Cindy Nord’s NO GREATER GLORY – Civil War Romance Rich in Historical Detail

A well-researched novel with considerable detail of the various battles around Virginia, this is a romance for those who like to savor the details and want to dive deeply into the Civil War.

 

Set from 1862 to 1865, it tells the story of Emaline McDaniels, a widow trying to hold onto her Virginia plantation, Shapinsay. Then Colonel Reece Cutteridge, a Union officer, shows up to requisition her home and her livestock to winter and feed his troops. Despite her disdain for the Union, Emaline finds herself assisting the Union doctor and nursing the colonel’s men, all the while fighting an attraction to their commander.

 

Reece has lost his wife and child and resists Emaline, but quickly finds himself falling in love with her. Separated by war, they will find themselves brought together by fate.

 

Nord describes what it was like to hold a plantation on the edge of war with intruding soldiers, deserters and miscreants all trying to steal what is not theirs. And in the midst of all that, a love blossoms between two people on opposite sides.

 

Some parts of the book will seem more like historical fiction than romance, the love story taking a back seat to the war, but romance readers who like real history dished up with the love story will enjoy it!

Leigh Lee’s RULES OF DECORUM – A Woman in the Union Army Medical Corps in the Civil War

This great story is set in 1863. It’s the tale of Eugenia Johnson who dons the clothes of a boy to enlist in the Union Army, hoping to hide a horrible secret. She becomes a sergeant in the medical corps and does well until a new surgeon shows up.

Captain Jeffery Bradford is a disciplined man who expects the best of his men. When he discovers one of his “men” is a young woman who turns his disciplined order into chaos, he wonders if Eugenia isn’t a Confederate spy.

This is a well-written tale featuring the medicine of the Civil War and the hardships faced by the men fighting for the Union, reflecting much research into the era. Several exciting scenes will have you on the edge of your seat. Eugenia and Jeff are great leads and perfect for each other.

A worthy patriotic tale!

 

 

Day Taylor’s THE BLACK SWAN – Civil War Saga and a Classic!

Set in the Civil War between the years 1850 and 1865, it’s a sweeping saga of the South and the love between two people who grew up on opposite sides of the slavery issue but with similar views: our noble hero, Adam Tremain, a blockade running captain, who moved the Underground Railroad to the sea, and Dulcie Moran, the only daughter of Savannah's most prosperous slave-breeder.

 

It is divided into three “books”: Adam (1852-59); Dulcie (1850-1862); and The Black Swan (1862-1865). While he was still a teenager, Adam experienced the hatred of the white slave owners for any who cavorted with the slaves, and he wanted no part of it. He vowed to become one who sent the slaves north to freedom. Dulcie, raised as an indulged young woman in the genteel Southern society by a father who considered the slaves mere animals, couldn’t understand why the slaves she loved weren’t treated like family.

 

The characters were well developed and the imagery vivid. We know exactly what motivated Dulcie and what moves Adam. We experience their young loves and are not surprised when they are attracted to each other. They are not so different really; each believes the slaves should be treated as people, and they lament a society in which they are not. Each has the courage to fight Southern Society for what they believe is right.

 

There are some wonderful secondary characters, including Tom, the aristocrat from New Orleans who married Ullah, a light colored slave, because he loved her, the families of Adam and Dulcie, and Adam’s two childhood friends, Beau and Ben, who join him as fellow captains.

 

Most of this book is “keeper” material, but in the 3^rd “book” the story took a bizarre twist with a shipwreck, a voodoo island and a disturbed family that holds Dulcie captive. Adam and Dulcie are separated and both partnered (willingly or unwillingly) with others. The story finally comes back around for a great close, but you should be aware of this detour.

 

For more of Adam and Dulcie’s romance you have to read the second in the duology, Moss Rose, set in the Reconstruction Period after the end of the Civil War.

 

Jennifer Blake’s SOUTHERN RAPTURE – A Wonderful Post Civil War Story with an Intriguing Hero and a Winning Heroine

Lettie Mason, a Boston schoolteacher, lost her brother to an outlaw’s bullet in a small Louisiana town during the Civil War. As a result, when the war is over, she travels to that same town to learn about her brother’s death. She believes he was killed by an outlaw known as the “Thorn”. She has heard tales of his many good deeds as well as the bad. And when she encounters him in the dark, he kisses her and then, later, makes love to her. She does not resist.

 

Meanwhile, she has begun to teach two young men at Splendora, the estate where she is staying. One, the very handsome Ransom Tharp, who returned from the war with a head injury that left him “not quite right”. Or is he?

 

A local hero carries on with two personalities to help his people…a disguise that keeps him from the woman he would have. But Lettie suspects all is not as it seems.

 

A great story, well told by a master of historical romance. Highly recommended.

Lisa Gregory’s BONDS OF LOVE – Exciting Civil War Love Story—a Classic!

What can I say about this book? It’s a well-written page-turner, a bodice ripper and Lisa Gregory’s (aka Candace Camp’s) first novel, published in 1978. Set during the Civil War, it tells the story of Katherine Devereaux, the only daughter of a wealthy Boston shipbuilder, who is abducted by one of the Confederate prisoners working in her father’s shipyard.

 

Katherine is witty, independent and capable, and when we first meet her in Boston, she is intent on marrying a Union naval officer, Lt. William Perkins. But that plan would soon change.

 

Captain Matthew Hampton is arrogant and selfish. He desired the haughty Miss Devereaux from the moment he laid eyes on her. And since he takes what he wants, when he escapes with a ship and his men, he kidnaps Katherine and takes her to sea, and then to England. In Katherine’s own words, “He stole me! He raped me! And now he refuses to release me, locks me in here like a dog in its kennel.”

 

When she does escape him in England, it is to a terrible fate. I kept thinking all the while it is Hampton who is responsible for ALL her misfortune since he abducted her in the first place. For me, it was sort of a “loved her, hated him” story. When he finally comes to realize he loves her, he just couldn’t grovel enough to compensate for what Katherine experienced. I just could not like him, no matter how contrite he became. To my mind the real hero here was the constant Lt. Perkins, who still wanted Katherine even after all she had experienced.

 

For all that, if you’re looking for a good bodice ripper with a very worthy heroine, I recommend it.

 

 

Heather Graham’s ONE WORE BLUE – Enthralling Civil War Romance!

 

This is the first in the Cameron Saga’s Civil War trilogy (and follows the Cameron stories told in Graham's North American Women trilogy). These are stories rich in history, well told and with amazing detail, seamless dialog and a family of wonderful characters you will love.

One Wore Blue begins in 1859 with the Harper's Ferry incident involving abolitionist John Brown. Jesse Cameron is serving as a doctor for the federal troops under Jeb Stuart and his younger brother, Daniel, is serving under Robert Lee. They have grown up with the beautiful and independent Kiernan Miller in Tidewater, Virginia. Kiernan loves Jesse and is good friends with Daniel and their sister Christa Cameron. As they sense the approach of war, Jesse cannot abide a nation divided, but Kiernan is a loyal Rebel, a Virginian, who like Daniel, supports the Confederacy. Jesse will choose to wear the Yankee uniform to support the Union, and though Kiernan loves him and has given herself to him, she will marry another, a loyal Reb she does not love.

Right there, Graham had me. My heart was dying. Jesse was like all the Cameron men before him: tall, dark and handsome and strongly committed to the cause of liberty and truth--and capable of deeply loving his woman while brooking no rebellion. Ah...a REAL man. I wondered what Kiernan was thinking when she refused to marry Jesse. I wanted to slap her several times. But alas, she was a blind Rebel.

You will laugh and you will cry with this one, as you become a part of the lives of young people who were swept into the war that tore apart a nation and tore apart families...a time that shaped America. The ending is exciting, too. Graham has produced a series of keepers!

I highly recommend the entire 6-book Cameron Saga:

The North American Women trilogy:

Sweet Savage Eden
A Pirate's Pleasure
Love Not a Rebel (Revolutionary War)

The Cameron Civil War trilogy:

One Wore Blue
And One Wore Gray
And One Rode West

Marti Ziegler’s CLINGSTONE – Wonderful Love Story Set in Post Civil War America

The story begins as the Civil War is winding down. Mae Parrish works in a mill along with many other women in village of Roswell, Georgia—and one man, Creighton Branagan, who was not conscripted because he is deaf. Everyone assumes he is stupid, but nothing could be further from the truth.

 

Creighton, a handsome man, has been judged wrongly for his handicap but he is a smart man and protects his young nephew against all who would harm him.

When the Union troops show up, Mae and Creighton are arrested with hundreds of mill workers for treason and sent to northern prisons because they manufactured Confederate uniforms. The story tells of their journey by wagon and train and their imprisonment and after. During the course of many hardships, Mae and Creighton fall love.

 

I loved the story. The theme seemed to be a new life out of the ashes of the past and overcoming the hardships life throws at us. It’s very cleverly written and will draw you in. Ziegler shows us America as the war was ending, a country torn apart, a devastated South. People had to find new lives. In the midst of it, Mae and Creighton help each other. Only Mae can understand Creighton’s crude speech and protect him from those who would harm him. And he helps her move on. There is laughter, too.

 

Creighton is a complex, noble hero; Mae is a feisty heroine with an indomitable spirit… just what Creighton and his nephew need. Their adventures on the way to love will keep you turning pages.

 

Lisa Gregory’s BONDS OF LOVE – Exciting Civil War story!

What can I say about this book? It’s a well-written page-turner, a bodice ripper and Lisa Gregory’s (aka Candace Camp’s) first novel, published in 1978. Set during the Civil War, it tells the story of Katherine Devereaux, the only daughter of a wealthy Boston shipbuilder, who is abducted by one of the Confederate prisoners working in her father’s shipyard.

 

Katherine is witty, independent and capable, and when we first meet her in Boston, she is intent on marrying a Union naval officer, Lt. William Perkins. But that plan would soon change.

 

Captain Matthew Hampton is arrogant and selfish. He desired the haughty Miss Devereaux from the moment he laid eyes on her. And since he takes what he wants, when he escapes with a ship and his men, he kidnaps Katherine and takes her to sea, and then to England. In Katherine’s own words, “He stole me! He raped me! And now he refuses to release me, locks me in here like a dog in its kennel.”

 

When she does escape him in England, it is to a terrible fate. I kept thinking all the while it is Hampton who is responsible for ALL her misfortune since he abducted her in the first place. For me, it was sort of a “loved her, hated him” story. When he finally comes to realize he loves her, he just couldn’t grovel enough to compensate for what Katherine experienced. I just could not like him, no matter how contrite he became. To my mind the real hero here was the constant Lt. Perkins, who still wanted Katherine even after all she had experienced.

 

For all that, if you’re looking for a good bodice ripper with a very worthy heroine, I recommend it.

 

Leigh Lee’s RULES OF DECORUM – The Civil War and a Woman in the Union Army Medical Corps

 

July is Patriotic Historical Romances month when Americans celebrate our Independence. It’s a great time to read a story with a noble hero and a worthy heroine set in a time when America’s future was on the line.

 

I’m beginning with a worthy story set in 1863. This is the tale of Eugenia Johnson who dons the clothes of a boy to enlist in the Union Army, hoping to hide a horrible secret. She becomes a sergeant in the medical corps and does well until a new surgeon shows up.

Captain Jeffery Bradford is a disciplined man who expects the best of his men. And then he discovers one of his “men” is a young woman who turns his disciplined order into chaos. When he learns Eugenia’s secret, he wonders if she isn’t a Confederate spy.

This is a well-written tale featuring the medicine of the Civil War and the hardships faced by the men fighting for the Union, reflecting much research into the era. Several exciting scenes will have you on the edge of your seat. Eugenia and Jeff are great leads and perfect for each other.

A worthy patriotic tale!

Cindy Nord’s NO GREATER GLORY – Civil War Romance Rich in Historical Detail

A well-researched novel with considerable detail of the various battles around Virginia, this is a romance for those who like to savor the details and want to dive deeply into the Civil War.

Set from 1862 to 1865, it tells the story of Emaline McDaniels, a widow trying to hold onto her Virginia plantation, Shapinsay. Then Colonel Reece Cutteridge, a Union officer, shows up to requisition her home and her livestock to winter and feed his troops. Despite her disdain for the Union, Emaline finds herself assisting the Union doctor and nursing the colonel’s men, all the while fighting an attraction to their commander.

Reece has lost his wife and child and resists Emaline, but quickly finds himself falling in love with her. Separated by war, they will find themselves brought together by fate.

Nord describes what it was like to hold a plantation on the edge of war with intruding soldiers, deserters and miscreants all trying to steal what is not theirs. And in the midst of all that, love blossoms between two people on opposite sides.

Some parts of the book will seem more like historical fiction than romance, the love story taking a back seat to the war, but romance readers who like real history dished up with the love story will love it!

Day Taylor’s THE BLACK SWAN – Civil War Saga and a Classic!

Set in the Civil War between the years 1850 and 1865, it’s a sweeping saga of the South and the love between two people who grew up on opposite sides of the slavery issue but with similar views: our noble hero, Adam Tremain, a blockade-running captain, who moved the Underground Railroad to the sea, and Dulcie Moran, the only daughter of Savannah's most prosperous slave-breeder.

It is divided into three “books”: Adam (1852-59); Dulcie (1850-1862); and The Black Swan (1862-1865). While he was still a teenager, Adam experienced the hatred of the white slave owners for any who cavorted with the slaves, and he wanted no part of it. He vowed to become one who sent the slaves north to freedom. Dulcie, raised as an indulged young woman in the genteel Southern society by a father who considered the slaves mere animals, couldn’t understand why the slaves she loved weren’t treated like family.

The characters were well developed and the imagery vivid. We know exactly what motivated Dulcie and what moves Adam. We experience their young loves and are not surprised when they are attracted to each other. They are not so different really; each believes the slaves should be treated as people, and they lament a society in which they are not. Each has the courage to fight Southern Society for what they believe is right.

There are some wonderful secondary characters, including Tom, the aristocrat from New Orleans who married Ullah, a light-colored slave, because he loved her, the families of Adam and Dulcie, and Adam’s two childhood friends, Beau and Ben, who join him as fellow captains.

Most of this book is “keeper” material, but in the 3^rd “book” the story took a bizarre twist with a shipwreck, a voodoo island and a disturbed family that holds Dulcie captive. Adam and Dulcie are separated and both partnered (willingly or unwillingly) with others. The story finally comes back around for a great close, but you should be aware of this detour.

For more of Adam and Dulcie’s romance you have to read the second in the duology, Moss Rose, set in the Reconstruction Period after the end of the Civil War.

Laurie McBain’s WHEN THE SPLENDOR FALLS – Sweeping Saga of Southern Life Before the Civil War and New Mexico Territory After

Another classic by Laurie McBain. Regrettably, for lovers of historical romance, this was McBain’s last novel. I have read, reviewed and loved all of them. McBain was a part of the seminal group of authors who ushered in the modern historical romance in the 70s and she stayed for the booming 80s to give us more wonderful, well-written, and deeply emotional sagas. As if she knew this would be her last, she took her time with it, slowly developing the tapestry of the two Southern families whose lives were intertwined before, during and after the terrible conflict known as the Civil War.

Leigh Alexandra Travers, of Travers Hill in Virginia loved her home, her family and her horses for which the Travers family was famous. Neil Braedon was from the branch of the Virginia Braedons that went west to the Territories. He was captured by Comanches as a child to become the warrior “Sun Dagger,” then later rescued and sent east to school, graduating from Yale. One day, seeing Leigh in the woods, he mistakes her for a lady’s maid and steals a kiss—her first. Both were forever changed by the encounter. Neil wanted Leigh as no woman before and Leigh was no longer content with her handsome, wealthy gentleman fiancé, though she would wed him to save her family from financial ruin. Neither Leigh nor Neil spoke of the deep feelings they had for each other.

Then the war intervened and changed everything.

McBain meticulously presents the devastation the Civil War brought to the two families as Leigh and Neil are separated by years (and more). Her family fights for the South and Neil becomes the Yankee raider known as “Captain Dagger.” The descriptions are vivid and rich, the dialog amazing and the story satisfying. As a sample, thinking about Leigh, Neil reflected,

“She was like the willow on the riverbank. She bent to the winds that swept across Travers Hill. She had adapted gracefully to the changes that had come so tragically into her life. She hadn’t broken trying to resist, to fight against a far greater force that would have destroyed her. Nor had she been weakened by the struggle, she had become stronger, finding a strength within that she might never have known otherwise.”

This is a sweeping saga, and a love story that develops across years. (It’s a long one, too, at 678 pages in my print edition). For fans of McBain, as I am, it will not disappoint. It's a keeper!

McBain’s Novels:

Devil's Desire (1975)

Tears Of Gold (1979)

Wild Bells To The Wild Sky (1983)

When The Splendor Falls (1985)

Laurie McBain’s WHEN THE SPLENDOR FALLS – Sweeping Saga of Southern Life Before the Civil War and New Mexico Territory After

Regrettably for lovers of historical romance, this was McBain’s last novel. I have read, reviewed and loved all of them (see list below). McBain was a part of the seminal group of authors who ushered in the modern historical romance in the 70s and she stayed for the booming 80s to give us more wonderful, well-written and deeply emotional sagas. As if she knew this would be her last, she took her time with it, slowly developing the tapestry of the two Southern families whose lives were intertwined before, during and after the terrible conflict known as the Civil War.

Leigh Alexandra Travers, of Travers Hill in Virginia loved her home, her family and her horses for which the Travers family was famous. Neil Braedon was from the branch of the Virginia Braedons that went west to the Territories. He was captured by Comanches as a child to become the warrior “Sun Dagger,” then later rescued and sent east to school, graduating from Yale. One day, seeing Leigh in the woods, he mistakes her for a lady’s maid and steals a kiss—her first. Both were forever changed by the encounter. Neil wanted Leigh as no woman before and Leigh was no longer content with her handsome, wealthy gentleman fiancé, though she would wed him to save her family from financial ruin. Neither Leigh nor Neil spoke of the deep feelings they had for each other.

Then the war intervened and changed everything.

McBain meticulously presents the devastation the Civil War brought to the two families as Leigh and Neil are separated by years (and more). Her family fights for the South and Neil becomes the Yankee raider known as “Captain Dagger.” The descriptions are vivid and rich, the dialog amazing and the story satisfying. As a sample, thinking about Leigh, Neil reflected,

“She was like the willow on the riverbank. She bent to the winds that swept across Travers Hill. She had adapted gracefully to the changes that had come so tragically into her life. She hadn’t broken trying to resist, to fight against a far greater force that would have destroyed her. Nor had she been weakened by the struggle, she had become stronger, finding a strength within that she might never have known otherwise.”

This is a sweeping saga, and a love story that develops across years. (It’s a long one, too, at 678 pages in my print edition). For fans of McBain, as I am, it will not disappoint. It's a keeper!

McBain’s Novels:

Devil's Desire (1975)

Tears Of Gold (1979)

Wild Bells To The Wild Sky (1983)

When The Splendor Falls (1985)

Dominick Trilogy

Moonstruck Madness (1977) Sabrina and Lucien

Chance The Winds Of Fortune (1980) their daughter Rhea and Dante

Dark Before The Rising Sun (1982) Rhea and Dante (cont’d.)

Cindy Nord’s NO GREATER GLORY – Civil War Romance Rich in Historical Detail

A well-researched debut novel with considerable detail of the various battles around Virginia, this is a romance for those who like to savor the details and want to dive deeply into the Civil War.

Set from 1862 to 1865, it tells the story of Emaline McDaniels, a widow trying to hold onto her Virginia plantation, Shapinsay. Then Colonel Reece Cutteridge, a Union officer, shows up to requisition her home and her livestock to winter and feed his troops. Despite her disdain for the Union, Emaline finds herself assisting the Union doctor and nursing the colonel’s men, all the while fighting an attraction to their commander.

Reece has lost his wife and child and resists Emaline, but quickly finds himself falling in love with her. Separated by war, they will find themselves brought together by fate.

Nord describes what it was like to hold a plantation on the edge of war with intruding soldiers, deserters and miscreants all trying to steal what is not theirs. And in the midst of all that, a love blossoms between two people on opposite sides.

Some parts of the book will seem more like historical fiction than romance, the love story taking a back seat to the war, but romance readers who like real history dished up with the love story will love it!

Heather Graham’s ONE WORE BLUE – Enthralling Civil War Romance!

This is the first in the Cameron Saga’s Civil War trilogy (and follows the Cameron stories told in Graham's North American Women trilogy). These are stories rich in history, well told and with amazing detail, seamless dialog and a family of wonderful characters you will love.

One Wore Blue begins in 1859 with the Harper's Ferry incident involving abolitionist John Brown. Jesse Cameron is serving as a doctor for the federal troops under Jeb Stuart and his younger brother, Daniel, is serving under Robert Lee. They have grown up with the beautiful and independent Kiernan Miller in Tidewater, Virginia. Kiernan loves Jesse and is good friends with Daniel and their sister Christa Cameron. As they sense the approach of war, Jesse cannot abide a nation divided, but Kiernan is a loyal Rebel, a Virginian, who like Daniel, supports the Confederacy. Jesse will choose to wear the Yankee uniform to support the Union, and though Kiernan loves him and has given herself to him, she will marry another, a loyal Reb she does not love.

Right there, Graham had me. My heart was dying. Jesse was like all the Cameron men before him: tall, dark and handsome and strongly committed to the cause of liberty and truth--and capable of deeply loving his woman while brooking no rebellion. Ah...a REAL man. I wondered what Kiernan was thinking when she refused to marry Jesse. I wanted to slap her several times. But alas, she was a blind Rebel.

You will laugh and you will cry with this one, as you become a part of the lives of young people who were swept into the war that tore apart a nation and tore apart families...a time that shaped America. The ending is exciting, too. Graham has produced a series of keepers!

I highly recommend the entire 6-book Cameron Saga:

The North American Women trilogy:

Sweet Savage Eden
A Pirate's Pleasure
Love Not a Rebel (Revolutionary War)

The Cameron Civil War trilogy:

One Wore Blue
And One Wore Gray
And One Rode West

Leigh Lee’s Rules of Decorum – The Civil War and a Woman in the Union Army Medical Corps

Set in 1863, this is the story of Eugenia Johnson who dons the clothes of a boy and enlists in the Union Army to hide a horrible secret. She becomes a sergeant in the medical corps and does well until a new surgeon shows up.

Captain Jeffery Bradford is a disciplined man who expects the best of his men. And then he discovers one of his “men” is a young woman who turns his disciplined order into chaos. When he learns Eugenia’s secret, he wonders if she isn’t a Confederate spy.

This is a well-written tale featuring the medicine of the Civil War and the hardships faced by the men fighting for the Union, reflecting much research into the era. Several exciting scenes will have you on the edge of your seat. Eugenia and Jeff are great leads and perfect for each other.

A worthy patriotic tale!

Review: Rosemary Rogers’ AN HONORABLE MAN – Love and the Underground Railroad During the Civil War

Set in the South beginning in Jackson, Mississippi in 1861, this is the story of Cameron Campbell, a sheltered Southern belle and the daughter of a respected Mississippi senator.

When her father decides to stand with the Union and move his family north, Cameron’s world changes. Her father dies in a mysterious accident and a man from her past, one she once thought never to see again, comes back into her life.

Years ago, Captain Jackson Logan walked away from Cameron. Now he hopes to win her back but he has a job to do in the war and not just the blockade running everyone’s awar of. Cam doesn’t trust him and she often does stupid things placing herself and those she loves in danger for Jackson, an honorable man to save her.

Cameron’s brother—a bitter man jealous of Cameron’s favor in the sight of their father—takes his vengeance out on the slaves their father would have freed. Grant Campbell lives a dissolute life, indulging his whims and passions and squandering the inheritance left to him. To save those closest to her, Cameron is forced to seek Jackson’s help.

Rogers delivers an emotion-filled tale but you won’t see much of the Civil War battles. You will get a sense for the risk those using the Underground Railroad took to find freedom in the North. And President Lincoln makes a cameo appearance. As for the characters, the hero is a noble sort with the charm of a rogue; the heroine is brave at times, but at others, her stupid and risky actions had me rolling my eyes. But Rogers writes well and manages to give us a good story.

This is book one in the Logan Duology. Return to Me is book 2.

Review: Jessica James’ NOBEL CAUSE – Loving the Enemy in the Civil War

Set in Virginia, beginning in 1862, this is the story of Captain Alexander Hunter, an officer in the Confederate army, who is respected by all but continually outsmarted by a Union scout, a mere boy. In reality, the boy is a young woman named Andrea Evans, who works for her cousin’s husband, Col. J.J. Jordan of the Union army.

Thinking to send Andrea away from battle, J.J. sends her to Richmond on an undercover assignment to act the lady in the heart of the Confederacy. She is to report to Col. Daniel Delaney who is sweet on her. (Their emerging “sort of” romance was a bit confusing, especially given I was pretty sure Hunter was the hero.)

The author takes pains to tell us what courageous beings both Hunter and Andrea are—larger than life characters of extraordinary intelligence, strength, courage and ability. Andrea thinks Hunter is “the incarnation of knighthood”; he thinks her smile is “the sweetest that had ever illuminated a mortal face”.

Though she is a Southerner, Andrea fights for the North because of her past experience with slavery, slipping across the South’s lines, going without food for days (apparently without ill effect) as she defies Hunter. No less gifted than his nemesis, Hunter is committed to seeing the South independent.

Our heroine Andrea begins the story dressed as a lad with short hair, but less than a year later, she’s in Richmond with long hair, dressed as a lady and waltzing around the dance floor with Hunter, who sees her as the only intelligent female around. Her appearance, specifically her hair, was a constant question throughout the story. When she acted the lad, all accepted her as a boy; when she played the lady, she had a lady’s hair. Hmm….

When Andrea ends up in prison (beaten badly, but apparently not raped), Alexander brings her back to his family home to slowly recover. In that same house is Victoria, who we are led to believe is Hunter’s mistress, but we are never sure about that.

You won’t experience a major battle of the Civil War, but you will see some of the guerilla warfare Hunter and his men engage in and you will live through the aftermath of bloody men and horses.

I liked the story, much of it very well written, but the pace is uneven. The first part and the last part were the best; the middle dragged with the constant and repetitive bickering between Andrea and Hunter at his Virginia estate.

Review: Laurie McBain’s WHEN THE SPLENDOR FALLS – Sweeping Saga of Southern Life Before the Civil War and New Mexico Territory After

Regrettably for lovers of historical romance, this was McBain’s last novel. I have read, reviewed and loved all of them (see list below). McBain was a part of the seminal group of authors who ushered in the modern historical romance in the 70s and she stayed for the booming 80s to give us more wonderful, well-written, and deeply emotional sagas. As if she knew this would be her last, she took her time with it, slowly developing the tapestry of the two Southern families whose lives were intertwined before, during and after the terrible conflict known as the Civil War.

Leigh Alexandra Travers, of Travers Hill in Virginia loved her home, her family and her horses for which the Travers family was famous. Neil Braedon was from the branch of the Virginia Braedons that went west to the Territories. He was captured by Comanches as a child to become the warrior “Sun Dagger,” then later rescued and sent east to school, graduating from Yale. One day, seeing Leigh in the woods, he mistakes her for a lady’s maid and steals a kiss—her first. Both were forever changed by the encounter. Neil wanted Leigh as no woman before and Leigh was no longer content with her handsome, wealthy gentleman fiancé, though she would wed him to save her family from financial ruin. Neither Leigh nor Neil spoke of the deep feelings they had for each other.

Then the war intervened and changed everything.

Original cover

McBain meticulously presents the devastation the Civil War brought to the two families as Leigh and Neil are separated by years (and more). Her family fights for the South and Neil becomes the Yankee raider known as “Captain Dagger.” The descriptions are vivid and rich, the dialog amazing and the story satisfying. As a sample, thinking about Leigh, Neil reflected,

“She was like the willow on the riverbank. She bent to the winds that swept across Travers Hill. She had adapted gracefully to the changes that had come so tragically into her life. She hadn’t broken trying to resist, to fight against a far greater force that would have destroyed her. Nor had she been weakened by the struggle, she had become stronger, finding a strength within that she might never have known otherwise.”

This is a sweeping saga, and a love story that develops across years. (It’s a long one, too, at 678 pages in my print edition). For fans of McBain, as I am, it will not disappoint. It's a keeper!

McBain’s Novels:

Devil's Desire (1975)

Tears Of Gold (1979)

Wild Bells To The Wild Sky (1983)

When The Splendor Falls (1985)

Dominick Trilogy

Moonstruck Madness (1977) Sabrina and Lucien

Chance The Winds Of Fortune (1980) their daughter Rhea and Dante

Dark Before The Rising Sun (1982) Rhea and Dante (cont’d.)