Wounded Spirits

Have you ever heard a song that sounded like it was sung directly from your heart? Like the song had been written for you? That's how I felt when hearing The Avett Brothers I and Love and You for the first time this week. I wanted to share this beautiful song with you. See if it touches you too.

Wounded Spirits by April W. Gardner is the first book in the Creek Country Saga. Based upon real events during the Creek War in 1812, it tells the story of the war between the Creek Indians and whites from both sides with compassion and honesty. Adela McGirth is known as the quiet and dependable of the three girls in her family. Elder sister, Elizabeth, is used to running the roost, while younger sister, Lillian loves to flirt and play. Adela is being courted by the most eligible man in the area, but she can't seem to be sure of her feelings for the handsome young soldier. When the family takes shelter in a stockade for refuge from Creeks attacking, it brings her life to a shocking turn. Totka, a Creek Indian, has struggled for status in his tribe because of an injury to his thigh that keeps him from participating in battles. The war against the whites impinging on their land offers him the opportunity to finally achieve that status, but when he meets Adela, everything he thought he valued is turned on its head. Adela and Totka's relationship is far more than the average "noble savage" romance. You know that feeling the first time you held your loved one's hand or felt their embrace? That feeling of deep rightness and coming home? Gardner somehow manages to bring that incredible emotion and chemistry to the page, a talent I don't know if I've ever encountered before. She presents both sides of the war, giving the reader an understanding as to the motivations of both peoples trying to protect their loved ones and homes, and the terrible costs of war on both sides. The sequel, Warring Spirits, is coming out in December, and I can't wait to follow Totka and Adela in their quest for happiness together.

Thank you to Vinspire Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book for review!