The Brickmaker’s Bride

In this thin romance set in post–Civil War West Virginia, Laura, the strong-willed, beautiful daughter of the deceased owner of Woodfield Brickworks, has a problem that will surely keep any man from marrying her—any man, that is, but self-absorbed lawyer Winston Hawkins. Before that Hawkins declares his love, about halfway through the story, Miller (Daughters of Amana series) provides well researched details of brick-making and Reconstruction-era society. Laura is caught in the clash between those who aspire to the new upper class with all its snootiness and the workers, often immigrant, who dig the clay, shape the bricks, and fire the kilns. God-fearing, prayerful Scotch-Irishman Ewan McKay wants the brickyard he has just bought with his unscrupulous Uncle Hugh to succeed as badly as Laura does so that he can bring his beloved sisters to America. Laura’s attraction to Ewan is inappropriate, especially since he doesn’t know Laura’s secret. But as she assists him in setting Hugh’s shady financial dealings right so that the business can prosper, prayers are answered, greed is met with justice, and cruel circumstances are overcome. Agency: Books & Such Literary Management. (Oct.)