With her stammering tongue and quiet ways, Cadence Piper has always struggled to be accepted. After the death of her mother, Cadence sets her heart on becoming a nurse, both to erase the stain her brother has left on the family’s honor and to find long-sought approval in the eyes of her father. When Dorothea Dix turns her away due to her young age and pretty face, Cadence finds another way to serve . . . singing to the soldiers in Judiciary Square Hospital. Only one stubborn doctor stands in her way.
Joshua Ivy is an intense man with a compassionate heart for the hurting and downtrodden. The one thing he can’t have is an idealistic woman destroying the plans he’s so carefully laid. When the chaos of war thrusts Cadence into the middle of his clandestine activities, he must decide if the lives at stake, and his own heart, are worth the risk of letting Cadence inside.
Everything changes when Joshua and Cadence unearth the workings of a secret society so vile, the course of their lives, and the war, could be altered forever. If they fight an enemy they cannot see, will the One who sees all show them the way in the darkest night?
My Thoughts
A beautiful story about nursing during the civil war.
This was my first experience with reading the writings of Tara Johnson, but it definitely won’t be my last!
This book brought to life for me in such a tangible way the realities of the Civil War.
It’s beauty, it’s humanity, and of course, it’s tragedies.
Cadence was such a lovely heroine. She’s always believed herself to be less than.
She’s tried so hard to gain her father’s approval, to make up for the loss of her mother, and for what her brother did to them. But it’s never enough.
When she hears of the opportunity to be a nurse, she wants that so desperately.
But then, she gets rejected there too. Until their need is so desperate, they are willing to accept her, even if she is too young and too pretty. Cadence discovered nursing was something she could do really well, even if she did have a rocky start (my heart went out to her when she had to stand in on that first dreadful surgery, the one that caused her to faint…).
And then there’s Joshua Ivy. So much tension between these two characters.
I loved seeing their relationship grow and change.
I loved seeing real characters from history in this book – Dorothea Dix, Fanny Crosby, to name a few.
Tara Johnson just did a really good job at bringing that day and age to life on these pages. The characters felt real. The setting was beautifully depicted. Nursing in those days definitely had a romance all its own. But it was not a thing of beauty. It was terrible. And tragic.
For lovers of historical fiction, I definitely recommend you read this book!
Disclaimer: I receive complimentary books from various sources, including, publishers, publicists, authors, and/or NetGalley. I am not required to write a positive review, and have not received any compensation. The opinions shared here are my own entirely. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255
All-of-a-kind Mom 