Historical romance

Announcing the Release of Tides of Healing!

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by Sandra Merville Hart

It’s Release Day for Tides of Healing!

Savannah’s and Travis’s story is the sixth and final book in the Spies of the Civil War Series. While writing it, I felt as if I’d written the entire series to tell this story—and reading each book in order will give readers the greatest impact.

Readers often wonder what inspired a book or series. The inspiration for Books 4-6, set in Vicksburg, has been a long time in the making. Huge, important battles in Gettysburg and Vicksburg ended in a Northern victory on the same day. I had studied the Battle of Gettysburg before writing A Rebel in My House.

A few years later, the Battle of Vicksburg captured my imagination.

The Confederate army lost both its army and the city at the Civil War Battle of Vicksburg. They surrendered on July 4, 1863. I learned that Vicksburg citizens didn’t celebrate Independence Day for about one hundred years.

What made that experience so terrible that the city couldn’t celebrate the independence of the United States for a century?

I had to discover what those citizens endured. It took three books to write their story. From 1861-1863, through mainly fictional—and a few historical—characters, Books 4 – 6 transport readers to a small Southern city on a bluff beside the Mississippi River, one that the Union was as determined to conquer as the Confederacy was to protect.  

I visited Vicksburg twice to discover its Civil War history. The battlefield there is beautifully maintained and well worth a visit!

Here’s the back cover blurb:

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. 

Amazon

Exploring the St. Lawrence River’s Rock Island Lighthouse

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I’m thrilled that fellow author and friend, Susan G. Mathis, is with us today. Susan is sharing historical background for her latest release, Emma’s Engagement. Welcome back to Historical Nibbles, Susan!

by Susan G Mathis

Nestled in the picturesque Thousand Islands, Rock Island Lighthouse stands as a historic lighthouse. Located near Fisher’s Landing, New York, the lighthouse has guided vessels through the St. Lawrence River since its construction in 1847. Though modern technology has replaced its traditional purpose, the lighthouse remains a symbol of resilience and dedication.

One of the most memorable stewards of this historic beacon is Michael Diepolder, who served as a lightkeeper during its operational years, the hero of my story and husband of Emma. Diepolder’s commitment to the lighthouse exemplifies the unwavering dedication required of keepers, often living in isolation and braving harsh winters, stormy waters, and the solitude of island life along with his wife. His vigilance ensured that mariners could safely navigate the treacherous currents and rocky shoals surrounding the islands.

Today, Rock Island Lighthouse is a popular tourist destination managed by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation. Visitors can climb its spiral staircase for breathtaking views, explore the renovated keeper’s quarters, and learn about the lives of those, like Diepolder, who maintained the light. The museum showcases artifacts and stories that bring history to life, allowing guests to appreciate the challenges and triumphs of lighthouse keepers.

For those who cherish history, faith, and the beauty of nature, Rock Island Lighthouse is more than a landmark—it’s a window into the past. The legacy of keepers like Michael Diepolder serves as an inspiring reminder of dedication, perseverance, and the human spirit’s ability to overcome adversity.

Whether you’re a history enthusiast or simply seeking a scenic adventure, the story of Emma’s Engagement and a visit to Rock Island Lighthouse offers an unforgettable glimpse into the maritime heritage of the Thousand Islands.

About Emma’s Engagement (100 WORDS)

Emma Row marries the Rock Island Lightkeeper, but navigating the treacherous waters of isolation and the bitter rejection of her new stepdaughter, Ada, isn’t easy. Michael Diepolder, the widowed lightkeeper, realizes that the path to happiness is far more turbulent than he ever anticipated. As a storm brews on the horizon, Emma and Michael must confront the tempestuous waves of doubt, jealousy, and isolation that threaten to extinguish the light of their love. Can they weather the storm and find the strength to keep their family together, or will the darkness consume them all?

Amazon

Susan G Mathis is an international award-winning, multi-published author of stories set in the beautiful Thousand Islands in upstate NY. Susan has been published more than thirty times in full-length novels, novellas, and non-fiction books. She has fourteen in her fiction line including Emma’s Engagement. Find out more at www.SusanGMathis.com.

Worth Fighting For by Pegg Thomas

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

Part of: Christian Historical Romance Novellas

With her husky brothers scaring off any man coming near, Meg McCracken despairs of finding a husband. But now she has a new fear. Trouble is brewing in the Colonies. Her father and brothers plan to fight on the side of the Patriots but plenty of folks in Philadelphia are loyal to the Great Britain—Loyalists. 

Alexander Ogilvie isn’t looking to remain a blacksmith like his pa and brothers. His plans to forge a trail Westward are misunderstood as cowardice by his family…and by Meg.

The characters in this story tugged at my heart. Their love story kept me turning pages to glimpse those turbulent days leading up to the American Revolution. I felt the fear and tension as if I were there.

I’ve read several books by this author and will look for more. Recommend!

Amazon

Cherishing Her Heart by Cindy Ervin Huff

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

Healing Hearts, Book 2

When Dianna Pilson is rescued from the insane asylum from which her husband Theodore had committed her after the death of her baby, she changes her name to Susan Sullivan. She travels to Kansas with her mother’s butler, a man who risks his life and takes on the role of her father to save her from Theodore, who had annulled their marriage after committing her so that he could control her fortune.

Monty Summerfield’s ranch and mine in the small Kansas town are only part of his wealth. Susan captures his attention immediately when she acts the part of a poor man’s daughter but behaves as one born to wealth. She intrigues him but Susan is not about to trust another man.

Never would she trust another man … no matter how kindly he treated her. Experience had taught her it didn’t last.

The action of this novel takes place over about two years. It tells a horrifying story of abuse. The heroine’s difficulty rings true and will resonate with many readers.

Likeable characters tug at the heart in this emotional story filled with plenty of twists and turns. Huff has written a spell-binding tale where the hero and heroine encounter many difficulties that threaten their relationship.

This compelling novel was a page turner from beginning to end for me!  

Definitely recommend!

Emma’s Engagement by Susan G. Mathis

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

Love at a Lighthouse, Book 3

The story begins with Emma Row receiving a marriage proposal from Michael Diepolder, a lighthouse keeper.

At 37, Emma loves her job as a librarian yet has dreamed of marriage to her beau. She is thrilled to accept.

Michael, a widower, cautions Emma that his daughter Ada will soon arrive. She lives with her grandmother so that she can attend school. Ada spends her summers with her father on the small island. He fears she will not accept her new stepmother. He persuades Emma to marry him the day after she arrives so they can learn to be a family together.

His fears are grounded. The eleven-year-old isn’t happy to share her father’s attention.

With Michael spending every night tending the light and sleeping during the morning, Emma handles the brunt of Ada’s disobedience. Emma begins to wonder if she made a mistake in marrying Michael.

I was quickly drawn into the story by believable characters I cared about.

I had read Julia’s Joy, Book 2 in the series. It delighted me to see the family connections from scenes in that book included in this story. It deepened insights into characters from both stories.  

This gentle, well-written story about the trials of learning to become a family is highly recommended for those who love to immerse themselves in another time with a great book!  

I was given a copy of the book by the author. A positive review was not required.

Amazon

Announcing the Upcoming Civil War Book Release of Tides of Healing!

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by Sandra Merville Hart

I’m thrilled to announce that  Tides of Healing , Book 6 of my Spies of the Civil War Series, will release on February 11, 2025!

Books 4 – 6 of the series are set in historic Vicksburg, Mississippi—a city the Union is as determined to capture as the Confederacy is to retain. Much happens here during the Civil War, not the least of which is spying.

I can hardly believe that the final book in the series will soon be releasing.

You might wonder if authors fall in love with their characters as much as readers. Speaking for myself, I do! It’s fun to spend time with the characters I’ve grown to love on the written page.

Savannah Adair is the last of our three heroines to get to tell her Vicksburg story and she’s been chomping at the bit to show readers what happened.

Savannah has long been friends of Julia and Felicity, whom we first met in Streams of Courage, Book 4, when all three strong women resided in Vicksburg at the beginning of the Civil War.

Here’s a bit about the book:

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. 

Preorder your copy today on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, and Books2Read.

Christmas at the Jekyll Island Club by Blossom Turner

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

Romance at the Gilded Age Resorts, Book 9

Savannah Ensworth has been given every material thing her heart desired her whole life. The wealth she’ll inherit isn’t the only reason so many men want to marry her. She’s unwilling to give control of her life and her fortune to a husband. The freedom to choose her future is what she most desires but she’ll try to enjoy the Christmas holidays with her parents at their annual stay at Jekyll Island.

Her boredom dissipates when she hears Joseph Bennett’s sermon. He’s at the resort for the Christmas season. She’s attracted to him even as the honesty in his sermons unsettles her.

Yet society has placed too many barriers between them for their friendship to blossom into marriage.

I love reading books set at Christmas as the season approaches. Believable characters and a mystery that surrounds the heroine’s past made this a page turner for me. Twists and turns kept me guessing. The characters had hurdles that seemed insurmountable.

I’m enjoying the settings in this series. Be prepared to be transported back in time to the Gilded Age resorts.

Amazon

The Spies of the Civil War Series

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“History will never know how indebted it is to folks like you in ending the war.” ~ River of Peril

People spied on their government, their soldiers, and their neighbors during the Civil War. Union spies in the South lived dangerously. Everyday citizens, including enslaved and free black spies, became heroes to speed the war’s end.

Secret messages were sewn into hems, vests, and coats. Cyphered messages were hidden in bodices, hoop skirts, trees, hats, styled hair, books, custard dishes, hollowed-out eggs, and even in vaults with a dead body. Raised/lowered shades and clothes hanging on a line might also be clues for spies.

Some spies were already actors. Others disguised themselves to deliver secrets and to protect their identity. There were female spies who disguised themselves as men. If they could manage to remain anonymous, it saved them from their neighbors’ retaliation during and after the war. This was especially true in the South because the North emerged as victorious.

Many spies were caught during the Civil War and often imprisoned for days or weeks, up to a year. Confederate spies could sign an Oath of Allegiance to the United States to be released from Union prisons. Both sides executed spies.

For reasons already discussed, history doesn’t record most of Mississippi’s spies. Two Mississippi spies, Robbie Woodruff and Philip Henson, didn’t slip into obscurity.

Robbie Woodruff was a courageous farm girl who fetched Confederate messages from town and hid them in a hollow stump for couriers. Philip Henson, one of the Union army’s greatest spies living in the South, was captured and imprisoned for several months.

Key characters are spies for the Union in River of Peril, Book 5 in my Spies of the Civil War Series. The spies in my Vicksburg portion of the series (Books 4 – 6) are fictional. The stories show the type of challenges faced by historical spies.

My research for this novel began with a trip to Vicksburg, Mississippi. I was greatly inspired by the battlefield, the museums, and the people in the historic city. That inspiration—and a whole lot of research!—led to the writing of Streams of Courage, Book 4, River of Peril, Book 5, and Tides of Healing, Book 6.   

Avenue of Betrayal, Book 1,is set in the Union capital of Washington City (Washington DC) in 1861, where a surprising number of Confederate sympathizers and spies lived. Boulevard of Confusion and Byway to Danger are set in Richmond, the Confederate capital in 1862. Actual historical spies touch the lives of our fictional family. The heroines in Books 1 – 3 are two sisters and their cousins. Another set of characters begin with Book 4, and three friends are the heroines in Books 4 -6.

Through both real and fictional characters, this series highlights activities spies were involved in and some of the motives behind their decisions.

I invite you to read the whole Spies of the Civil War Series!

More about River of Peril, Sandra’s newest release:

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.

Available on Amazon,  Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, andBooks2Read.

Rocky Mountain Rendezvous by Misty M. Beller

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Sisters of the Rockies Series, Book One

It’s 1837 and women didn’t travel West alone because it wasn’t safe. Juniper and her three sisters are surprised when the wagon train guide that they’d traveled with to the Green River Valley (future Wyoming) releases them into a large encampment of men without food. Some of the men hadn’t seen a woman for a long time and the sisters are in danger. Their dying father’s request had sent them there to find Peigan Blackfoot woman but how were they to find her?

Riley Turner cringes to see the Collins sisters come West without an escort and worries for their safety. He steps in to join their search for Steps Right, not knowing the real danger was to his heart, for he falls in love with Juniper, who makes it clear they’d return to Virginia as soon as their mission was accomplished.

I love when an author weaves a story where I learn a bit of history as a natural part of the story! The characters were believable and lovable and I was soon enmeshed in their mission. The hero and heroine really tugged at my heart and the author did a great job with secondary characters we’ll see in later books.

Surprising turns, challenges, and dangers kept me turning page. This well-written story makes me want to read the next book in the series!

Definitely recommend! I will look for more books by this author.

-Sandra Merville Hart

 Christianbook.com

Announcing River of Peril, Book 5, Releases Today!

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River of Peril, Book 5 in my Spies of the Civil War Series, releases today, October 15th!

What endorsers are saying about the book:

Sandra Merville Hart is skilled at taking readers into the hearts and lives of the common people during the Civil War. ~Cindy Thomson, Author of the Ellis Series and the Daughters of Ireland Series

River of Peril is filled with romance and intrigue! ~Deborah Sprinkle, Award-winning author of the Trouble in Pleasant Valley Series and the Mac and Sam Mystery Series

With her meticulous level of research, her proven ability as a natural storyteller, and her ability to weave all these elements into a riveting narrative, Sandra has again crafted a book you won’t be able to put down. ~Kevin Spencer, Historian—ON THIS DAY in North Carolina History

What reviewers are saying about the book:

Well researched and worth a read!

River of Peril is a page-turner story of love and loss, faith and hope amidst life’s trials, including war.

I especially liked how the story focused not only on the characters’ daily lives but on the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi as a whole. It was a very hard time for all the residents there, not just the soldiers. You really get a feel for all that was happening in that time period. An excellent story and one filled with emotion, forgiveness and danger.

Remembering can be worse than forgetting!

The author keeps a good balance of hope throughout the story, because even in war, there is hope in God. The details are clear and engaging to the point you feel like you are there, feeling everything along with the characters – the good and bad.
I enjoy studying history, and this novel delivered for me. I look forward to the next in the series.

The extensive research done by this author shines clearly in this historical novel which is both informative and very engrossing.

Back cover blurb:

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.

Pick up your copy today on Amazon!

Once you read it or any other of my other books, I’d appreciate a review!

And you won’t have long to wait for Tides of Healing, Book 6, where you will read the story of Savannah and Travis. It will release on February 11th