Water Wheel Books

Julienne Ashby, 24, must change her pampered ways after her father, a prominent businessman in Natchez, Mississippi, loses their fortune and family home to a bad gambling habit in 1850. Like a fish out of water, she aims to refit their one remaining possession, an old riverboat, in hopes of making a profit and restoring the Cuvier name along the mighty Mississippi. Desperate for help in doing the restoration work, prideful Julienne hires Dallas Bronte, a humiliated captain whose drinking problem stopped his water ways many years ago. Despite initial success, the struggles they will face with other ship owners are almost as challenging as the fiery feelings - of love and hate - that they must sort out for each other. When the riverboat and all aboard meet what looks like certain destruction, God shows Julienne and Dallas only one of those emotions is unsinkable. Acclaim for The River Queen : "I have read a lot of Gilbert Morris' books but I think this one is the best of them all." -- My Favorite Things

Life hasn’t been easy for Jeanne Bettencourt, a widow approaching thirty and struggling to provide for her eight-year-old daughter. But hope arrives in the form of the Helena Rose , a steamboat she unexpectedly inherits from a distant, departed relative. Jeanne’s father had captained a similar vessel and taught her how to pilot a steamer along the banks of Memphis. She’s looking forward to a renewed livelihood on the mighty Mississippi. However, as plans are made, news comes of another heir to the Helena Rose - a tough man named Clint Hardin - and a clause in the will that says claimants of the estate must live aboard the boat. Jeanne, a Christian woman, makes it clear she won’t stay with a man who is not her husband. But both are desperate for work, so they agree to keep their distance as Clint occupies the lower deck and Jeanne takes the captain’s quarters. As they restore the Helena Rose , the slowly softening Clint becomes attracted to Jeanne - who is now being courted by a wealthy plantation owner. With her family and future at stake, the desires of Jeanne’s heart are duly complex. Only her simple faith can navigate her through what’s about to happen.

The Civil War has ended when Yankee Captain Dennis Wainwright and Confederate Sergeant Gage Kennon cross paths. Forming an unlikely alliance, their travels become very interesting when they stumble across a band of Gypsies. Gage saves an older Gypsy woman from a terrible accident, earning the respect, but not the friendship, of her granddaughter Nadyha. Later Gage finds himself in the unlikely position of saving an innocent young woman from being arrested and possibly hanged. These unlikely people seem bound together mysteriously by unaccountable forces; but always Gage Kennon, a humble and devout Christian man, is at the center of the turns and twists their lives take. The road soon leads them to a grand showboat, the Queen of Bohemia , and exciting journeys on the Mississippi River. The River Palace is based on a very old story, that of the Good Samaritan, but it is also a new story of faith, romance, and classic adventure from beloved Christian author Gilbert Morris.