To Wager Her Heart by Tamera Alexander

To Wager Her Heart is third in the Belle Meade Plantation series. With most series I like to read them in the order they were released but it is not necessary with this series. Each book can be read as a stand-alone novel. There is nothing in the book that would spoil it in case you wanted to read the earlier books in the series.

This book takes place in 1871. The Civil War has long ended but the scars remain. The heroine of the story Alexandra Jamison has suffered a great loss when her betrothed died in a train wreck at Dutchman's Bend where over 100 people lost their lives. The tragic train wreck that killed 101 people and injured many more actually occurred in 1918, some 47 years after the fictionalized account in this story. The heroine of the story acquires a position teaching at Fisk University against the wishes of her overbearing father. Her father was trying to force her into a loveless marriage and her mother went along with it. As a native Nashvillian I knew very little about the history of Fisk University and the Jubilee singers so I enjoyed reading about them in this story. The hero of the story was Sylas Rutledge. He was a wealthy railroad man who came to Tennessee to clear his father's name. His father may or may not have been responsible for the tragic train wreck. He meets Alexandra and slowly develops a friendship with her.

Being from the Nashville area I have enjoyed both Tamera's Belle Meade Plantation series and her Belmont series. I have always enjoyed historical novels and look forward to reading historical novels she writes in future.

Thanks to Netgalley and Zondervan for providing me a digital copy of this book to read and review. To Wager Her Heart will be released on August 8, 2017.