Bestselling author Mary
Ellis is giving away signed copies of THE LADY
AND THE OFFICER and THE QUAKER
AND THE REBEL along with a great totebag to one
lucky winner, just in time for fall. Read the first chapter
of her latest romance below and good luck in the drawing!
Bestselling author Mary Ellis (A Widow's
Hope) presents The Lady and the Officer, Book 2 of her new
Civil War historical romance series, which tells the stories
of brave women and the men who love them.
Serving for a brief time as a nurse after the devastating
battle of Gettysburg, Madeline Howard saves the life of
Elliot Haywood, a colonel in the Confederate Home Guard. But
even though Maddy makes her home in the South, her heart and
political sympathies belong to General James Downing, a
soldier from the North.
However, Colonel Haywood has never forgotten the beautiful
nurse, and when he unexpectedly meets her again in Richmond,
he is determined to win her. But while rubbing elbows with
army officers and cavalry generals and war department
officials in her aunt and uncle's palatial home, Maddy
overhears plans for a Confederate attack in northern
Virginia. She knows passing along this information may save
the life of her beloved James, but at what cost? Can she
really betray the trust of her family and friends?
Maddy's heart is pulled between wanting to be loyal to those
who care for her and wanting to help the man she believes is
on the right side of the conflict. Two men love her. Will
her faith in God show her the way to a bright future, or
will her choices bring a devastation of their
own?
Emily Harrison's life has been turned upside
down. At the beginning of the Civil War, she bravely
attempted to continue her parents' work as conductors in the
Underground Railroad until their Ohio farm was sold in
foreclosure. Now alone, she accepts a position as a
governess with a doctor's family in slave-holding Virginia.
Perhaps she can continue her rescue efforts from there.
Alexander Hunt is the doctor's handsome nephew. While he
does not deny a growing attraction to his uncle's newest
employee, he cannot take time to pursue Emily. Alex is not
at all what he seems - rich, spoiled, and indolent. He is
the elusive Gray Wraith, a Quaker leader of Rebel partisans.
A man of the shadows, he carries no firearm and
wholeheartedly believes in Emily's antislavery
convictions.
The path before Alex and Emily is complicated and sometimes
life threatening. The war brings betrayal, entrapment, and
danger to both of them. Amid their growing feelings for each
other, can they find faith in God amid the challenges they
face and trust in the possibility for a bright future
together?