A Rebel Heart by Beth White - a book review and blog tour

This is book one of The Daughtry House Series and I can’t wait to read the second one.  The author does a

very good job of incorporating faith and Christian values in this book without being ‘preachey’ so it is aptly called a historical Christian novel.

The book begins with a prologue that portrays some of the horrors of the Civil War.  What happens then influences the characters throughout the rest of the story. 

The story revolves around three sisters and their fight to retain their family plantation.  They are forced from lavish opulence to near starvation.  Assistance comes in the form of a mysterious northerner.  The author lets the reader in on the secret and mystery but the characters are left to figure it out.  

The characters are well developed and interesting and we see them trying to come to terms with issues of prejudice and the loss of a former lifestyle. The story is easy to read and the plot engaging.  There is a good balance between faith, romance and mystery.

This is from the publisher’s website:

“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--until a hotel management agent for the railroad offers her hope for the future.

If she'll turn her home into a hotel, Levi Riggins says, he can all but guarantee it will be saved. Selah isn't sure she entirely trusts the handsome Yankee. Yet what other options does she have? She'll have to stay on her guard . . . but she never expected to have to guard her heart.”

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to the second book of the series.

If you like easy to read historical novels based in the Civil War era then I think you’ll like this one. 

You can read an excerpt HERE.

Learn more about Beth White and her other books HERE.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell and Baker
Publishing Group through their book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed above are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”