Set against the real history of Nashville's Belle Meade Plantation
and the original Fisk University Jubilee Singers ensemble, To
Wager Her Heart is a powerful love story about seeking justice and
restoring honor at a time in American history when both were tenuous and
hard-won. Sylas Rutledge, the new owner of the
Northeast Line Railroad, invests everything he has into this venture, partly
for the sake of the challenge. But mostly to clear his father's name. One man
holds the key to Sy's success--General William Giles Harding of Nashville's
Belle Meade Plantation. But Harding is champagne and thoroughbreds, and Sy
Rutledge is beer and bullocks.
Sy needs someone to
help him maneuver his way through Nashville's society, and when he meets
Alexandra Jamison, he quickly decides he's found his tutor. Only, he soon
discovers that the very train accident his father is blamed for causing is what
killed Alexandra Jamison's fiancé--and has shattered her world.
Spurning an arranged
marriage by her father, Alexandra instead pursues her passion for teaching at
Fisk University, the first freedmen's university in the United States. But
family--and Nashville society--do not approve, and she soon finds herself cast
out from both.
Through connections
with the Harding family, Alexandra and Sy become unlikely allies. And despite
her first impressions, Alexandra gradually finds herself coming to respect, and
even care for this man. But how can she, when her heart is still spoken for?
And when Sy's roguish qualities and adventuresome spirit smack more of
recklessness than responsibility and honor? Sylas Rutledge will risk
everything to win over the woman he loves. What he doesn't count on is having
to wager her heart to do it. With
fates bound by a shared tragedy, a reformed gambler from the Colorado Territory
and a Southern Belle bent on breaking free from society's expectations must
work together to achieve their dreams - provided the truth doesn't tear them
apart first. (picture and description at amazon)
Not sure what is up next, but I'm going to make sure it is good!
O:)
Melissa