civil War.
What I discovered so touched me that I had to write about it—and it required three books to tell the story. The main characters are fictional…the historical backdrop is real.
Vicksburg’s strategic location on bluffs along the mighty Mississippi River during the war was often a topic among leaders of both sides. Confederate President Jefferson Davis sent troops early in the war to protect the city and keep Union ships from passing on the river. More troops were sent as the focus on Vicksburg increased from the Union army.
President Abraham Lincoln felt that “Vicksburg is the key” to winning the war. Union General Ulysses S. Grant was determined to capture the city.
The defeat only whetted Grant’s desire to take Vicksburg by force. The following year, Union ships once again attacked the town for weeks from the Mississippi River—this time while the Union army battled the Confederate army surrounding Vicksburg.
The surprising discoveries found while digging into Vicksburg’s history inspired books four, five, and six in my Spies of the Civil War Series.
Streams of Courage, Book 4, begins before the war starts in early 1861 and goes to the fall of 1862.
River of Peril, Book 5, tells the story of Felicity and Luke. It begins in December of 1862.
Tides of Healing, the sixth and final book, tells the story of Vicksburg resident Savannah Adair and Union First Lieutenant Travis Lawson, who was among those who march into the city to seize control on July 4, 1863. Their first meeting begins with fireworks—and not the kind typically associated with an Independence Day celebration.
Beginning in 1861, three fictional heroine friends living in Vicksburg, Mississippi, at the start of the Civil War are each affected in different ways by the events of the Civil War as their city becomes a target for the Union Army.
Streams of Courage, Book 4, Julia and Ash fall in love against her mother’s wishes. Townspeople accuse Ash of cowardice because he doesn’t become a soldier in the Confederate army. He begins spying for the North in his Mississippi city, a dangerous undertaking that puts his family and Julia’s family at risk. The story starts before the first battle in early 1861 and goes to the fall of 1862.
River of Peril, Book 5, tells the story of Felicity and Luke. They started courting before the war began. She volunteers as a nurse to distract her worry for her soldier—then her worst nightmare happens. Luke has been wounded in battle. Worse, he doesn’t remember her…or why he was fighting for the Confederacy when his loyalty is with the North. It begins in December of 1862.
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.
Georgiana Walton has been raised by her father to ride with wagon trains. Her mother died during childbirth. George longs to wear dresses. She wants a permanent home, but marriage and a family of her own are only dreams.
Dr. Elijah Mitchell has a job waiting for him in Santa Fe, where he plans to give his mother a fresh start after his father’s death. Although the prickly George captures his attention, there can be no future for them. Something besides the job is pulling him toward Santa Fe.
I quickly began to care about the heroine’s difficulties. Her character was believable and unique in the story. I loved how the author introduced not only the main characters but also a new community. I’m interested in seeing what happens in the series.
This was an easy, quick read that I enjoyed. I will look for the first book in the series.
Part of The Great Lakes Lighthouse Brides Collection
Mallory has no memories of her past. The ship she’d been aboard, the Mallory, sank, and she was the sole survivor. Cal Waterson had saved her and brought her to his lighthouse to recuperate. Lily, his sweet daughter, and Cal’s Aunt Ada tend her head wound. But Mallory wonders who she is and what her life had been like.
Although Cal has grown accustomed to loneliness since losing his wife in childbirth, he can’t deny being drawn to Mallory. Lily wants her for a mother, yet Cal tries to deny his heart while waiting to learn her identity.
I was drawn into the story from the first page. Lovable characters—including a sweet little girl who is desperate for a mother—tugged at my heart. I loved that Mallory’s artistic talent brought glimpses of her old life.
I couldn’t put the story down.
This historical novella is a sweet, nostalgic story. I will look for more stories by this author.
Dr. Dinah Wyatt accompanies her pregnant twin sister Naomi to the Montana Territory. Naomi was responding to a mail-order bride advertisement from Jericho Coulter. Once her sister is settled, Dinah plans to open a clinic in one of the few towns nearby, regardless of its reputation for wild behavior among the men. They’d hardly bother a female doctor determined to treat their illnesses, right?
Jericho Coulter doesn’t trust the sisters—or any strangers, for that matter. He didn’t advertise for a bride. What did they really want? His brother’s accident requires a doctor’s care. Begrudgingly, he allows them to stay a few days. He must protect his siblings…and the hidden treasure.
I fell in love with both families and they drew me into the story. The lovable main characters possess believable, relatable flaws. This story had many surprising twists that kept me turning pages from the beginning.
I’m already hooked on this series! I can’t wait to read the next book.
Recommended for readers of inspirational historical romances.
Spying for Love: Five Espionage Historical Romance Novels, released on September 16, 2025.
Sandra’s novel in the collection: Byway to Danger
Love blooms in the shadows of history’s most pivotal moments as five extraordinary couples risk everything for duty, honor, and love.
Spark of the Revolution by Megan Soja
Patience Abbott has long felt unsettled and anxious to leave behind her painful memories in England for a fresh start in America. As tension grows in her new home of Boston, so does the distance between Patience and her estranged father. So when Josiah Wagner walks into her life, it finally feels like she’s not alone. His patriotic leanings put him at odds with her father’s loyalties.
Josiah Wagner yearns for a true home and family, something he works toward forging tools as a blacksmith, and forging plans with the Sons of Liberty. With the destruction of tea in Boston Harbor, Josiah finds himself drawn into its tumultuous wake, pulling the woman he loves along with him.
A Conflicted Betrothal by Denise Weimer
As a King’s Ranger, Ansel Anderson loves his independent life. He’s also a second son, which means he’ll need the favor of someone influential to secure a land grant to settle his future. What better way to win support than by marrying the daughter of a member of the Governor’s Council?
When Savannah erupts into riots and intrigue following the passage of the Stamp Act, Ansel is tasked with identifying a spy passing sensitive information to the Liberty Boys and the author of anonymous letters threatening those loyal to the governor. And as suspicions focus on the Scott family, which is he prepared to sacrifice—love or loyalty?
Petticoat Spy by Elva Cobb Martin
When Anna Grace Laurens’s parents are murdered and plantation burned, she seizes her only option for escape—a desperate leap into the Cooper River. She’ll do anything to survive…and get revenge.
John Cooper Vargas is used to danger as he sails his sloop upriver through war-torn colonies, but seeing a woman plunge into the river amidst Tory gunfire is something he wouldn’t have thought possible. Until now.
Rescuing her draws him into a web of intrigue, but he can’t let her fight the British on her own. As the American Revolution closes in around them, it may take a miracle for them—and their love—to survive.
The Sword and the Secret by Jan Davis Warren
Lord John Stanton is the last male heir of his royal lineage. He has the responsibility to marry and carry on the family name, but a secret vow to God could change his future from royal heir to humble servant of the church. His journey to the monastery to become a monk is interrupted when he meets a dangerous, but beautiful, woman who has secrets of her own.
Raised as property of the Crown, Julianna Westerfield longs to be free to pursue love and have a family of her own. Trained to be a spy and assassin, she has a chance to earn her freedom by completing a mission to uncover a murderous plot and the identities of the Black Guard. Now the assassins are after her. To survive she must depend on a handsome monk and his cantankerous donkey.
Byway to Danger by Sandra Merville Hart
Meg Brooks 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 to pass on to her Union contact.
Cade Yancey knows the beautiful widow is a spy when he hires her, and he has secrets of his own. 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.
Five complete novels in one collection, each a sweeping tale of intrigue, faith, and romance set against the backdrop of America’s most defining conflicts.
Lucinda Gillespie’s father has kept her confined since her mother’s death eleven years before. He’s ashamed of her illness, which keeps her in constant pain. Her mother was the one who’d ever loved her. Her embittered, cruel father blames Lucinda for his wife’s death. She has lived with shame and abuse from the age of seven and sees no end in sight.
William Cole, a lonely hunter, carries his own guilt. Yet when he learns that Lucinda’s father plans to gamble her away on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, he can’t leave her fate in the hands of the drunken victor. He searches for her and tells her of her father’s plans.
She hasn’t left the cabin in over ten years but she must trust God and this stranger who hides his face from her. Their dangerous journey west to Kentucky also fills her with wonder and a sense of freedom she’s never known.
Both main characters struggle with a sense of self-worth. Lucinda clings to the Christian faith her mother had instilled in her. William searches for his faith that a heart-wrenching loss stole from him.
This story tugged at my heart. I was quickly pulled into their plight. It was a page-turner for me.
1753—When Rose sets out on a wagon train with her parents and sister, she has no idea how much the journey will change her life. The trail is fraught with danger yet Daniel, the half-Cherokee wagon scout, makes her feel protected.
Rose’s beauty and courage draws Daniel’s attention like no other, even Rebecca, his childhood friend whom it was generally expected to marry someday, though he’d never proposed. Surprisingly, his dog also befriends Rose. Unfortunately, Daniel knows someone like Rose will never reciprocate his feelings.
This story was a page-turner for me. The protective hero is also vulnerable. The compassionate heroine has many instances to call upon her own courage. Lovable, believable characters drew me into the story from the beginning. Violence is realistic to the era.
Unexpected twists kept me turning pages. I’m so glad this is a series because I can’t wait to read the next book.
Emmet O’Connor loves his job as construction engineer on the beautiful castle and inspects every stone that’s laid, every nail that’s pounded to insure its precise placement. He falls in love with Madison and dreams that their friendship will blossom into much more—until tragedy strikes.
Both Madison and Emmet try to clear the web of lies entangling everyone but the danger escalates.
I loved this well-written, poignant story! Loyalty, scars from the past, grief, danger, jealousy, and courage are challenges faced by lovable, believable characters.
I was transported back to another era to small islands in the St. Lawrence River. Heroic characters tugged at my heart and drew me into the story. The beautiful settings tempt me to explore the islands for myself.
A page-turner from beginning to end, I highly recommend this delightful read for lovers of historical romances!
Green County, Kentucky, 1782—Keturah Elliot has just buried her father. With the deaths of her mother and brother a couple of years before, for which her father had blamed her, she is now alone in the world. It’s up to her to save the homestead that she and her father had worked so hard to build. Yet she can’t do it alone.
Daniel Scott, left behind by a group traveling westward, meets the beautiful woman in need of a husband. He’s astounded that she’d consider him. His only father had rejected him. He longs for a wife and family who will love him.
I enjoyed this short novel that portrays the struggles of early pioneers. Endearing characters face a loss that threatens their growing love for one another. The story is also a journey of faith.
The story unfolded in a natural way that was enjoyable to read.
I will look for other books by this author. Recommended.
Sandra Merville Hart 