A Rebel Heart

Author: Beth White
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group, 2018
Pages: 384
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: 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 options seems to be giving up their ancestral land.

Pinkerton agent and former Union cavalryman Levi Riggins is investigating a series of robberies and sabotage linked to the impoverished Daughtry plantation. Positng as a hotel management agent for the railroad, he tells Selah he'll help her save her home, but only if it is converted into a hotel. With Selah otherwise engaged with renovations, Levil moves onto the property to "supervise" while he actually attends to his real assignment right under her nose. 

Selah isn't sure she entirely trust the handsome Yankee, but she'd do almost anything to save her home. What she never expected to encounter was his assault on her heart.

Review: When I needed a break from the fact-driven, highly researched family saga, The Lowells of Massachusetts, I picked up this book. It was lighter reading, but it started out slow. It was hard to cheer this couple on when Levi wasn't likeable and Selah wasn't believable. However, the last quarter of the book was fast-paced and interesting, and I was flying through pages.

My sister recommended Beth White to me, and I'll give this author another chance before I make my final judgement. I don't know if I'll continue with this series though.