Traveling Tuesday: Flushing, New York

Traveling Tuesday: Flushing, NY

Eye of the Beholder, my contribution to the Apron Strings Tea Tales series that will release in July 2026, is set during the 1939 World’s fair which was located in Flushing Meadows, a neighborhood in the north-central section of Queens, one of New York City’s five boroughs (a district that is an administrative unit). With a current population of over 200,000, the neighborhood is larger than the biggest city in New Hampshire where I live!

The idea for the World’s Fair began four years earlier when George McAneny, executive manager at the New York Times and president of the Regional Plan Association, brought a group together to discuss the possibility of an international exposition. With support from Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, the New York World’s Fair Corporation was formed, and McAneny was named president. After much consideration, the Flushing Meadows site was selected because of its size (1,003 acres), central location, and the city already owned 586 acres nearby.

Straddling the Flushing River, Flushing Meadows was mostly wetlands until the 1910s when it was ushed as a dumping ground for coal ashes with the thought to eventually develop the land into a port. With the onset of World War I, plans for the port ceased, however, dumping continued.

As a result, much work needed to be done to prepare the site for the fair including purchasing the

surrounding land and relocating the occupants, then leveling the ash mounds and diverting the river into underground culverts. Beginning in June 1936, four hundred fifty employees worked three eight-hour shifts to rebuild the landscape and excavate to create Meadow and Willow lakes. The lakes were to serve as repositories for excess storm runoff, and the dirt was used as additional topsoil for the park. In 1937, trees were put in to create a natural landscape around the park and along pedestrian walkways.

Using much of the refuse (ash mounds), the road system surrounding and bisecting the park was also improved in preparation of the anticipated thousands of visitors. You may be familiar with some of the streets: Vany Wyck Expressway, Long Island Expressway, and Grand Central Parkway. However, executives must not have given enough thought to the water system because in November 1939, a water main that supplied the area failed. The pipeline had not been built on piling foundations which cause it to sink into the marsh. Oops! Repairs cost more than $50,000. The public transit system was also upgraded and expanded.

Because the organizers knew the fairgrounds would be converted to a park after the event, the landscape architect, Gilmore David Clarke (who designed many of NYC’s parks and public spaces) planned accordingly with 250 acres of lawns, and topiary and deciduous trees. More than one million plants, one million bulbs, 250,000 shrubs, and 10,000 trees were installed. There were also approximately fifty landscaped gardens, as well as fountains and water features.

All in all, about $156 million dollars, a combination of public and private funds, was spent to transform “The Valley of Ashes” into Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

________________

A Lesson in Love

He thinks he’s too old. She thinks she’s too young. Can these teachers learn that love defies all boundaries?

Born and raised in London, Isobel Turvine knows nothing about farming, but after the students in her school evacuate during Operation Pied Piper, she’s left with little to do. Her friend talks her into joining the Women’s Land Army, and she finds herself working the land at a manor home in Yorkshire that’s been converted to a boys’ school. A teacher at heart, she is drawn to the lads, but the handsome yet stiff-necked headmaster wants her to stick to farming.

Left with an arm that barely works from the last “war to end all wars,” Gavin Emerson agrees to take on the job of headmaster when his school moves from London to Yorkshire, but he’s saddled with the quirky manor owner, bickering among his teachers, and a gaggle of Land Army girls who have turned the grounds into a farm. When the group’s blue-eyed, blonde leader nearly runs him down in a car, he admonishes her to stay in the fields, but they are thrown together at every turn. Can he trust her not to break his heart?

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3YHgUb0

Photo credits:

World's Fair Promenade: By FOTO:Fortepan — ID 16945:Adományozó/Donor: Public Domain

Valley of Ashes: By New York (N.Y.). Bureau of EngineeringFairchild Aerial Camera Corporation - NYPL Digital Gallery — Catalog ID (B-number): b13985741, Public Domain.

Flushing Globe: Pixabay/nerastudio

Talkshow Thursday: Welcome Elle E. Kay!

Talkshow Thursday: Welcome Elle E. Kay

I'm pleased to welcome Elle to my blog today. She writes fabulous books! Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and read about her writing journey. She's got a new release too!

Have you ever considered writing under a pseudonym? Why or why not?

I write under two pseudonyms. I chose Ellie Mae Kay for my children's fiction because I had already published non-fiction under my real name, and I wanted to create clear separation between genres. I didn't want readers buying Zebras of Hope thinking it was for kids when it's actually about living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. When I wrote my debut Christian fiction in 2015, I applied similar reasoning and became Elle E. Kay. Interestingly, I'm now called Elle or Ellie more often than Ellen (my given name).

How many books have you written, and which is your favorite?

I have 26 published books, 23 of those are Christian fiction. My favorite is Bodyguard's Fake Bride. The protective hero is a kilt-wearing Scotsman who brings the heroine to a castle in Scotland for his family reunion. I adore everything about this book! Ironically, it doesn't sell as well as my other titles, possibly because readers assume they need to read all the authors in the multi-author series. But it's actually a standalone, though readers can start with The Billionaire's Reluctant Bride for character backstory.

Why do you write in your particular genre?

I write romantic suspense/thrillers because that’s what I most like to read. I like a gripping story that

makes me flip through the pages to find out how the hero and heroine will find their happily-ever-after.

How are your characters like you? Different?

Stella from my debut is probably the most like me, but even in that one book, I made her mother a children’s book author, so that was me sneaking in there. In the second book in that series, Claudia plays piano and sings similar to me. Each heroine has a little piece of me in them, but they also have something about them that I admire in others. For example, Claudia is a marine reservist. Stella has unshakable faith.

Can you share a real-life event that inspired your writing?

My biological father was a police officer who went to prison. Inspired by the Hero took the pain from that experience and turned it into a book. In that same book, the hero’s sister suffers from Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (which I also have), so I felt I was able to make her situation feel authentic through my own experiences.

How does/did your job prepare you for being a novelist?

I've worked in several fields, primarily legal, where I served as both paralegal and tech support/network supervisor. The legal experience gave me valuable insight into the system. Though, I've mostly avoided legal thrillers because after living it for years, writing it feels too much like work! The tech background, however, has been invaluable for the digital aspects of a writing career: websites, promotion, all the technical elements many authors struggle with.

How has your book changed since your first draft?

I wrote my latest release, Project Sentinel, a couple of years prior to releasing it. It was initially titled Betrayed Trust and it was a shorter novel because it didn’t include the villain scenes. Adding them increased the tension and suspense. I changed the name to reflect the AI overwatch aspect of the book.

What is your next project?

I'm working on the second book in my Toxic Truth series, Midnight Masquerade. It's up for preorder now and scheduled to release in October. The story follows Dante and Lisa, who were introduced in Midnight Offensive, as they face a personal connection to a human trafficking ring alongside someone selling US intelligence. They must stop the threat before it culminates at the masquerade ball charity event.

About Project Sentinel:

Under the all-seeing eye of Project Sentinel, the truth is a memory away—and a love she forgot is their only hope.

Her memory is gone. But Faith Flanagan is about to learn what she believed about her past was a lie, and the truth could kill her. Two years after the accident that shattered her world, Faith is haunted by unsettling dreams and the growing suspicion that she's not who she thinks she is.

When Elijah Knight, a dangerously attractive operative from a life she can't recall, crashes back into her existence, he brings a chilling warning: her husband was murdered. Faith, he claims, holds explosive files Thad entrusted to her—files that could expose a conspiracy wielding Project Sentinel, a terrifyingly advanced AI surveillance system with the power to predict their every move. Now, they're on the run, pursued by relentless enemies who will kill to keep their secrets buried and the files out of Faith's unremembering hands. As fragments of her past resurface, so does an undeniable, complicated passion for the man sworn to protect her. But in a deadly game of cat and mouse, where betrayal lurks around every corner, can Faith unlock the secrets buried in her mind before they become her undoing? And can a love she doesn't remember be the one thing that outsmarts the machine and the rogue officials controlling it?

If you enjoy gripping romantic suspense packed with secrets, high-stakes conspiracies powered by chilling AI, and a love fighting to be remembered against all odds, you won't want to miss Project Sentinel.

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/46rAwEM

Connect with Elle:
Website/Blog: https://ElleEKay.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElleEKay7
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/elleekay7/
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/ellekay
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/elle-e-kay
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15016833.Elle_E_Kay

___________

Photo Credits:

Author/Book Image: Elle E. Kay

Pencil and Notepad: Pixabay/congerdesign

Surveillance Cameras: Pixabay/Joseph Mucira

Movie Monday: The Story of GI Joe

Movie Monday: The Story of GI Joe

A tribute to the American infantryman in World War II, The Story of GI Joe released eighty years ago last month and is based on the compiled columns of journalist Ernie Pyle. Pyle was best known for his stories about “ordinary soldiers.”

Born August 3, 1900, on a farm in Dana, Indiana, Pyle was an only child who had no interest in following in his parent’s footsteps and running a farm. He opted for, as one source put it, a more adventurous life. Upon his high school graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve during World War I, but the war ended before he finished his training. He then entered college where he was editor of the school newspaper. Bitten by the journalistic bug, he headed to Washington, DC where he was hired at the Washington Daily News, part of the Scripps-Howard newspaper syndicate for whom he would work his whole career.

He generally penned “human interest type stories,” and when he headed overseas as a war correspondent, he continued in the same vein with his reports from the European and Pacific theaters. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1944 for his accounts of infantry soldiers – often referred to as dogface – from the first-person perspective.

The movie stars the up-and-coming actor, Burgess Meredith, as Pyle, who helped with the casting and

insisted, “For God’s sake, don’t let them make me look like a fool.” Other actors were considered for the part, including Leslie Howard, but director William Wellman wanted a physically smaller man to better portray the middle-aged journalist. It took quite a bit of finagling before Meredith, a captain the army, was given an honorable discharge to star in the movie. It was one of his earliest film credits.

Much of the dialogue and narration came the 1943 publication of collected columns called Here is Your War. Nine war correspondents are listed as technical advisers in the film’s credits. The plot follows the untried infantrymen of C Company, 18th Infantry. Lt. Bill Walker (played by Robert Mitchum) allows Pyle to accompany all the way to the front lines of Tunisia and Italy through rain and mud. They take part in the Battle of Kasserine Pass, a “bloody chaotic defeat,” the eventually advance to Monte Cassino where they are stopped and end up hiding out in caves eating cold rations on Christmas day. Some of the men Pyle gets to know are killed, including the lieutenant, and the film ends on a somber note with a fade to black and Pyle narrating the conclusion: “For those beneath the wooden crosses, there is nothing we can do, except perhaps to pause and murmur, ‘Thanks pal, thanks.’”

Two years later, Pyle was killed by enemy fire during the Battle of Okinawa. At the time of his death, his column was published in 400 daily and 300 weekly newspapers nationwide. President Truman later said, “No man in this war has so well told the story of the American fighting man as American fighting men wanted it told. He deserves the gratitude of all his countrymen.”

The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Mitchum’s only career nomination. In 2009, The Story of GI Joe was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically” significant.

Have you seen this classic?

_____________________

A Lesson in Love

He thinks he’s too old. She thinks she’s too young. Can these teachers learn that love defies all boundaries?

Born and raised in London, Isobel Turvine knows nothing about farming, but after the students in her school evacuate during Operation Pied Piper, she’s left with little to do. Her friend talks her into joining the Women’s Land Army, and she finds herself working the land at a manor home in Yorkshire that’s been converted to a boys’ school. A teacher at heart, she is drawn to the lads, but the handsome yet stiff-necked headmaster wants her to stick to farming.

Left with an arm that barely works from the last “war to end all wars,” Gavin Emerson agrees to take on the job of headmaster when his school moves from London to Yorkshire, but he’s saddled with the quirky manor owner, bickering among his teachers, and a gaggle of Land Army girls who have turned the grounds into a farm. When the group’s blue-eyed, raven-haired leader nearly runs him down in a car, he admonishes her to stay in the fields, but they are thrown together at every turn. Can he trust her not to break his heart?

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3YHgUb0

Photo credits:

Movie Poster: By Illustrator unknown. "©1945 by the United Artists Corporation" - Public Domain

Still from The Story of GI Joe:  United Artists Corporation - Public Domain

Ernie Pyle: By Milton J. Pike - United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID cph.3b08817. Public Domain

Talkshow Thursday: Welcome Back Ruth Wuwong

And-linked Phrases and 

Repetitive Words in Fiction: 

A Guest Post by Ruth Wuwong

It’s hard to believe that after publishing nine fiction books and being named a 2025 Featured Author by the Minnesota Anoka County Library, I still struggle with the problematic habit of overusing “and”-linked phrases and repeating words.

My editor has repeatedly pointed out issues with my problematic habit.

• Slow down the pacing: The narrative feels sluggish due to too many and-linked phrases and repetitive words (e.g., “but”, “could”, “know”, “feel”, “think”).
• Weaken the writing: Unnecessary repetition makes the prose less powerful.
• Distract the readers: Redundancies often disrupt immersion, making readers notice the writing itself rather than the story.

Consider the following example: “She was tired, exhausted, and weary.” All three words convey nearly the same idea. The redundancy makes the narrative awkward.

Why do writers fall into this trap? Personally, I use redundant phrases when I want to heighten the

emotional impact. Others might do it to imitate the patterns of spoken language. Whatever the reason, it’s a habit that can be difficult to break.

Here are a few strategies to help eliminate redundancy:

1. Choose the strongest word. For example: “She was exhausted.”
2. Use specific details. Instead of telling, show what tiredness looks like. For example: “She slumped in her chair.”
3. Vary sentence structures: Use different sentence structures to replace “and” lists with imagery or action.
4. Use intentional repetition. Sometimes repetition is effective, but it should be purposeful, not just wordy. For example: “She was tired. So very tired.”
5. Read aloud. Reading the work aloud helps catch problems with awkward repetition or rhythm.
6. Identify words we frequently repeat and remove unnecessary occurrences from each chapter.

As a writer, we never stop learning. Every author rewrites, refines, and relearns with each project. Be patient. The quest for clearer, more powerful prose is proof that we care about our readers—and about our art.

About Thunders over Idle Land :

Experience adventure and romance in distant lands, a mesmerizing tale by Whong, named a 2025 Featured Author by the Minnesota Anoka County Library.

Two eras, one troubled land, two men bound by parallel existences across centuries. Book 2 in this dual-time odyssey series showcases the enduring resilience of the human spirit. Jason Guan, an assistant director dedicated to environmental conservation in pandemic-stricken Hong Kong, is worried about job-related pressures and petty quarrels threatening his marriage to Debra. Amidst the chaos, they discover an unpublished manuscript by Debra’s late father, a celebrated writer, about a wronged man in nineteenth-century China. While Jason grapples with corruption and lax regulations in wetland preservation, he is thrust into dangerous waters.

In 1834, systemic corruption cripples China and ruins lives. Two weeks before Wang Jun is to marry his beloved fiancée, he is thrown into a maximum-security prison on a remote island without a trial. His only ally? A kung fu master and medical doctor imprisoned because of a riddle linked to the buried treasure of the pirate chief, Cheng Po-Tsai. When greed and exploitation overshadow justice, these men must navigate their respective perils. With a suspenseful connection between the past and present, how do they fight against the insurmountable tides?

Author bio:

Dr. Ruth Wuwong (PhD in biochemistry, MBA in finance) has published 120+ scientific books and papers (under her legal name) and a few Christian fiction books under R. F. Whong. She lives in the Midwest with her husband, a retired pastor. They served together at three churches from 1987 to 2020. Her grown son works in a nearby city. She currently runs a small biotech company (http://www.vidasym.com) and has raised more than twenty million US dollars during the past few years for Vidasym. In addition to her weekly newsletter and the platform (http://www.ruthforchrist.com), she’s active in several writers’ groups, including ACFW, Word Weavers, Facebook, and Goodreads. Through these connections, she plans newsletter/promotion swaps with others and has writers endorse her books, write forewords, and host her on guest blogs.

Follow me on social media:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/love.respect.grace
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/42632055.R_F_Whong
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/r-f-whong
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/RWuwong
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ruthwuwong
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/ruth.wuwong

To connect with me, please go to http://www.ruthforchrist.com.

Wartime Wednesday: The Potsdam Conference

Wartime Wednesday: 

The Potsdam Conference

Who knew there was so much administration involved in a war? The Potsdam Conference, so named because it took place in the city of Potsdam outside of Berlin, Germany, was held between July 17 and August 2, 1945. The “Big Three:” the leaders of the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union and their entourages met to with three main agenda items:

• How to handle Germany’s defeat;
• To determine Poland fate;
• To pressure Japan to end the war.

In attendance were US President Harry S. Truman, in place for only three months since President Roosevelt’s death; Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who as one source put it, “was abruptly replaced on July 26 by his successor Clement Attlee after result of the British election were announced.”

Tensions were high and gave a hint of the Cold War to come.

Prior to the conference Truman toured the conquered city of Berlin where he witnessed thousands of

homeless civilians, many of them children, living among the bombed-out ruins. He would later describe the city as a “ghost city” during a radio address.

During the sixteen day forum, details that were encapsulated in the Potsdam Agreement, and included plans to disarm and demilitarized German; divide the country into four Allied occupation zones controlled by the US, UK, France, and the Soviet Union; an edict for Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary to expel the ethnic German population within their borders in “an orderly and humane manner;” and the non-negotiable terms for peace with Japan (unconditional surrender). A major part of the discussions involved the heavy postwar reparations demanded by Stalin and agreed to by Roosevelt.

Additionally, the group repealed laws passed by the Nazi regime, removed Nazis from the German education and court systems, and made arrangements for the arrest and trying of Germans who had committed war crimes. Borders were redrawn, and the Council of Foreign Ministers was formed to draft peace treaties with Germany’s former allies.

An intriguing aside is that before the conference Truman received news that the Trinity test of the atomic bomb by the Manhattan Project scientists was successful, and he hoped to use the information as a bargaining chip with Stalin. However, the Soviet leader didn’t seem interested, and Truman would later recall, “He was glad to hear it, and ‘hoped we would make good use of it against the Japanese.’” Unbeknownst to the president the project had at least two Soviet spies within its ranks.

__________________________

A Lesson in Love

He thinks he’s too old. She thinks she’s too young. Can these teachers learn that love defies all boundaries?

Born and raised in London, Isobel Turvine knows nothing about farming, but after the students in her school evacuate during Operation Pied Piper, she’s left with little to do. Her friend talks her into joining the Women’s Land Army, and she finds herself working the land at a manor home in Yorkshire that’s been converted to a boys’ school. A teacher at heart, she is drawn to the lads, but the handsome yet stiff-necked headmaster wants her to stick to farming.

Left with an arm that barely works from the last “war to end all wars,” Gavin Emerson agrees to take on the job of headmaster when his school moves from London to Yorkshire, but he’s saddled with the quirky manor owner, bickering among his teachers, and a gaggle of Land Army girls who have turned the grounds into a farm. When the group’s blue-eyed, blonde leader nearly runs him down in a car, he admonishes her to stay in the fields, but they are thrown together at every turn. Can he trust her not to break his heart?

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3YHgUb0

Photo credits:
Table of Delegates: “Scene of Potsdam Conference,” July 19, 1945, National Archives and Records Administration, Office of Presidential Libraries, Harry S. Truman Library.
Trio: “The new Big Three meet for the first time at the Potsdam Conference,” July 29, 1945, National Archives and Records Administration, Office of Presidential Libraries, Harry S. Truman Library.
Map: Google maps, accessed July 7, 2025

Talkshow Thursday: Welcome Mary Hamilton

For What It’s Worth: 

A Guest Post by Mary L. Hamilton

“Worth isn’t always measured in dollars and cents. Sometimes it’s measured in the heart.”

That statement came to me one night just before I fell asleep contemplating a plot for my book Worthless Treasures. I “heard” one of the characters speak it with a Southern accent, and while I didn’t quite know how it fit into the story, I knew it would form the theme, the foundation on which I’d build my novel.

So, what value would you place on a vintage Raggedy Ann doll whose arm has fallen off? One of her legs is hanging on by a thread, and she’s missing half of her faded orange hair. I doubt many of us would give her a second look. But in the novel, great worth is bestowed on her by a little girl living on borrowed time because of a genetic heart defect.

At four years old, Paisley is waiting for a heart transplant. She has an amusing habit of undressing all her dolls. She finds Raggedy Ann in a house her mother is helping clean out. Her mother, Lyndee Rae, takes the doll home intending to reattach the arm and leg. But when she tries to return the doll, Paisley has become so attached to her that she throws a royal tantrum. Let’s find out why by tapping into a conversation between her mother and Di whose late mother owned the doll and wanted it passed on to someone who would treasure it as she had.

Lyndee Rae slid into the car’s seat and waited until they were on their way. “Remember how she undresses all her dolls? When she found this one in the basket of toys, the first thing she did was take the clothes off.”

Di chuckled, imagining the scene.

Lyndee Rae continued. “When she did, she noticed the embroidered heart on the doll’s chest. Several of the threads are frayed and torn apart. She showed it to me and said—” her voice caught “—she said, ‘She needs a new heart just like me.’”

Di’s breath stalled. Tingles spread down her back. “Oh, my.”

“I would’ve fixed the threads while I had it, but she wouldn’t let me. She barely let go of it long enough for me to fix the arm and the leg. I thought I’d have to do it while she slept. But she especially wanted the heart to stay the same. ‘Just like me,’ she said.”

Paisley gives Di her first lesson on finding worth where there is no apparent value. But there are more lessons to come when you read Worthless Treasures. Hint: Discussion questions included at the back make this short novel a great choice for book clubs.

About Worthless Treasures

Professional organizer Diamond Lange helps clients declutter their homes and let go of what no longer serves them. But when her mother, Eva, suddenly passes away, Diamond is left with a house overflowing with junk and a promise she regrets making.

Although Diamond considers everything in her mother's house trash, Eva left behind a specific list of five seemingly worthless objects—a piano, a rag doll, a ceramic vase, a vintage necklace, and a star painting. Eva requested these items be passed on to others who will cherish them as much as she did.

At a time when Diamond questions her own self-worth, she sees little value in the items on the list. Who in the world would accept--much less treasure--a piano that will always be out of tune, a doll that’s lost half its hair, or any of the other worthless items on Eva’s list? But to assuage her guilt, and Eva's perceived disappointment in her, Diamond determines to honor her mother’s last wishes, commencing an emotional journey through dusty memories and buried regrets.

The unexpected arrival of an old flame, the threat of her childhood home being demolished, and a child’s urgent health problem force Diamond to consider what truly matters.

Purchase Links: 
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F4497KMT
Other retailers: https://books2read.com/u/b5GggO

About Mary L. Hamilton

Award-winning Texas author Mary L. Hamilton writes contemporary novels rippled with faith. She finds inspiration for her stories in everyday life and includes characters who wrestle with various aspects of faith. When not writing, Mary enjoys reading, knitting, and quiet evenings at home with her husband. They have three grown children and three amazing grandsons.

Website: https://maryhamiltonbooks.com/
Facebook: https://facebook.com/maryhamiltonbooks
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maryhamiltonbooks/

Photo credits: All courtesy of Mary L. Hamilton

Release Day: A Lesson in Love

Release Day: A Lesson in Love

He thinks he’s too old. She thinks she’s too young. 

Can these teachers learn that love defies all boundaries?

Born and raised in London, Isobel Turvine knows nothing about farming, but after the students in her school evacuate during Operation Pied Piper, she’s left with little to do. Her friend talks her into joining the Women’s Land Army, and she finds herself working the land at a manor home in Yorkshire that’s been converted to a boys’ school. A teacher at heart, she is drawn to the lads, but the handsome yet stiff-necked headmaster wants her to stick to farming.

Left with an arm that barely works from the last “war to end all wars,” Gavin Emerson agrees to take on the job of headmaster when his school moves from London to Yorkshire, but he’s saddled with the quirky manor owner, bickering among his teachers, and a gaggle of Land Army girls who have turned the grounds into a farm. When the group’s blue-eyed, raven-haired leader nearly runs him down in a car, he admonishes her to stay in the fields, but they are thrown together at every turn. 

Can he trust her not to break his heart?

Purchase link: https://amzn.to/3YHgUb0