After publishing more than a dozen Christian romance novels, Pepper Basham chooses her home county, Carroll County, Virginia, for this historical romance. The book’s plot centers around the county’s best-known historical incident – a gun battle on March 14, 1912, in the courtroom of the Carroll County Courthouse that ensued after Floyd Allen declared, “Gentlemen, I ain’t a goin’” when Judge Thornton Massie imposed a one-year sentence upon him. The gunfire continued on the courthouse lawn. Five died and a six-month nation-wide manhunt transpired that saw two participants executed and others serving long sentences. What precipitated the violence started with a kiss at a corn-shucking between members of two families involved in a family feud, and that is where this historical romance between her characters Ava Burcham and Jeremiah Sutphin begins. "Basham interweaves romance, adventure, and history in this enjoyable tale set against the backdrop of the Hillsville, Va., Courthouse Massacre of 1912." – Publishers Weekly. “Pepper Basham brings characters to life like few authors I know. She drew me in, made me care about her story and the characters living on the page.” – Mary Connealy. Pepper Basham has been a finalist in at least half a dozen awards in her field of Christian romance. She is a speech pathologist who lives in Asheville, North Carolina.
Uhrichsville, Ohio: Barbour Publishing. 2020. 254 pages. Trade paperback.