To Wager Her Heart

Book description:  "Can a railroad man and a Southern Belle turned teacher find a way to work together to achieve their dreams in the new reality of the post-Civil War South?

Sylas Rutledge, former gambler and new owner of the East Line Railway, invests everything he has into this venture, partly to see if he can do it—but mostly to avenge his father. One man holds the key to the railway’s success—General William Giles Harding of Nashville’s Belle Meade Plantation. But Harding is champagne and thoroughbreds, and Sylas Rutledge is beer and bullocks. Sy needs someone to help him maneuver in high society, and when he meets Alexandra Donelson, he quickly decides he’s found his tutor.

Spurning her family’s wishes that she marry, Alexandra Donelson is pursuing her passion for teaching at Fisk University, the first freedmen’s university in the United States. But her family does not approve, and ultimately, her father expels her from the family home and cuts her off completely.

Through her friendship with Mary Harding, Alexandra is thrown together with both General Harding and Sylas Rutledge. And she soon finds herself falling in love with a man whose roguish qualities and adventuresome spirit smack more of recklessness than responsibility.

Sylas Rutledge will risk everything to win the hand of the woman he loves. What he doesn’t count on is having to wager her heart to do it.

Set at Nashville’s historic Belle Meade Plantation, To Wager Her Heart is a sweeping Southern love story about a nation mending after war, the struggle to move a country forward, and the courage of a man and woman to see themselves for who they truly are—and can be—with each other."

My review: While this wasn't my favorite book in this series, it was still very good! I love to read historical fiction especially when the author researches carefully and includes plenty of historical detail. Tamera Alexander is one of those authors. She carefully weaves her story around her historical detail, and the end result is fascinating story that you don't want to put down. I really enjoyed being introduced to Fisk University and the Jubilee Singers. The romance in this particular book is not as prominent in the story line as most books by this author. However, the lives of Alexandra and Sylas pull you into their story in such way that you don't really miss the romance. I have loved this series, A Belle Meade Plantation, and hate to see the series end. I do look forward to whatever Tamera Alexander writes next. I received copy of this book from the publisher through the Booklook Blogger program. All opinons are my own.