It’s always great to welcome another new-to-me author to The Story behind the Story. This week, Naomi Musch is going to share with us a little about her book, The Brightest Hope. First, a little about the book.
Holly Allen is a well-adjusted war widow with a knack for running the family press. She’s over the days of waiting for a white knight to ride in and sweep her away from her cares. Besides, if Hugh Phelps is a knight, he’s certainly a black one—with his prison record, personal demons, and the ghosts of war that haunt him.
When Holly hires Hugh, despite her reservations, it isn’t long before she sees the man he could really be, and as Hugh finds his niche at Allen’s Printing, he finds his lady boss equally appealing. Despite the attraction, however, Holly won’t let herself fall for a faithless man, and Hugh isn’t on gracious terms with God.
Then, just when new beginnings seem possible, old heartaches from the war come calling. Now it might only be in letting go of everything dear that they both discover what real love is.
Sounds great! What led you to write this particular story?
I jokingly refer to my Echoes of the Heart series as my “guys-and gals-who-need-to-learn-hard-lessons” series. I mean, really hard.
In The Brightest Hope I was challenged to write a story about Hugh, a WWI veteran who had taken a dark path in the previous book, paid a high price, and now is finally given a chance to start over. Long-term romance isn’t for him, except he finds himself falling for a woman who has a soul-searching Christian faith he wants nothing to do with. While war widow Holly Allen is attracted to Hugh too, she keeps him at arm’s length. Then, just when hope for something deeper blooms, the unimaginable happens, and they both have to let go to learn what love really means.
In some ways, The Brightest Hope reflects my testimony. While a number of people and institutions contributed to my coming to faith as a teen, no single individual sat me down and led me to Christ or to “pray the sinner’s prayer”. The Holy Spirit convicted my heart greatly, and God the Father brought me to my knees. In this story, I wanted my hero to experience something similar, though he fought much harder against God than I did. I also wanted to involve a Gideon Bible in the story. The Gideons were a group of businessmen who were organized shortly before WWI in Wisconsin, with the mission of seeing God’s Word placed in every hotel around the country. Hugh’s character arc is broad and intense, and his dealings with God are very direct. Holly has a bucketload of her own past and present troubles to deal with. Oh—by the way, that’s my youngest daughter Jessamyn modeling Holly on the book cover! What a joy and blessing it was to be able to have her do that.
The Echoes of the Heart series itself began as I pondered the Genesis 29 love triangle of Jacob, Rachel, and Leah. I set a similar situation in the period of WWI. Book one The Deepest Sigh was born, but other characters were affected by those characters’ personal choices and the shadows of war. Those stories spiraled into book two The Softest Breath and finally book three The Brightest Hope.
Website: NaomiMusch.com
Goodreads: Naomi Dawn Musch. FB: Naomi Musch – Author
Naomi is an award-winning author who crafts stories of romance, adventure, and history from her home in the pristine Lake Superior north woods. Her September 2019 release The Brightest Hopecompleted a three-book historical series set in the 1920s. The November 2019 release of The Highlanders features her most recent novella, A Tender Siege. When not writing, Naomi enjoys roaming around on the farm, snacking out of the garden, relaxing in her vintage camper, and loving on her passel of grandchildren. She loves connecting with friends around the web, and readers can sign up for her newsletter on her website to receive a free short story. Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/Naomi-Musch/e/B00727J758
From now until February 14th, Naomi is running a promo for the series. Readers can download the ebooks:
The Deepest Sigh: FreeThe Softest Breath: 99¢The Brightest Hope: $2.99
Naomi is also giving away a signed paperback copy of The Brightest Hope to US residents. To enter, please follow the directions below.
Thanks so much for joining us, Naomi! It’s been great having you.