About the Book
Book: Tides of Healing
Author: Sandra Merville Hart
Genre: Christian Historical Romance
Release date: February 11, 2025
A Southern belle fights to reclaim her home, but will her spying destroy the Union officer she never meant to love?
Savannah Adair has endured the unimaginable, hiding in a cave while her beloved Vicksburg was under siege. With the city now occupied by Union soldiers, Savannah cannot stand by and do nothing. So when one of the gaunt, half-starved Confederate prisoners asks her to spy for the South, she can’t refuse the chance to take back her home.
First Lieutenant Travis Lawson takes pride in the Union army’s hard-fought victory, but he quickly realizes that the challenges of rebuilding and reconciliation are just beginning . . . and not everyone is appreciative of changes he’s making. Namely, the fiery and alluring Savannah Adair. Despite their differing loyalties and the societal divide between them, Travis cannot deny the growing feelings he has for her. When he is tasked with finding Southern spies in Vicksburg and he captures a female spy, Travis is forced to consider that the woman he’s beginning to love may be the enemy.
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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.
More from Sandra
As I typed away on this final book in my Spies of the Civil War Series, it felt as if I’d written the entire series to tell this story.
Previously, I had felt a similar importance of an as yet unpublished two-book contemporary series, but the sense that the whole series climaxed with the final book was as surprising as it was welcome.
Because it seemed as if everything that happened in all the earlier books culminated in Book 6 for me as an author. Its significance reverberated in my soul while still researching the events…and weeks before I sat to pen the first page, the first paragraph, the first sentence.
That sense of importance made this book difficult to begin. The early chapters took far longer to write than normal.
I believe that those who only read Tides of Healing will have a satisfying, complete story. Those who read the entire series in order—or at least Books 4-6 set in Vicksburg—will experience a deeper impact as the characters’ stories build on one another.
There is a song in Tides of Healing. As an author, the impact of the lyrics within the story preceded it, meaning that I knew a certain song would play a significant role while still in the research phase.
Let me explain.
When I’m researching a story, I read a variety of nonfiction resources including diaries, journals, and newspaper accounts. My research for Vicksburg during the Civil War led me to song lyrics written by the enslaved.
African American Spirituals, also called Negro Spirituals, were sung before and after the Civil War. These Christian songs served a variety of purposes beyond bolstering hope and faith during dark days. They told stories about Biblical characters like Moses. Some comforted the sorrowful and some rejoiced with the joyful. They were sung in churches, in camp meetings, and in the fields.
They often contained secret messages. “Home” in a song can refer to Heaven, but the secret meaning was a free country. Author Frederick Douglas had been a former slave. He wrote that the lyrics to “O Canaan, Sweet Canaan” signified more than a hope of Heaven. Repeated singing of the lyrics “I am bound for the land of Canaan” announced an intention to go North, their Canaan.
The Underground Railroad is a theme in Tides of Healing. In 1828, Reverend John Rankin built his home on a hill overlooking the Ohio River in Ripley, Ohio. As a station on the Underground Railroad, this home was easily seen from the opposite side of the river in the slave state of Kentucky. Runaways waited for a boat to take them across the river.
It surprised me to learn that the lyrics of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” are about this station. “I looked over Jordan and what did I see?” refers to the Ohio River. The band of angels are people who rowed them across the wide river to the free state of Ohio.
Neither of these songs is referenced in Tides of Healing. The tune that is in my story was a popular spiritual leading up to the war. I listened to it many times. The message took root in my heart long before it affected my characters.
My research trip to Vicksburg’s battlefield and museums inspired the writing of Streams of Courage, Book 4, River of Peril, Book 5, and Tides of Healing, Book 6.
Avenue of Betrayal, Book 1, is set in the Union capital of Washington City (Washington DC) in 1861, where a surprising number of Confederate sympathizers and spies lived. Boulevard of Confusion and Byway to Danger are set in Richmond, the Confederate capital in 1862. Actual historical spies touch the lives of our fictional family. The heroines in Books 1 – 3 are two sisters and their cousins. Another set of characters begin with Book 4, and three friends are the heroines in Books 4 -6.
Through both real and fictional characters, this series highlights activities spies were involved in and some of the motives behind their decisions.
I invite you to read the whole Spies of the Civil War Series!
My Impressions
“Anger at the Yankee who’d brought this calamity boiled up inside Savannah. Papa wasn’t here to fight for them. The South’s soldiers might have surrendered—she would not.”
Tides of Healing: Spies of the Civil War Bk 6 by Sandra Merville Hart, is the needed conclusion to this series. As one who has been reading this series from its inception, I especially wanted to see each couple in this circle of friends in books 4-6 find their happy ending. Hart finally circles back to Savannah Adair, whose boyfriend Willie has died shortly after mustering into the Southern army. With her father often away on business and her mother’s only skills involving entertaining, Savannah discovers it is she who must work for her family’s survival in defeated Vicksburg.
Savannah wishes for a return to life as it was before the siege and defeat of the city. She first meets Union officer First Lt. Travis Lawson as he joyfully tells any Black person he sees that they are now free. Watching her own slaves immediately leave, Savannah begins to look for ways to protest the occupation of her city and win it back for the South. Little does she foresee that the many interactions she and her mother will have with a certain compassionate lieutenant will cause her to lose her heart. But the real question will be- will she prove loyal to her city and the South or to the handsome and kind-to-a-fault Northern lieutenant?
I loved the great amount of history that Hart imparts in her novel. Characters are very relatable. I loved seeing the growth in the characters, although the title says it well- Tides of Healing. Like waves of the sea, emotions tumble back and forth, bitter one moment, thankful the next. Angry, then interested in the opposite sex, resentful, then resilient. How I loved seeing the different relationships grow and change. Obviously, we see Travis and Savannah foremost, but I liked seeing both Savannah’s parents soften. We also see a couple of sworn enemies and those who have every right to be enemies decide to let God’s love overcome incredible mountains of hurt.
Childhood traumatic memories have shaped both Savannah and Travis. Savannah refuses to ask her Heavenly Father for anything big. Travis tells her,
“One day, you’ll need to pray a big prayer. Please don’t be afraid to ask. He’ll decide whether to say ‘no’ or ‘yes’ or ‘wait a while.’ Pray and leave it up to God.”
Travis believes himself responsible for an event he had no control over. This not only shapes his political leanings, but causes him years of anguish.
My fave secondary characters are Ellen and Michael. Ellen because she loves with a love that covers over a multitude of wrongs. Michael…well, you’ll have to read to see why he’s special! I definitely have some questions about that man!😊
I received a copy of the book from Celebrate Lit. I also bought my own copy. No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own.
Notable Quotables:
“Your Heavenly Father loves you so much. He hears every prayer, even the ones only our hearts whisper.”
“She didn’t pray now. The outcome was too important.”
“Hunger couldn’t afford pride.”
“I long for the days before the world went mad…”
My Rating
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Magnificent! Hart touches the heartstrings and you will find yourself heartsick over many incidents, saddened how war can be so divisive.
Blog Stops
Bizwings Book Blog, February 26
Holly’s Book Corner, February 27
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, February 27
Locks, Hooks and Books, February 28
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, March 1
Pause for Tales, March 2
Texas Book-aholic, March 2
Devoted To Hope, March 3
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, March 4
Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, March 5
Betti Mace, March 5
Life on Chickadee Lane, March 6
Cover Lover Book Review, March 7
Books You Can Feel Good About, March 8
Connie’s History Classroom, March 9
For HIm and My Family, March 10
Stories By Gina, March 11 (Author Interview)
Blossoms and Blessings, March 11
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Sandra is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon card!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
Connilyn Cossette is the Carol Award Winning and ECPA Bestselling author of the Out from Egypt Series and the Cities of Refuge Series from Bethany House Publishers. When she’s not engulfed in the happy chaos of homeschooling two teenagers, devouring books whole, or avoiding housework, she can be found digging into the rich ancient world of the Bible. She delights in discovering new gems of grace that point to Jesus and weaving them into an immersive fiction experience. Connect with her at 
Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions 