Book Review and Giveaway --- Katherine's Arrangement By Blossom Turner --- On Tour with Celebrate Lit

About the Book

Book:  Katherine’s Arrangement

Author: Blossom Turner

Genre:  Christian Historical Fiction

Release Date: August 4, 2020

Marrying him is her only choice to save her family, but Josiah Richardson isn’t at all the man she expected.

Katherine William’s family was left destitute when their home was burned to the ground by Yankee soldiers, so the ready solution presented by the prominent Mr. Josiah Richardson seems almost too good to believe. He’ll provide a home, work for her pa, and a new beginning for her family…if only Katherine will accept his proposal. A marriage of convenience is the last thing she wants, but there doesn’t seem to be a better option for her family or herself. Setting aside her dreams of love, Katherine agrees to the arrangement.

The gentleman in Josiah Richardson can no more force his frightened bride into his bed, than he can force her into loving him, so he sets out to gently woo her. He works hard to befriend her, to earn her trust and win her love.

Katherine is pleasantly surprised to find herself drawn to the man she thought she would never love, until an unexpected friendship tears apart all they’ve worked for. Where once the promise of love had budded between Josiah and Katherine, now they wonder what to do with their so-called marriage. Is love strong enough to weave its healing power through two broken hearts?

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

 

 

About the Author

Blossom Turner is a freelance writer published in Chicken Soup and Kernels of Hope anthologies, former newspaper columnist on health and fitness, an avid blogger, and author. Her authentic understanding of the power of love is woven through the pages of Book One in the Shenandoah Bride series—Katherine’s Arrangement. She and her husband, David, have two grown children and live in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. Read more at blossomturner.com.

 

 

 

 

More from Blossom

From the time I was a little girl I had a love for reading, a wild imagination, and the desire to write. At twelve, I received my first Bible and read all the way through a King James Version. My love for Jesus was cemented. I day-dreamed of a Cinderella happily-ever-after story. The traumatic childhood I was living in was gentled by the dream of being whisked away by a handsome prince and truly loved. Put that all together, and the building blocks for writing romantic fiction are all in place.

But how did I get to writing historical romance? Well that was for one reason only…I loved reading stories of arranged marriages and wanted to write one. The drama, the tension, the love that can flourish out of nothing, I just loved the concept but…the scenario had to be believable to me. Thus, the wheels of imagination started turning. What better than right after the Civil War, in the Shenandoah Valley where houses were burned and people left destitute? I’m Canadian and had a smattering of knowledge of that time period, so had to do extensive research to pull it off. To be historically accurate was much more difficult than writing my first novel, Anna’s Secret, set in today’s era. Now I am hooked on writing historical romance. I’m both a sensitive and an old soul and it fits my personality perfectly. Who knew? God did.

I think when you read Katherine’s Arrangement, you will agree that the drama that brings this couple together is both believable and engaging. I am so excited to write this five-book series on five sisters and their love stories, as I come from a large family with six sisters and one brother. I write from family dynamics I know all about.

The reason I write is two-fold. I believe when writing fiction that one must deliver a love story that touches the heart, that draws people in, that makes them both laugh and cry. The entertainment value must be there. Then, I weave in my love for Jesus in a non-preachy, realistic way, with the hopes and failures of everyday people. The resounding theme in Katherine’s Arrangement is that God can work all things for good when we choose to place our life in His trustworthy hands. It is uncanny how love can grow in the fertile soil of good choices. But don’t be fooled, as with most of us, Katherine had to go through her gamut of bad choices before she surrendered.

I pray you will find a little bit of your story in Katherine’s story, and that, above all, you will enjoy the read.

My Thoughts

This is the first book that I have read by this author. This is also the first book of two of the Shenandoah Bride Series. I love marriage of convenience books. 

In this book we meet Katherine. Like many, they lost everything in the Civil War. Their home and land was burned and they were left destitute. This was a time period where many had to start over. In Katherine's case, she has a marriage proposal. Josiah will provide Katherine with a home and work for her father. Katherine is hesitant at first, because this is not how she envisioned getting married. However, she knows for the good of her family, she has to accept. 

Josiah is such a gentleman. i loved his character. His colored employee, Deliah is another favorite. I love how he is fair to her.  He knows he cannot force her to be his wife in all aspects. (there are mentions of various sins and some strong intimacy references) He sets out to win her friendship and then her heart. He courts her. He tries to win her over. Will it work?

This book has well written characters. I loved how the author has wrote them. I felt that it was historically accurate. The plot grabbed my attention and kept it throughout the entire book. 

I received a copy of this book through the Celebrate Lit blogging program. All thoughts are my own. 

Blog Stops

Inklings and notions, August 4

lakesidelivingsite, August 4

Locks, Hooks and Books, August 5

For Him and My Family, August 6

21st Century Keeper at Home, August 6

Texas Book-aholic, August 7

Ashley’s Bookshelf, August 8

deb’s Book Review, August 8

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, August 9

Betti Mace, August 10

reviewingbooksplusmore, August 10

Artistic Nobody, August 11 (Guest Review from Joni Truex)

Connie’s History Classroom, August 12

Read Review Rejoice, August 12

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, August 13

Splashes of Joy, August 14

Pause for Tales, August 15

Happily Managing a Household of the Boys, August 16

Where Crisis & Christ Collide, August 16

Simple Harvest Reads, August 17 (Guest Review from Donna Cline)

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Blossom is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/fe96/katherine-s-arrangement-celebration-tour-giveaway

Elizabeth Van Lew -- Union Spy

Elizabeth Van Lew is one of my favorite Civil War Spies -- She was so intriguing to read about - and I loved every moment of her. Ms. Van Lew, along with other women that risked their lives inspired my story that I am working on currently. 

In regards to the American Civil War one of the most effective Union Spies was Elizabeth Van Lew. Van Lew was born on October 25, 1818. She was born in Richmond, Virginia. She was sent to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to obtain her Quaker schooling and she inherited a lot of her Northern sympathies. When she returned home from schooling, “"Slave power," she wrote in her diary, "is arrogant, is jealous and intrusive, is cruel, is despotic." Outspoken and rebellious, she appeared to her neighbors to be more than a little eccentric and soon became known as "Crazy Bet."[1] Once her father passed, her mother and Van Lew freed some of their slaves. Van Lew would then with her mother aid the Northern cause.

Van Lew’s parents were Northerners and once they were married they had moved to Richmond. This was one of the reasons that Van Lew had a Northern Education. This education since was primarily Quaker run, leaned toward abolitionist teachings. These would stay with her always and she would stay connected with the Quakers.

A heart changing experience was during a visit to Hot Springs. Van Lew, who was also called Miss Lizzie, was hanging out with the daughter of a slave trader. The girl was telling Miss Lizzie about some of her father’s experiences as a slave trader. She mentioned how they had recently sold a slave mother and baby on the slave market. When the mother was sold to one master and the baby to another the mother fell over and died. This was a defining moment in her life.

“What a memorable day was the 17^th of April 1861. How can I describe my feelings when on my way down town, looking towards the Capitol, I saw the flag of treason floating over it. [Government] John Letcher surrendered the State.”[2] She was very saddened to see all the anti-Union support. Since she was living in a border state she had been hoping that they would not be a state that would secede. She knew that she had to aid the Union.

 After the secession of the Southern States and the Confederate States of America were created those who supported the Union lived in fear. They would live in uncertainty of their own future. They knew that with the secession war would be imminent. Mobs would go into private houses and attack the loyalists to the Union. The loyalty to the Union was now considered treason and families’ names were cursed and slandered.

At this point the Van Lews were known to be staunch supporters of the Union. Their defiance and resistance to embrace the Confederacy would result in personal threats against them. They knew they had to rethink things to not lose everything. “The Van Lews quickly realized their mistake. To avoid deportation, imprisonment, and even possible execution, they had to lead a double life: pretend loyalty the cause while praying and working for the Union. They took flowers and religions books to the South Carolinians at the fairgrounds.”[3] This worked. The threats ceased toward the Van Lew family for a while.

Van Lew “would send valuable intelligence to Union officers, provide food and medicine to prisoners of war and help plan their escapes, and run her own network of spies. “She is considered the most successful Federal spy of the war,” said William Rasmussen, lead curator at the Virginia Historical Society.”[4]  Once her father died, Elizabeth and her mother freed all the family slaves. Several stayed on to work for the Van Lews. One in particular, helped work in the network of spies that Van Lew had created.

One of the things that Van Lew would involve herself in is making sure that Union Prisoners were treated fairly. The prisoners were fellow loyalists that needed help and could be valuable sources. They could provide information on the strength, position, information on resources of the Confederate Army. She knew that she had to find out a way to get the intelligence and get it to the Federal Authorities.

Once she was able to gain access to the prison, which she did so by baking sweets and treats for prison officials, she set right to work trying to get information. Prisoners soon learned to communicate by underlying words in books. The underlined words would be reviewed and strung together to make a code. Van Lew then learned that she could drain the contents of an egg and fill it with little slips of paper that would contain messages. Once suspicion fell on them again they had to show their Southern colors to cast suspicion off of them.

After a trip with her friend in the Van Lews’ carriage to U.S. Congressman John Minor Bott’s farm, the Union would realize what an asset they had in Van Lew. She dove deeper into helping within the prison. Her aid was no longer tolerated so she had to become more creative. She was able to influence surgeons to place prisoners in hospitals where some of her servants worked. This allowed her servants to visit them and give them food. She would be able to pass information through secret space in custard dishes. The prisoners would send messages back through the same dishes.

One of the biggest boldest moves that Van Lew was involved with was helping Erasmus Ross (who was the nephew of a Union sympathizer) obtain a position in the Libby Prison. This would allow her to create and forge a bond with prisoners that were housed there. One of the courier/helpers, a young 15 year old girl named Josephine helped in a daring move. Union Captain Harry S. Howard and assistant surgeon John R. McCullough were in Libby Prison being treated for minor injuries and illnesses. Josephine brought a pouch of fine Virginia Tobacco with a note in the bottom of it that said “would you like to be free? Then be prepared to act. Meet me tomorrow”.

Josephine and McCullough created a plan to put into action. Howard helped McCullough pretend to be dead. Howard covered him with a blanket and they carried him to a makeshift morgue. McCullough laid there from midday until dusk. After a distraction by other inmates, McCullough and Howard walked right out of the hospital and met Josephine. They were successful due to the help of Elizabeth Van Lew.

She eventually moved into assisting Captain Howard. They knew she was capable and careful. They wanted her to be head of Butler’s spy network which she gratefully accepted. She then had to learn how to cipher messages and would carry a cipher key with her.

She had set up five relay stations that were set up between Richmond and City Point (Grant’s headquarters). Couriers would pick up the messages from Van Lew and take them to one of these relay points where another courier would meet them and continue the journey. These relay points could have been anywhere, such as a vegetable farm on the edge of the city. Information that was passed through these relay stations were able to help Union Major General Philip H. Sheridan launch a series of attacks through and around Shenandoah Valley.

Ulysses S. Grant who was named general in chief of Union Armies in 1864 by President Lincoln was forever indebted to Van Lew. Her intelligence that she and gathered and the couriers that she managed were efficient and helpful.

---

[1] "Elizabeth Van Lew Biography." Elizabeth Van Lew Biography. Accessed July 5, 2016. http://www.civilwarhome.com/vanlewbio.html.

[2] L., Van Lew Elizabeth, and David D. Ryan. A Yankee Spy in Richmond: The Civil War Diary of "Crazy Bet" Van Lew. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1996. Pg. 31

[3] Winkler, H. Donald. Stealing Secrets: How a Few Daring Women Deceived Generals, Impacted Battles, and Altered the Course of the Civil War. Naperville, IL: Cumberland House, 2010.

[4] "Elizabeth Van Lew: An Unlikely Union Spy." Smithsonian. Accessed April 23, 2016. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/elizabeth-van-lew-an-unlikely-union-spy-158755584/?no-ist.

Women and African American Spies in the Civil War

I love the Civil War. I love reading, watching, learning and everything else that goes along with it. It was a war that is so misunderstood today. It is a war that textbooks do not even touch the surface of. 

When I started preparing ideas for my capstones I had read a book that was called "Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War" It is written by Karen Abbott. It was fascinating to read about these women that risked their lives and their families. I find it fascinating how they were able to put on different hats and charm their way to top secret information. This part of my capstone gives some presentation and background into Spy activities during the Civil War. 

            The American Civil War is one of the most written about pieces of history. Some would call it the last old-fashioned war, and others would call it the first modern war. Brother against brother, father against son, families split down the Mason-Dixon Line. There has been a lot of literature that was written about the reasons and causes leading up to the war, the succession, the generals, the battles and the reconstruction era. It has been difficult to accurately describe the intelligence war between the North and the South.

“The chronicling of Civil War intelligence activities challenges historians because of the lack of records, the lack of access to records, and the questionable truth of other records.”[1] The Confederate Secretary of state, Judah P. Benjamin had burned all the intelligence records before the federal troops entered Richmond. There was a lot of other personal papers that were destroyed. Some wrote memoirs and stretched their adventures. There are some identities that went to the grave.

The Confederates utilized the Confederacy’s Signal Corps. This was the group that would deal with communication and intercepts. They would also use drums, banners and trumpets to be able to communicate on the battlefield. A branch of the Signal Corps had a branch that was responsible for “espionage and counter-espionage operations in the North. Late in the war, the bureau set up a secret headquarters in Canada and sent out operatives on covert missions in Northern states.”[2]

The Confederate Signal Corps would be the ones that would set up the first covert intelligence operation that was known as the Secret Service Bureau. This is the department that would handle the passing of the coded messages from Richmond to the North.

The Union Army also utilized Signal Corps.  The Union’s Intelligence agency was ran by Allan Pinkerton. “Pinkerton later called himself “Chief of the United States Secret Service.”[3] Pinkerton would gather intelligence for General George B. McClellan, who was responsible for setting up the United States Secret Service. From this branch there were individuals that worked with a network of individuals that would reach out and collect, intercept, and report.

There has been a lot of literature that has been focused on spying during the Civil War. The valuable information can be found in memoirs, letters, and journals that have been left behind. After the Civil War, Pinkerton Detective agency founder, Allan Pinkerton wrote: The Spy of the Rebellion: A first-hand account of Civil War Espionage – told by the famous head of the Union Intelligence Service. In his work, he tells the stories of some of the information that was uncovered due to spying during the Civil War. He is able to give a true, accurate history of the spy system during the latter part of the Civil War. In this work I have been able to put pieces together and connect stories or people that have been mentioned in passing during some of the other research.

            Early on in the war Pinkerton would realize something: “Pinkerton, meanwhile, was developing a different view of espionage, pursuing what today would be called actionable intelligence. He realized that when the war began, the Confederacy had agents-in-place in Washington, while Northerners had few assets in Richmond. Pinkerton knew he had to establish a counterintelligence presence in Washington—and that he had to get agents into Richmond.”[4] One of the things that the North had to try and figure out was who had infiltrated. These people would have to cover their scent and tracks to be able throw off suspicion.

            Another obstacle that the Union Army would have to overcome is the rural landscaping they were marching through. The Confederates had this advantage. “They were a hardy outdoor breed, primarily rural, accustomed to horses, to firearms and to outdoor life. Federal Soldiers, largely town and city bred often had to be taught to shoot, stay on a horse, March, camp and live in the open.”[5] Since the Rebel Army was already familiar with the landscape, the area, the terrain, the Rebel spies were also going to be move around easily.

            “For Confederates planning espionage against the North, Washington looked like an ideal site: a city 60 miles south of the Mason-Dixon Line, adjacent to slave-holding states, and full of Southern sympathizers. Many of them were in Congress or in the federal bureaucracy, and had access to valuable intelligence. All recruiters had to do was find among them the men and women who would have the courage and the skill to act as reliable agents.”[6] They would have to network with other sympathizers to be able to establish their networks. Washington was center to the Union Army’s operations. It would be an important place to be able to collect espionage. The earliest known recruiter for Confederate Espionage was Governor John Letcher of Virginia. He was able to lay the foundation to start the work in Washington.

Civil War Spies

Unlike the American Revolution there was no set spy rings. Many of those that were involved in espionage did so individually with a few others that were involve. While there are several spies that served their respective government during the war, the four that will be looked at are: Union Spies: Elizabeth Van Lew, Harriet Tubman and Mary Bowser, and Confederate Spies:  Belle Boyd and Rose O’Neal Greenhow.

           

---

[1] Allen, Thomas. Intelligence in the American Civil War. New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc., 2010. EBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed July 9, 2016). Pg. 1

[2] Ibid. Pg. 1

[3] Ibid. Pg. 21

[4] Ibid. Pg. 24

[5] Bakeless, John. Spies of the Confederacy. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1970. Pg. 1

[6] Intelligence in the Civil War. Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence Agency, 2005. Pg. 11