One of Mom’s dreams came true during our visit to England.
She watched as Max proposed to me in his garden. I wonder if that’s what helped her leave, because she knew I’d found someone to love me like Dad had loved her. A month after her death, I moved to England so Max and I could turn the gatehouse into a special, magical place of its own. One side of the archway became Fenwick Public Library, filled, at first, with books donated from Camden House. On the other side we opened The Castle Bookshop, a place which brought as much magic from its history as it did from the stories bound inside.
I could now spend time in England with my English family and also with Robbie at Blackwell’s.
I’d never considered how some of our greatest losses lead us to choices that God uses for bigger things than we could have ever imagined. Sometimes brokenness and heartache force us into selfseclusion and fear, and sometimes they can propel us into something amazing, if we let them.
Love is powerful. It has the strength to change hearts, restore broken lives, bring healing from grief, and provide courage to push us beyond our self-defined limits. Love makes us brave.
And hope inspires our imaginations.
Pepper Basham is an award-winning author who writes romance peppered with grace and humor. A native of the Blue Ridge Mountains, her family has lived there for generations. She’s the mom of five kids, speech-pathologist to about fifty more, lover of chocolate, jazz, and Jesus, and proud AlleyCat over at the award-winning Writer’s Alley blog. Her debut historical romance novel, The Thorn Bearer, was released in April 2015, and the second in February 2016. Her first contemporary romance debuted in April 2016. You can connect with Pepper on her website at www.pepperdbasham.com, Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pepper-D-Basham, or Twitter at https://twitter.com/pepperbasham.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am so pleased to have my third novel with Barbour. They’ve been very encouraging through the process of each novel and continued to allow me to “spread my writing wings” as I delved into writing my first dual timeline novel. Thank you so much, Becky Germany, Shalyn Sattler, Faith Nordine, Abbey Warschauer, and, last but not least, editor Ellen Tarver.
The Christian writing/reading community is a wonderful family of authors and readers who give such support to one another. Among those are the ladies who specifically encouraged me in this story, either by reading an early copy or reading for endorsement. Thank you SO much to Rachel McDaniel and Allison Pittman (fellow authors in the Doors to the Past series), Beth Erin, Joy Tiffany, Carrie Schmidt, and Gretchen Acheson (as early readers), and Kristy Cambron, Jaime Jo Wright, Rachel Hauck, Ashley Clark, and J’nell Ciesielski (as endorsers).
As ever, I am incredibly grateful for my Street Team. Some of the readers on this team have been with me from my first book six years ago. Since this book is number 15, it means they’ve lived through a lot of stories with me, and I can’t express how thankful I am to them for the encouragement, kindness, and constant readiness to share in the joys and struggles of this journey with me.
For two years, I’ve had the honor of being represented by the amazing Rachel McMillan of the William K. Jensen Literary Agency. Besides being an avid reader and beautiful author in her own right, she is also one of the most encouraging cheerleaders. Thanks so much for believing in me, Rachel.
My best cheerleaders are the ones in my own family. Dad, Mom, and little bro, thanks for always encouraging me. Dwight, Ben, Aaron, Lydia, Samuel, and Phoebe, I’m so grateful that I get to spend every day being a part of the bigger story of our lives. Thank you for loving me and making this life-journey such a wonderful one.
And to the history-keeping, life-changing, loving Father who creates stories that weave from one life to another through generations. Thank You, Lord Jesus.
Next in the Doors To The Past Series…
Bridge of Gold
(Coming June 2021)
Underwater archaeologist Kayla Richardson is called to the Golden Gate Bridge where repairs to one of the towers uncovers two human remains from the late 1800s and the 1930s. The head of the bridge restoration is Mark Andrews, who dives with Kayla, and a friendship develops between them. But as the investigation heats up and gold is found that dates back to the gold rush, more complications come into play that threaten them both. Could clues leading to a Gold Rush era mystery that was first discovered during the building of the bridge still ignite an obsession worth killing for?
Paperback / 978-1-64352-957-8 / $12.99
