About this item
Readers loved Rachel's Secret, the first book in BJ Hoff's wildly popular new series, The Riverhaven Years, and are eagerly awaiting the continuing story of young Amish widow, Rachel Brenneman, and Irish-American riverboat captain, Jeremiah Gant.In Where Grace Abides, the compelling second book in the series, Hoff offers her readers an even closer look at the Amish community of Riverhaven and the people who live and love and work there. Secrets, treachery, and persecution are only a few of the challenges that test Rachel's faith and her love for the forbidden "outsider," while Gant's own hopes and dreams are dealt a life-changing blow, rendering the vow he made to Rachel seemingly impossible to honor.Many of the other characters first introduced in Rachel's Secret now find their gentle, unassuming lives of faith jeopardized by a malicious outside influence. At the same time, those striving to help runaway slaves escape to freedom through the Underground Railroad face deception and the danger of discovery.All the elements readers have come to expect from author BJ Hoff (romance, drama, great characters) join together in Where Grace Abides to fill the pages with a tender, endearing love story and a bold, inspiring journey of faith.
About the Author
BJ Hoff's writing is known for her historical settings, her unforgettable characters, and her lyrical prose. She is the bestselling author of numerous historical fiction series, including the Riverhaven Years, the Mountain Song Legacy, the Song of Erin saga, the American Anthem series, and An Emerald Ballad series.
Her five-volume Emerald Ballad series was the first major work of fiction to bring the Irish immigration experience to the CBA marketplace-and the work that first brought BJ an international reading audience.
Her readers know they can expect to meet some memorable people in her novels and also know that many of those people will be immigrants-Irish immigrants particularly but not exclusively.
BJ admits to a passion for "building worlds." Whether her characters move about in small country towns or metropolitan areas, reside in Amish settlements, secluded mansions, or coal company houses, she creates communities where people can form relationships, raise families, pursue their faith, and experience the mountains and valleys of life.
She's intent on making her historical novels relevant to the present by developing characters and settings that, while staying true to the history and culture of their times, reflect many of the spiritual trials and social problems faced by contemporary readers. Her novels are meant to be "stories that build a bridge from the past to the present."
Her literary awards include the Christianity Today's Critics Choice Book Award for fiction; a Gold Medallion Award finalist; and a number of Excellence in Media Silver Angel awards. Her books have been translated into many foreign languages, and she frequently hears from her international readers in countries such as Ireland, England, Norway, and Germany.
A former church music director and music teacher, BJ is a member of the Authors Guild, the Irish American Cultural Institute, and the Appalachian Writers Association.
She writes from her home in a small town in east central Ohio. She and her husband share a love of music, books, and time spent with their family: two married daughters, three lively young grandsons, a loopy Golden Retriever, and a cunning, incorrigible but lovable cat.
