Delia Parr's new novel Hearts Awakening is set in 1840 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and opens with Elvira Kilmer, thirty-ish spinster, trudging along the road in the early dawn to a new job.As she walks, she thinks of other women her age. Women with homes and husbands and children who are preparing breakfast near a warm fire instead of walking alone through unfamiliar territory on an icy morning. Ellie is absorbed in prayer, once again asking the Lord to help her accept the position He has given her in life, when she is startled by a wild animal and falls, tearing her cape and staining her skirt and only pair of gloves on the wild blackberry brambles she has fallen into. This was not the way she wanted to greet her potential new employer but she has no choice but to continue on the road to the home of the widower she has come to work for.
Far from being put off by her bedraggled appearance, Mr. Jackson Smith is so relieved to see her, Ellie is welcomed into his home and soon she is caring for his children and cooking and cleaning his house as he works to bring in the year's apple crop.
For respectability's sake, Jackson proposes to Ellie. He believes a marriage of convenience would be the thing to ease his children's grief and provide a safe and stable home for Ellie.
The handsome Mr. Smith and his two boys are reeling from the sudden death of his wife six months before. Plain Ellie is mourning her parents and her lost hopes and dreams of a family. They both dare to dream of happiness but do these two lost and lonely, but very different people, have a chance together?
Ellie fears that she just might fall in love with her handsome husband and then she would be in trouble. Jackson is afraid of how Ellie might react when she finds out about his past.
Join Ellie and Jackson on their journey to faith and love.
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