Not only do you create beautiful books, Roseanna White, but you designed a cover that fit this story perfectly. Thank you so much.
To my AMAZING street team who pray for, celebrate, and brainstorm these stories to life. I am grateful that each one of you choose to spend some of your time in my little world and make my imaginary friends your own.
To my parents, who have always dreamed big for me—I hope I’ve captured on these pages a small portion of the love you’ve shown me.
Thank you, Dwight, Ben, Aaron, Lydia, Samuel, and Phoebe for filling my life with music and love. Words fail to express how thankful I am to have each of you in my life. Thank you for loving your wife/mom enough to encourage her to follow her dreams.
And to the Maker of music and Creator of dreams—thank you, God, for the gift of story—and the miracle of forgiveness. Your love gives us wings so we can dream your dreams for our lives.
A Note from the Author
So many times, we think of ‘bravery’ as only being reserved for those who do great feats or sacrifices, but sometimes what appears ‘small’ may require a great deal of courage. Outside of writing, I work in a profession with children who have special needs, and I see bravery happen every day—in them and in their parents.
Courage happens all around us—from the single mom who chooses to dream for her kids even though the cash-flow isn’t great, to the unemployed husband who is going in for another job interview.
Living life in a broken world is hard.
But thankfully, we are not left alone in our brokenness. God, in His mercy, is with us in our struggles, and through His strength we can be brave.
Julia and Henry both show courage in different ways throughout the book—some big ways and some small. Love helps make them braver.
If God has called us into the deep waters of life in some way, He is faithful to hold us, strengthen us, and give us all we need to complete the calling He’s placed on our hearts. He has a strong love—the strongest of all.
Thank you for reading Henry and Julia’s story. May the Lord strengthen your heart to answer the calling He has on your life.
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
- Isaiah 41:10
ALSO BY PEPPER D BASHAM
Historical Romance
The Penned in Time Series
The Thorn Bearer
The Thorn Keeper
The Thorn Healer
Historical Romance Novella
Façade
Contemporary Romance
The Mitchell’s Crossroads Series
A Twist of Faith
Charming the Troublemaker
A Pleasant Gap Romance
Just the Way You Are
Contemporary Romance Novella
Second Impressions
Jane by the Book
About the Author
Pepper Basham is an award-winning author who writes romance peppered with grace and humor with a southern Appalachian flair. Her books have garnered recognition in the Grace Awards, Inspys, and the ACFW Carol Awards, with The Thorn Healer selected as a 2018 finalist in the RT awards. Both her contemporary and historical romance novels consistently receive high ratings from Romantic Times, with Just the Way You Are as a Top Pick. Most recently she’s introduced readers to Bath, UK through her novellas, Second Impressions and Jane by the Book, and taken readers into the exciting world of WW2 espionage in her novella, Façade. The second novel in The Pleasant Gap series, When You Look at Me, arrives in October and her contribution to Barbour’s wonderful My Heart Belongs series hits the shelves in January 2019 with My Heart Belongs in the Blue Ridge. Her books are seasoned with her Appalachian heritage and love for family. She currently resides in the lovely mountains of Asheville, NC where she is the mom of five great kids, a speech-pathologist to about fifty more, and a lover of chocolate, jazz, hats, and Jesus.
You can get to know Pepper on her website, www.pepperdbasham.com, on Facebook, Instagram, or over at her group blog, The Writer's Alley.
When You Look at Me (A Pleasant Gap Romance Book 2) Page 37