A Place in His Heart
June 15th, 2014. Filed under: Contests & Giveaways, This & That.A Place in His Heart
By Rebecca DeMarino
She could cross an ocean, but could she ever win his heart?
Anglican Mary Langton longs to marry for love. Left at the altar and disgraced in her small hamlet, she is being pressured to marry the eligible son of the London milliner. Puritan Barnabas Horton still grieves the loss of his beloved wife, but he knows his two young sons need a mother.
With tender hearts, Mary and Barnabas take a leap of faith and wed. But when Barnabas’s secret plans to move his family to the New World to escape persecution come to light, Mary’s world is upended. How could she possibly leave her papa and her dear sister?
And will she ever reach the secret places of her husband’s broken heart?
ISLAND BREEZES
Mary’s father wants to see her wed. It was disgraceful to have her left at the altar. Now he wants to get her wed to the son of the London milliner.
Does he bother to ask Mary’s opinion? She wants to marry for love. Eventually her father gives his blessing for her to marry Barnabas, a widower with two small children.
Barnabas had said he had no plans to sail to New England with his brothers, but he wasn’t being truthful. Several years into the marriage he dropped that bomb on Mary.
Along with the separation from her family, Mary has to deal with the continual comparison with his dead wife. He did let Mary know up front that his love would always be for his first wife. And then there are the children. The youngest takes to her as a mother, but the oldest always lets her know that she is the wicked stepmother in his eyes.
Life in the New World is filled with hardships and hard work, the the family difficulties are the real burdens on Mary’s heart. Will her husband ever love her? Will her oldest son ever open up his heart to her? Be sure you have that box of tissues nearby. You’re surely going to need them.
Thank you, Ms DeMarino, for giving us a view of our early history through Mary’s eyes.
***A special thank you to Lanette Haskins for providing a review copy.***
Rebecca DeMarino is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America, and The Southold Long Island Historical Society. She was a 2011 Genesis Award semi-finalist and lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, Tom. A Place in His Heart is based on DeMarino’s ancestors, who came to Long Island in the mid-1600s to establish a life–and a legacy–in the New World. Learn more at www.rebeccademarino.com.
Rebecca is having a giveaway at http://www.rebeccademarino.com/a-place-in-his-heart-giveaway/