TO WAGER HER HEART
With fates bound by a shared tragedy, a reformed gambler from the Colorado Territory and a Southern Belle bent on breaking free from society’s expectations must work together to achieve their dreams — provided the truth doesn’t tear them apart first.
Sylas Rutledge, the new owner of the Northeast Line Railroad, invests everything he has into this venture, partly for the sake of the challenge. But mostly to clear his father’s name. One man holds the key to Sy’s success — General William Giles Harding of Nashville’s Belle Meade Plantation. But Harding is champagne and thoroughbreds,
With fates bound by a shared tragedy, a reformed gambler from the Colorado Territory and a Southern Belle bent on breaking free from society’s expectations must work together to achieve their dreams — provided the truth doesn’t tear them apart first.
Sylas Rutledge, the new owner of the Northeast Line Railroad, invests everything he has into this venture, partly for the sake of the challenge. But mostly to clear his father’s name. One man holds the key to Sy’s success — General William Giles Harding of Nashville’s Belle Meade Plantation. But Harding is champagne and thoroughbreds, and Sy Rutledge is beer and bullocks.
Sy needs someone to help him maneuver his way through Nashville’s society, and when he meets Alexandra Jamison, he quickly decides he’s found his tutor. But, he soon discovers that the very train accident his father is blamed for causing is what killed Alexandra Jamison’s fiancé — and has shattered her world.
Spurning an arranged marriage by her father, Alexandra instead pursues her passion for teaching at Fisk University, the first freedmen’s university in the United States. But family — and Nashville society — do not approve, and she soon finds herself cast out from both.
Through connections with the Harding family, Alexandra and Sy become unlikely allies. And despite her first impressions, Alexandra gradually finds herself coming to respect, and even care for this man. But how can she, when her heart is still spoken for?
Sy is willing to risk everything to win over the woman he loves. What he doesn’t count on is having to wager her heart to do it.
Set against the real history of Nashville’s Belle Meade Plantation and the original Fisk University Jubilee Singers ensemble, To Wager Her Heart is a stirring love story about seeking justice and restoring honor at a time in American history when both were tenuous and hard-won.
- Zondervan
- Paperback
- August 2017
- 384 Pages
- 9780310291084
Buy the Book
$15.99
About Tamera Alexander
Tamera Alexander is a USA Today bestselling author and one of today’s most popular writers in the historical fiction genre. She and her husband live in Nashville, Tennessee, not far from the Southern mansions that serve as the backdrop for six of her award-winning novels.
Praise
“To Wager Her Heart is a wonderful historical romance with sweet and caring characters who are looking for justice and redemption from the past. Real-life people from history are intertwined throughout the novel, enhancing the plot.”―RT Book Reviews, 4 starred review
“A steadfast heroine, a redemption-seeking hero, and a complex Southern society in post-Civil War America seamlessly combine in Tamera Alexander’s To Wager Her Heart. Fans of Alexander’s Belle Meade Plantation novels will fall in love with this new installment —but the real stars are the depth of research and the masterful attention to setting the perfect historical scene.”―Kristy Cambron, bestselling author of The Illusionist’s Apprentice
“Tamera Alexander’s painstaking research into the people, places, and times of which she writes is evident on every page, and she depicts the famous residents of post-bellum Nashville with great detail and even greater affection.”—USAtoday.com, Serena Chase
Discussion Questions
1. Sy and Alexandra come from very different backgrounds. Discuss those differences and how their varied perspectives shaped their personalities.
2. Before reading this novel, had you heard of the Fisk Singers (or Fisk University) before? Do you share an affinity for music? And if so, what kinds of music?
3. Alexandra’s mother states (Chapter 2) how the world was changing for women. Discuss the changes she referenced and contrast those with today’s culture. What advancements have been made? What common battles are still being fought?
4. The tragic accident at Dutchman’s Curve in Nashville really did occur—on July 9, 1918. Tamera took artistic license in placing the accident in her story (in 1871) in order to include it in the historical fabric of this novel. But the majority of facts presented about the accident are true. The “Great Cornfield Meet” still stands as one of the worst railroad accidents in American history. Were you aware that there were Freedmen railroad cars? Discuss how social norms and discrimination played a role in that accident.