A Heartfelt Story of Resilience | Review of Amongst the Roses

About the Book

The War Between the States shakes Margaret Bryant out of her comfortable upper-class life when her father enlists in the Army of the Potomac. Despite being safely ensconced above the Mason-Dixon Line in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Margaret finds her strength tested by opposition from familiar faces and Confederate threats. Will she let a young man from a lesser station into her heart even as war rages ever nearer to the home front?

Restless Connor Doyle sees the war as a way to escape from his family’s farm and his identity as a poor Irishman’s son. His brother, Adam, torn between duty to country and his family, enlists alongside Connor. Adam dares to hope in a future with Margaret when he begins a courtship correspondence from the war front. The two brothers make a vow to protect one another at all costs, but when faced with death and destruction from all sides—will they be able to uphold it?

The three bloodiest days in America’s history bring these three together at Gettysburg, and tragedy’s cruelty threatens to tear two hearts apart—and bring two unlikely allies together.

Available April 12, 2018!

Pre-order on Amazon | Add to Goodreads

My Rating

Spring

My Review

One thing I appreciate the most about Meghan's books (even if it can also be a frustration!) is the authenticity of her characters. They have flaws. They have selfish tendencies and often struggle with their circumstances or the people closest to them. And yet, while it's not always fun to read their thoughts or see how they react, it also makes them human and their stories more tangible.

Amongst the Roses is not a happy-go-lucky story, but it is a heartfelt one. Vivid descriptions highlight dramatic moments and the uncertainties of a war that hit home.

I confess the book felt rather long. While tension grips the story, not every scene seems noticeably unique or memorable. The drawn-out waiting periods and continued emotional trauma definitely feel real and true to the era, but they don't always make for exciting reading... However, like I previously noted, the characters and their bumpy roads to growth are authentic, and perhaps fans of Civil War fiction (more than historical romance) will appreciate this style. :)

Regarding the premise, I will say that I didn't completely understand certain characters' motives. I don't know why so many men in one family decided to focus on the path of one adult son while neglecting the well-being of the wife and other children. But however the characters got to where they are, it leads to an emotionally layered journey.

On the romance side, it's sweet and subtle. A lot of it is indirectly expressed through thoughts and reactions to letters, as well as the growing connection those letters provide. The next installment in the series (as this is the start of a series and not a complete story in itself) seems likely to bring more drama and possibly a different sort of romance.

Amongst the Roses is a story of resilience and the beginning of an epic series of redemption. With flawed yet endearing characters, the pain and suffering of war are explored with honesty, heart, and hope yearning to bloom.

*With thanks to the author for providing me with an e-ARC of the book. I was not required to post a positive review, and these opinions are my own.*

My reviews of other books by Meghan M. Gorecki...
God's Will | Wrapped in Red

Meet the Author of It Took a War (Interview + Giveaway)

It's my pleasure to host a fellow indie author on this, the release date of her debut! Please welcome historical fiction author Emily Ann Putzke.

Emily Ann Putzke is a 19-year-old Christian homeschool graduate and history lover. Besides writing historical fiction, she enjoys photography (especially photographing her nieces and nephew), reading, spending time with her family, Civil War reenacting, traveling and a good cup of coffee. She resides in New York State, where she drinks in the beautiful autumns and tries to endure the long winters.

Connect with Emily:
Blog | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter

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Amber: Congratulations on the release of your debut, Emily, and welcome to “Seasons of Humility”! What sort of battles did you have to face as a writer to reach this place of publication?

Emily: Thank you so much for hosting me, Amber! The biggest battle I had to face was fear. I’ve always wanted to be a published author but once I started pursuing it, I was definitely afraid of what people would think and wondered if my book was good enough. I prayed a lot, repeated Jeremiah 29:11 over and over in my head, and felt that publishing my book was what God wanted me to do.

Amber: Fear seems to be a common battle among authors. You're certainly not alone! It sounds like you've found an effective and admirable way to combat it, though. :)

Your blog bio states that you’ve done some Civil War reenacting. What role did those experiences play in the story-writing process? Can you share how you got involved in reenactments?

Emily: Civil War reenacting definitely played a part in the writing process! We reenactors wake up to Reveille, just like my characters do. We eat food cooked over the fire, sleep in tents, wear authentic clothing, and do our hair in 1860’s style. We sit around the fire at night, smell the sulfur from the guns, and our heads rattle from the loud artillery and guns going off.

After seeing my first Civil War reenactment in 2009, I really wanted to reenact. It wasn't until 2012 that I actually started. A reenacting family I know took me under their wing and got me hooked on reenacting!

Amber: I'm fascinated by reenacting and role-playing. That's awesome that you've found a way to get involved! You also have a love for photography. How has that passion intertwined with the indie publishing process?

Photos by Emily Ann Putzke

Emily: I love storytelling through my photography, so that plays a part in writing books. I love the quote, “The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.” ― Dorothea Lange. Photography helps me notice small details, lighting, and facial expressions that result in descriptions I can visualize for writing.

Amber: Very cool!

This being the holiday season, I'm curious, how might your main characters, Joe and Lucas, celebrate Christmas in their day and age? And what’s one of your favorite Christmas traditions?

Emily: For Joe and Lucas, they would be away from home on Christmas during the war years. There are accounts of soldiers putting Christmas trees outside their tents and decorating it with hardtack and pork. Their families might have sent them Christmas packages. Soldiers were homesick. Families tried to be cheerful, but they were missing their husbands, brothers, and sons. Here’s an excerpt from a Christmas poem called Christmas Night of ’62 written by Confederate soldier William Gordon McCabe.

There's not a comrade here tonight

but knows that loved ones far away 

on bended knees this night will pray: 

"God bring our darling from the fight." 

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is going to church on Christmas Eve, then coming home and watching A Muppet Christmas Carol with my siblings until 2 in the morning. =)

Amber: Can readers expect more Civil War stories from you in the future?

Emily: I would love to write more Civil War stories in the future! However, the next book I’m working is a historical fiction about a German resistance group during WWII.

Thanks again for hosting me, Amber!

Amber: That's great to know you have another war story in the works. And thank you for being with us here today, Emily. Happy book birthday to you!

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About the Book

1861 - Sixteen year old Joe Roberts leads a mundane life as far as he’s concerned. His world spins in the same circle each day: working at his family’s store, taking his sisters on boyish escapades and bickering with his rogue of a cousin, Lucas. Joe can’t understand why his mother allows Lucas to live and work with them after all the pain he caused their family. When war is declared, Joe is quick to join up and become a soldier with the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteers, but war is nothing like he imagined. To make matters worse, he must endure having Lucas in the same regiment. Can Joe put the pain of the past behind him? Forgiveness is easier said than done.

Purchase the Book
Amazon (Paperback) | Amazon (Kindle)
CreateSpace
Smashwords

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Giveaway!

In honor of this occasion, Emily is giving away some awesome prizes! Hit the arrow buttons on the Rafflecopter form below to browse, and enter via the form to get your name in the hat. Giveaway is limited to US residents only.

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Civil War Heart

When given the chance at our dorm meeting last night to do some contemplating and writing, I found myself thinking about an instance I had learned about a while ago in my Civil War Era class. It was at the Battle of Stones River in late 1862. The authors of our main textbook put it well, so I'll let them set the scene for you:

"After many delays caused by cavalry raids in their rear, Rosecrans's 42,000 troops marched from Nashville the day after Christmas to confront Bragg's 36,000-strong Army of Tennessee at Murfreesboro. They found the Confederates drawn up astride Stones River, a shallow stream a mile northwest of town. On the night of December 30, the two armies bivouacked only a few hundred yards apart. Their bands engaged in a musical battle in the still winter air, one side blaring out 'Dixie' in challenge to the other's 'Yankee Doodle,' and so on. Finally, one band began to play 'Home, Sweet Home.' Others took it up until all the bands in both armies were playing and thousands of soldiers, Yankees and Rebels together, sang the familiar words. Perhaps some of them wondered at the tragic irony of a war in which they could sing together one night and butcher each other on the morrow."

(Ordeal by Fire: The Civil War and Reconstruction, 4th ed. by James M. McPherson and James K. Hogue, p. 332)

What a bitter-sweet, heart-breaking moment in history! Around 620,000 men died during the Civil War. Destruction and death were part of the results of the country's divide.

The following is a poem I wrote that was inspired by that "battle of the bands." Perhaps you're in a place like me, where you're desperately trying to grab hold of the future - symbolized by the North and progress. Or perhaps you're clinging tight to the past and all its pain or former "glory" - symbolized by the South. This poem isn't polished or perfect by any means. But I thought I would share it with you now anyway.

As C.S. Lewis noted, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” We all long for a forever Home, and nothing here on earth can satisfy that desire.

So may that night in the middle of the Civil War remind us of the beauty in an eternity far beyond and yet very near our everyday lives.

Civil War Heart

By Amber Stokes

Look away, dear brother, look away.
Sing sweet "Dixie" beneath the stars -
Not so far above the frosty, bitter ground
Where the old ways have brought you
To this moment when heartfelt discord
Chases sweet melodies away. Away.

Not so fine and dandy, dear brother,
When all you glimpse of progress -
Future - is fight and struggle, endless
Grasping at blood-soaked dirt
Where you must sleep another night
Beneath stars you never can reach.

Let those songs fade away. Away.
Tonight hold close thoughts of home,
Sweet home.
Beyond North.
Beyond South.
Beyond mere survival.
Where harmony reveals a candle
In the window not so far away.

(Ordeal by Fire cover image from Amazon.com. Stones River image from CivilWar.org - with more pictures and information on that site.)