With his father dead and his business partner incapacitated, Peter Chandler inherits the leadership of a bank in economic crisis.

With only a newly-minted college degree and little experience, Peter joins his partner’s daughter, Mary Beth Roper, in a struggle to keep C&R Bank afloat while the Civil War rages around Chattanooga. Political pressure for unsecured loans of gold to the government stirs up trouble as tempers and prices rise. Their problems multiply when Mary Beth discovers counterfeit money with Peter’s forged signature. Can they find the forger before the bank fails? The two friends must pursue goldon behalf of their business, as they learn to pursue their heavenly Father to find hope and peace.

Cynthia L Simmons and her husband, Ray, have five children and reside in Atlanta. She has taught for over thirty years as a homeschool mother and Bible teacher. She’s a columnist for Leading Hearts Magazine and she directs Atlanta Christian Writing Conference. Cyndi has a heart for encouraging women in today’s crazy, upside-down world. She loves history and peppers her speaking and teaching with fascinating vignettes from the past. Her first book, Struggles and Triumphs, was nominated for 2008 Georgia Author of the Year. She co-founded Homeschool Answers and hosts Heart of the Matter Radio.

 

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My thoughts:

 

I love historical fiction and so I knew I wanted to read Pursuing Gold.  It’s a great book about a “border” area during the war.  The journeys of one man and one woman are chronicled as they try to maintain true to what they believe without landing themselves in loads of trouble.  Plus add in the fact that her father makes him vow to marry her and it just gets better.  Oh and there might be a Confederate officer trying to get Peter to invest in a scheme while also trying to court Mary Beth.  It just gets better and better.

 

I wanted to comment on the cover as I’ve read some negative reviews about it turning people off on the book.  I’m here to say that if you like history you’re drawn to this cover.  Civil War buff here and this cover drew me in.  It’s a period piece and the way the cover is done reminds me of other works that are biographies or letters from the war.  i immediately knew I had to read this one!