Sing in the Sunlight

By Kathleen Denly

Description:

Richard Stevens isn't who he thinks he is. Neither is the woman who now claims his last name.



Disfiguring scars stole Clarinda Humphrey's singing career, her home, and her family, but she refuses to let her appearance steal her future. While attending The Young Ladies Seminary in 1858 Benicia, California, she finds a man who promises to love and cherish her. Instead he betrays her, leaving her with child, and Clarinda must take drastic measures to ensure her child doesn't suffer for her foolishness.



Richard Stevens's life hasn't turned out as he expected, and when a shocking letter turns even his past into a mystery, he travels to San Francisco in search of guidance. On the way, he encounters a mysterious young woman hiding beneath a veil. That night he experiences a dream that sends him on a quest to find the bride God has chosen for him. He never imagines she's already told everyone they're married.



Unwilling to lie, nor accept a marriage of mere convenience, Richard wants the real thing. Yet Clarinda's not interested in love, only a chance to save her child. Can he help her rise above the pain that runs deeper than her scars to accept a love worth every risk?

Book Takeaway:

God works in mysterious ways, but we can always rely on Him to work together all things for the good of those who love Him.

Why the author wrote this book:

This book was inspired by a combination of important elements in my life.

First and foremost, the heroine was inspired by my adopted daughter who bears scars similar to the heroine's scars (though attained at a much younger age and through a different event). While not everyone has such scars, all of us have something we'd like to change about ourselves that we may be tempted to hide from the world.

The theme of singing comes from a lifetime of praising our Lord which began with watching the older women in my family gather around the nearest piano to sing His praise anytime they were together.

The historical elements (too numerous to list here) were discovered while researching my first book in the series, Waltz in Wilderness. Of special note are the inclusion of the first women's college west of the Rockies, the beginning of the Overland Mail Route, and the only hurricane to ever strike California's coast.

In the end, I wrote this book for the same reason I write all of my novels--to entertain, encourage, and inspire. It is my hope that readers walk away from my novels with a new perspective of their relationship with God and their value as His child.