With
my Soul, A Historical Christian Romance
by
Laurie Batzel
Book
Summary:
Betrayed
by her husband, Willa Jane Wilson and her daughter are left penniless and alone
in post-war Germany. She returns to her hometown in rural North Carolina and
prays that a new beginning will soothe the anger still raging inside her heart.
But no matter how many miles Willa Jane puts between her and her shame, the
peace she seeks is drowned out by ignorance and abandonment.
Her saving grace comes in the form of a new
opportunity that she can’t pass up. Tasked with caring for children at a local
orphanage, she dedicates herself to transforming the financially-strapped
institution into a real home filled with love and faith. But when her
fundraising mission lands her in the middle of Raleigh’s glittering social
scene, she encounters PJ Townshend, a handsome young lawyer with a dedication
to service that matches her own. There’s only one problem: PJ is on track to
change the country from its political epicenter—Washington D.C.—and the closer
they grow to one another, the farther apart their worlds seem to be taking
them.
When a natural disaster of Biblical proportions
threatens to part them for good, it also puts the orphanage and everything
Willa Jane has worked for in peril. An offer for help arrives from the most
unexpected source. Accepting it will require forgiveness of the past…but it
might also reunite her with the person her heart desires most.
Excerpt:
Willa Jane at a dinner party.
“I’ve
said it before, and I’ll say it again. Harry S. Truman is going to send this
country
to
hell in a handbasket.”
“Harold—”
his female counterpart interjected feebly to no avail.
“It’s
true. Any real Democrat would be focusing on the needs of our own country, not
shipping off more resources to the daggone Krauts that started the whole mess
in the first place. I heard he’s got a whole commission working on a plan to
rebuild Germany. They’ll spend millions of our taxpayer dollars on what? The
war’s over, what else could the bastards possibly need?”
Maybe
it was the second glass of champagne that had lowered my inhibitions enough
to
insert myself in what was clearly none of my business, but no amount of
coaching or fancy jewelry could contain my natural inclination.
“Actually,
there’s a great deal of need, sir.”
He
leant forward to glare past his shrinking wife at me.
“Young
lady, you have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I
don’t mean to offend you, sir, but I know very well what I’m talking about.
I’ve been to Germany and seen the devastation. There are entire city blocks
that are nothing but rubble, children exposed and starving on the streets. If
it weren’t for our assistance, there would be no shelter, no clean water. Most
of these ordinary people have had their homes and businesses destroyed through
no fault of their own. It’s not a waste of taxpayer dollars. It’s simple
decency.”
No
longer caring which fork was the assigned utensil, I snatched one up and
started digging into my steak with defiance. The older man’s face turned
splotchy and he narrowed his eyes at me from underneath gray caterpillar
eyebrows.
“I
have never in all my life heard such absolute rubbish. What are you, some sort
of Nazi sympathizer?”
The
meat stuck in my throat and I swallowed so hard it hurt. My big mouth might
have just landed me on the fast track to an interview with the CIA. Then
another voice interjected, one that seemed as familiar as if from a dream.
“The
young lady is correct. The situation overseas is an unparalleled humanitarian
crisis, significantly worse than the aftermath of the first Great War.” The
rich voice went on. “The purpose of Truman’s commission and aid plan for Europe
is to lessen the suffering which, twenty-odd years ago, allowed a madman like
Hitler to come into power.”
I
tried to spy through the petals to catch a glimpse of my impertinent new
friend, but the foliage was too dense. Returning my focus to the steak, I had
until they served coffee to stand up and either thank him for the defense or
tell him off for assuming I was incapable of fighting my own battles. As the
waiter took my empty plate, I was leaning toward the latter. This was 1947, and
I was a full-grown, working woman who had travelled overseas and back on my own.
Almost exactly two years ago, a certain man had come to my rescue and I’d
fallen under the spell of his chauvinism disguised as chivalry. I wouldn’t be
making that mistake again.
Building
up a head full of steam, I stood up, rounded Harold and Co.’s empty chairs and
began the impassioned defense I had been crafting between bites of Duchess potatoes.
“Listen,
I appreciate what you were trying to do there, but what gives you the right to
interrupt other people’s conversations? I was handling that ignorant old coot
just fine, thank you very—”
My
planned diatribe ground to a halt when I came face to face with my unsought defender.
He was the owner of a handsome face that was as strangely familiar as the voice.
Suddenly, I realized where I had seen it before.
~ ~ ~
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About Laurie
Batzel:
Laurie Batzel is an author of contemporary and historical romance who lives in Northeastern Pennsylvania. With My Soul is her first published fiction. You can find her non-fiction essays on PopSugar.com, FilterFreeParents.com, and the print edition of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Angels All Around. When she’s not writing, reading, or continuing her quest to perfect her chocolate chip cookie recipe, Laurie can be found walking in
the woods outside her home with her four beautiful children and their devotedly vigilant corgi, Stuart. To read more of her ramblings on parenting, writing or random song parodies, go to her blog at rebacanyouhearme.wordpress.com
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/laurie.batzel
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- Blog: http://Rebacanyouhearme.wordpress.com
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