About the Book

Book: A Not So Peaceful Journey

Author: Sandra Merville Hart

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release date: June 13, 2023

Dreams of adventure send him across the country. She prefers to keep her feet firmly planted in Ohio. 

Rennie Hill has no illusions about the hardships in life, which is why it’s so important her beau, John Welch, keeps his secure job with the newspaper. Though he hopes to write fiction, the unsteady pay would mean an end to their plans, wouldn’t it?

John Welch dreams of adventure worthy of storybooks, like Mark Twain, and when two of his short stories are published, he sees it as a sign of future success. But while he’s dreaming big with his head in the clouds, his girl has her feet firmly planted, and he can’t help wondering if she really believes in him.

When Rennie must escort a little girl to her parents’ home in San Francisco, John is forced to alter his plans to travel across the country with them. But the journey proves far more adventurous than either of them expect.

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About the Author

Sandra Merville Hart, award-winning and Amazon bestselling author of inspirational historical romances, loves to discover little-known yet fascinating facts from American history to include in her stories. Her desire is to transport her readers back in time. She is also a blogger, speaker, and conference teacher. Connect with Sandra on her blog, https://sandramervillehart.wordpress.com/.

More from Sandra

It was fun to invite readers on this book’s journey!

To those who lived in the 1880s, venturing into this newly-settled and largely-unsettled West had become much safer—though not without danger—with the system of railroads already in place. I enjoyed taking readers to Chicago, Omaha, Oakland, Ogden, and Sacramento, as well as frontier towns along the journey such as Cheyenne.

Our heroine is a telegraph operator. She temporarily leaves her job to escort a little girl to her ailing mother in San Francisco.

My research about telegraph jobs taught me quite a bit of terminology.

For example, a clatter arises when another operator “calls.” The call begins with something like “B m—X n”, which means the B m is the station receiving the call and X n is the caller.

B m must signal a reply that she’s ready to receive the call.

The Sounder receives sounds of the alphabet in dots and dashes. Some operators sent messages too rapidly to understand. When this occurs, the receiving operating asks for it again with a Break (she opens her “key” to break the circuit) and interrupts with “Please repeat.”

“G.A. the—” means “Go ahead” and “the” was the last word she understood.

Operators end every message with his/her own private “call” as well as the office’s call and “O.K.” at the end of each message.

Wired Love, which was written by telegraph operator Ella Cheever Thayer in 1879, provided many insights about the job’s daily tasks.

One of them was the lack of privacy on the lines. She can hear the messages sent to other wires but only offices on the same wire. In Wired Love, operators heard messages sent to and from twenty offices.

By the way, the public grew so fascinated with the role of women in telegraphy that it became the topic of romance novels and short stories, creating a new genre called “telegraphic romance” in the latter 1800s. That’s a little-known fun fact for you!

I enjoyed writing this series. I invite you to read the whole “Second Chances” series beginning with A Not So Convenient Marriage, Book 1, A Not So Persistent Suitor, Book 2, and A Not So Peaceful Journey, Book 3.

My Impressions

“Her feet were firmly planted on the ground. John’s head was nearer to those stars lighting the sky.”

The third book in her Second Chances series, Sandra Merville Hart captured my attention with A Not So Peaceful Journey. While set in the late 1800s, this fictional book was so real to me because of the struggle the heroine and hero go through. This novel is great for those who have been married many years and will understand the struggle, and great for soon-to-be-married or recently married who want a fun look at the harmony and understanding necessary for a couple to last.

Rennie Hill is practical, solid, and down-to-earth. She’s also very frugal with her money and has her life mapped out. Her beau, John Welch, quits his dependable job to become a writer. “If you don’t work at a job that fulfills you, every day can be drudgery.” In order to fulfill that dream, John wants to travel West.

Afraid for the future of their relationship, Rennie does everything possible to convince John to stay in Ohio. Then Rennie herself has a chance to travel West with her sister and a little girl. John decides to accompany the three, but no one could have imagined a journey like theirs.

I loved this book for the beauty of it. The cover itself is intriguing, but it is the descriptions of the land, the hotels, depots, and towns, plus the varied countryside that paints pictures in one’s mind.

Mostly, though, I loved the beauty of the growth of both Rennie and John. At the book’s beginning, their goals and aspirations are so different. This book will make you think. How different can two parts of a couple be? While no two people can be, nor should be, exactly alike, can the unity of the couple survive such differences? What part does God play in Rennie and John’s journey emotionally or any couple’s successful journey? I highly recommend this book, which can be a stand-alone.

I was gifted a copy of the book through Celebrate Lit. I also bought my own ebook. No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own.

Notable Quotables:

“We have to trust God because some things we just can’t control.”

“Rennie didn’t understand that part of him—his creative side—would die first if he wasn’t able to express himself on paper.”

“The world won’t miss what it doesn’t have.” “Then give it to them.”

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Magnificent!! Should be fun, required, pre-marital counseling reading!!

Blog Stops

lakesidelivingsite, June 14

Alena Mentink, June 14

Betti Mace, June 15

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, June 16

Texas Book-aholic, June 17

Karen Baney Reviews, June 17

Connie’s History Classroom, June 18

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, June 19

For Him and My Family, June 20

Lily’s Book Reviews, June 20

Locks, Hooks and Books, June 21

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions , June 22

Mary Hake, June 22

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, June 23

Blogging With Carol, June 24

Blossoms and Blessings, June 24

Simple Harvest Reads, June 25 (Guest Review from Donna Cline)

Cover Lover Book Review, June 26

Pause for Tales, June 27

Holly’s Book Corner, June 27

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Sandra 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/2658b/a-not-so-peaceful-journey-celebration-tour-giveaway