A Rebel Heart

White (The Pelican Bride) bridges Union and Confederate in this charming post-Civil War inspirational romance. In 1870, Selah Daughtry is single and struggling to support herself and her two younger sisters on their family plantation outside of Oxford, Miss. Everything changes when Selah is rescued during a train accident by Yankee Levi Riggins, who claims to be traveling to Mississippi as a hotel management agent for the railroad. In fact, Levi is a Pinkerton detective investigating several train robberies whose perpetrators have slipped away near her plantation. Despite instructions to investigate the plantation and his initial suspicions of Selah, Levi is attracted to her. Desperate to keep the family plantation, she agrees to his plan to develop the run-down estate into a glamorous hotel, completely unaware that Levi only proposed the idea as a way to keep his cover as he continues to search for the robbers. In an effort to mend the prejudice that haunts the town, Levi hires ex-slaves to revamp the plantation and run the hotel. When Levi realizes that he has a true connection to Selah and the town, he cannot bring himself to reveal his secret. But when Selah finds out on her own, her powers of forgiveness are put to the test and she must turn to her faith for answers. White weaves together romance, mystery, and a large amount of reconstruction-era detail in this valuable tale of love and forgiveness. (June)