inspiration

The Quaker and The Rebel by Mary Ellis~My Review

/ Dora Hiers
The Quaker and the Rebel
Purchase Link~Deeper Shopping
About the book~
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? 

Sharing My Review~
The premise really drew me in for this book. I mean, really…a conductor in the Underground Railroad falling for a Rebel leader? How intriguing!

A devout Quaker, Emily took the job as governess intending to convince slaves to take the first step towards freedom and views the South as the enemy, especially after her parents were beaten and her fiance killed. Alexander Hunt is the son of a wealthy horse breeder, and as the elusive Gray Wraith, his non-violent band of rangers raids deliveries of medicine, food, and money, which he hands over to the Confederate army. 

“If I run into the Gray Wraith, I shall shoot him between the eyes and spare the Union Army the task.” ~ Emily


It took awhile for me to understand how Alexander could fall for haughty Emily. But it came to me in a light bulb moment. Emily stood out from the crowd of Southern belles clamoring for Alexander’s attention, so different, so willing to risk her life for her anti-slavery beliefs. As the Gray Wraith, they were kindred souls, just on opposite sides of the war.

But during her employment with the Bennington’s, Emily discovered that things weren’t as she initially believed. The Bennington’s and the Hunt’s treated their slaves with respect, and had allowed many to buy back their freedom. Alexander even championed their release. They welcomed her into their family, shattering her notion that all slave holders were privileged and shallow, and her opinions, and her attitude, changed over the course of the book. 

As an avid romance lover, The Quaker and The Rebel started off a bit slow for me, but I’m so glad I kept reading. What it lacked in actual romantic wooing and sweet words (after all, there was a war going on!), it made up for in depth and character growth. The Quaker and The Rebel transcends romance. It’s about the ugly stains of prejudice; it’s about how we allow past experiences or other people’s opinions to poison our attitudes and control our thoughts. It’s about a family and how they accepted Emily and her narrow-minded self into their midst, and then pardoned her sins and showered her with love and grace when she most needed it. Don’t pick up The Quaker and The Rebel expecting just a romance. No. Because you’ll get a whole lot more. 

Disclaimer: Sending a big thank you to Mary Ellis and Harvest House Publisher for providing me with a copy of The Quaker and The Rebel for review. The opinions expressed here are my own, and I received no compensation. 

New Year, New Direction?

/ Dora Hiers / 2 Comments
Happy New Year! (picture compliments of Bing)

I’m a little late with my New Year’s post, but you all know my philosophy on New Year’s resolutions. I shared it a couple years ago, but here‘s the skinny…If there’s something in my life that I recognize needs to change, why wait until January 1st?

But that doesn’t stop me from reflecting over the last year, totally in awe over the blessings God poured out in my personal life and in my writing.

2013 was spectacular! Two more of my books released, Journey’s Embrace and When Truth Whispers, making a total of five published romances, all with Pelican Book Group. Several more books are contracted and in various stages of publication, and who knows what 2014 will bring.

I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching lately, especially in regards to my writing. God’s prompting me to dig deep and try new things, to release my dreams and fears to Him, to spread my wings and soar over unfamiliar waters, to reach out and love more. 

What does that mean? I don’t know, but I trust God. If He points to a road and says, “Go that way. I want you to meet somebody,” just like when He directed Philip towards the Ethiopian (Acts 8:26-40), who am I to argue?

Who does God want me to connect with this year?

Where He leads, I will follow.

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.” Ps 23:1-3 NIV

And I’ll try not to allow fear to squelch that giant swell of anticipation that’s building and rising for the journey ahead, that awesome wondrous feeling that God loves me and wants the absolute best for me…just like He loves you!

Wishing you a joyous, Son-kissed 2014, my friends!

…because it’s not all about making Merry

/ Dora Hiers

And it’s not about brightly wrapped packages nestled under a beautiful tree, branches brimming with pine cones and ornaments, with twinkling lights and strings of popcorn and cranberries. 

It’s not about that last minute frantic trip to the mall, fighting crowds and snarling traffic, to search for the perfect gift for the family member who has everything. It’s not about the promise of presents for kids who behave, delivered on a sleigh pulled by magical reindeer, by a rotund, jolly old man with a snow white beard and draped in a bright red suit. 

It’s not even about beloved family gathered around a long table packed with hams and turkeys and enough pies that an entire army could eat for a week.

No. 

It’s not all about making Merry.

Christmas…is about a baby born in a musty stable and wrapped in swaddling clothes. It’s about heaven’s best, God-man, coming down to mingle among sin, smelly animals  and poop. To show each of us what love really looks like.

Christmas is about hope. It’s about Jesus. It’s about a perfect love that rights all wrongs, about a love that knows no bounds, a love that gives and never ends.

Christmas…because it’s not all about making Merry.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:7-11 NIV