This three-in-one collection tells the love stories of three women living in three very different times across the state.  Lauralee Bliss’ novella, Journey to Love, begins in London, where Beth Colman has just buried her father.   With nothing left for her in Britain, she sets out for America in 1650 with Judith, her sister, and Mark, Judith’s husband.  The trio is trying to solve the mystery of their ancestors who were some of the original settlers of the lost colony of Roanoke, but Beth is looking for more.  Guided by her strong faith, and the hardy John Harris who knows the country well, she just might find love during the journey.

In Lynn A. Coleman’s Corduroy Road to Love, Ida Mae McAuley is strong, single woman with a brilliant mind for business living in 1830s Charlotte.  She’s caught between the affection of two men, both of whom are hiding something.  Ida Mae must use her keen sense to figure out who she’ll trust with her heart.

Tamela Hancock Murray tells the story of a Drusie, a small town singer in the 1930s in her novella The Music of Home.  Drusie is happy and successful in Sunshine Holler – she’s engaged to the love of her life, Gladdie Gordon, and sings at Church on Sunday with her sister.  When Drusie is given the chance to risk it all and enter showbiz, will Drusie leave her mountain home and loved ones behind?

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: September 4th, 2009 under 2000-, 2007, Bliss, Lauralee, Coast, Coleman, Lynn A., Dare, Historical, Mecklenburg, Mountains, Murray, Tamela Hancock, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Piedmont, Religious/Inspirational, Romance/Relationship.
Comments: none

This volume contains the first five books in the Mandie series of children’s books set in the early 20th century. The main character, Amanda “Mandie” Shaw, lives in the Nantahala Mountains with her family, where she goes adventuring and solves mysteries. In the first few books, Mandie is helped by her best friend Joe Woodward.  She meets another helpful pal, Celia Hamilton, after she is sent to boarding school in Asheville. Mandie’s cat, Snowball, also makes frequent appearances in the books.  Recurring themes in the books are Mandie’s attempts to behave properly, her Christian faith, and her partial-Cherokee background.  Titles included in this volume include: Mandie and the Secret Tunnel, Mandie and the Cherokee Legend, Mandie and the Ghost Bandits, Mandie and the Forbidden Attic, and Mandie and the Trunk’s Secret.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: August 31st, 2009 under 2000-, 2007, Buncombe, Children & Young Adults, Leppard, Lois Gladys, Mountains, Mystery, Novels in Series, Religious/Inspirational, Swain.
Comments: 2

The two cousins who come to stay with their aunt in Maiden, North Carolina couldn’t be more different. Selene is a beautiful, but shallow, flapper.  After his wife died, Selene’s wealthy father gallivanted around the world, leaving Selene in the care of governesses and other hired help.  When Selene finds herself pregnant, she is sent to live with her Aunt Louisa until the baby is born.  Selene’s country-mouse cousin, Hestia, is already in Maiden, caring for Aunt Louisa after the older woman breaks her hip.  The two cousin clash–about styles, leisure time pursuits, values, and the handsome Booth Barrington.  Selene sees Booth as the solution to her awkward situation.  Given how wickedly he tormented her when they were children, Hestia is surprised to see what a fine man Booth has become.  She’s now drawn to him because of his good looks and Christian values, but she feels she is no match for Selene.  As the fall turns into winter, the main characters learn from Aunt Louisa, her friends, and other good people in the little town.  When spring arrives both Selene and Hestia have made peace with the past and found love.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: July 24th, 2009 under 2000-, 2009, Catawba, Murray, Tamela Hancock, Piedmont, Religious/Inspirational, Romance/Relationship.
Comments: none

Like a number of other fictional heroines, Deena Livingston retreats to the North Carolina mountains after her heart is broken in the big city.  Deena plans to keep to herself as she sorts out her life, but her late grandfather has made other plans for her.  Deena can have Grandpa Ernest’s cabin and a small inheritance if she works six months in the after-school and summer programs that grandpa funded at the local Presbyterian church.  Teaching cooking to preteens takes Deena into new emotional territory.  Learning about the troubled histories of these children and seeing their potential prompts Deena to put her own problems into perspective.  Her growth is helped along by two brothers, Jonas and Zack, one of whom provides the romantic interest.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: July 6th, 2009 under 2000-, 2009, Mountains, Religious/Inspirational, Romance/Relationship, Swain, Wisler, Alice J..
Comments: none

Although Katie and Mayme are only teenagers, they are trying to run the Rosewood Plantation on their own and convince everyone in the nearby town of Greens Crossing that nothing is amiss. Under their watch, Rosewood becomes a sanctuary for several other young women in trouble, including a girl whose mother died when she and her daughter were fleeing her abusive husband, and an ex-slave who is hiding herself and her new baby from a cruel former master. Throughout the novel the four girls struggle to survive, keep one step ahead of those who would harm them, and find a way to pay the bank loans against the property. A Day to Pick Your Own Cotton is the the second book of the historical, faith-based Shenandoah Sisters series.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: June 19th, 2009 under 2000-, 2003, Historical, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Novels in Series, Phillips, Michael, Piedmont, Religious/Inspirational.
Comments: none

I’m writing this in late April, the time of the year when North Carolina is its most alluring.  Betty Headapohl puts that allure in print in this novel about a woman in need of renewal. Anne Duvall has been feeling numb since the death of her husband, but as soon as she arrives in the mountains outside of Asheville, she begins to come alive. The mountain scenery and the good, friendly folks all make her feel that she could make a home here.  And then there’s that handsome minister Jubal Turner.  There are no surprises in this Christian romance, just a satisfying story of love and healing.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: May 21st, 2009 under 1980-1989, 1987, Headapohl, Betty R., Mountains, Religious/Inspirational, Romance/Relationship.
Comments: none

It’s easy to loose faith in yourself and faith in God’s goodness when your marriage breaks up.  When Yvonne Fountain Copeland’s husband of fifteen years leaves her for no good reason, Yvonne is shattered.  Yvonne takes her two daughters from Richmond and moves back to her hometown of Durham.  There she finds a nurturing family, a mixed community of sinners and faith-filled people, and the handsome Curtis Parker.  Coach Parker is the successful basketball coach at a local university.  As Yvonne and Curtis fall in love they also come to realize that they need to give God a more central place in their lives.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: April 26th, 2009 under 2000-, 2009, Bowen, Michele Andrea, Durham, Piedmont, Religious/Inspirational, Romance/Relationship.
Comments: none

In the second of the Mitford novels, Father Tim must deal with a variety of women in his life. The recently widowed Edith Mallory is pursuing him in a not-so-subtle manner that includes delivering delicious casseroles to his home. The life-long bachelor doesn’t mind the food, but he is in love with someone else: his neighbor, the lovely children’s book author Cynthia Coppersmith. Unfortunately, he isn’t sure how to proceed on that front. He also has his bossy assistant Edith meddling in his life and a mysterious female cousin from Ireland comes to stay in his house. Barnabas the unruly dog also makes appearances, as does young Dooley, whose troubles at school distress Tim.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library Catalog.

Posted: April 21st, 2009 under 1990-1999, 1995, Karon, Jan, Mountains, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Novels in Series, Religious/Inspirational, Romance/Relationship.
Comments: none

We each react in our own way to the misfortunes that befall us.  Artist Matthew MacEwen risked his life to save a young girl from the flames of a wrecked plane.  Was he aware that he might die in the rescue and, if so, did he intend to take that risk?  When he ends up alive, but with scarred hands that end his career as an artist, he has to struggle to overcome bitterness. He returns to the mountains of North Carolina where he builds a new life as an art teacher and a rafting instructor.  His scarred hands have also kept him from dating.  When a beautiful young woman comes to his rafting camp, he is drawn to her.   Little does Matthew know that this beautiful woman is tied to the tragedy in his past.  In this short novel, Matthew and Christine hope that God will to lead them to a better life, a life together.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: April 19th, 2009 under 2000-, 2003, Graham, Lehman, Yvonne, Mountains, Religious/Inspirational, Romance/Relationship, Swain.
Comments: none

When Josie Mitchell left her mountain home six years ago she never intended to return. But it has been a rough couple of years at her family’s Blue Ridge Apple Orchard.  When Josie finds out that her sister is pregnant with twins she heads back to help out…and to try and convince her sister to sell the business. Her visit is marked by unresolved guilt, secrets that she feels she cannot share, and tension with the attractive orchard manager, Grady.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: April 17th, 2009 under 2000-, 2008, Hunter, Denise, Mountains, Religious/Inspirational, Romance/Relationship.
Comments: none