The Believer

Information from the back cover:

Will a forbidden love destroy all they know?

Elizabeth Duncan has nowhere to turn. In charge of her younger brother and sister after their parents die, her options are limited: she can give in to the unwanted advances of an odious landowner--or she can flee.

When Elizabeth hears that the Shaker community in the next county takes in orphans, she presents herself and her siblings at Harmony Hill. Despite the hard work and strange new beliefs around her, Elizabeth is relieved to have a roof overhead and food to eat. But life gets complicated when she finds herself attracted to a handsome young Believer named Ethan.

Ethan has never looked on the opposite sex as anything but sisters, but he can't shake the new feelings that Elizabeth has awakened in him.

Will Elizabeth be forced to leave the village to keep Ethan from stumbling? Or could Ethan's love for her change their lives forever?

About the Author (from www.revellbooks.com):

Living just thirty miles from a restored Shaker village in Kentucky, Ann H. Gabhart has walked the same paths that her characters might have walked in generations past. Her thorough research provides a convincing and colorful backdrop for her Shaker novels. Gabhart is also the author of Orchard of Hope and Summer of Joy.

MY REVIEW

The Believer is a great story. I was drawn into the storyline from the very first chapter. I enjoyed Gabhart's writing style- easy to read and engaging all at the same time. I also enjoyed reading a story set in a time and place that I have very little knowledge of. I learned a lot about the Shakers. This is the first Gabhart novel I have read but I hope it won't be my last.