To Whisper Her Name (Belle Meade Plantation #1) - Tamera Alexander

Tamera Alexander is a great author, but her books rarely drop in price.  I try to keep an eye out to see if I can look out for new books and I was surprised when I saw that I could pre-order this for $4.99.  I snatched it up and waited patiently for the release date, especially since I have been running low on Kindle books.

Olivia is going to live with her "aunt" who was a close friend of her mother's.  Olivia's husband has just been murdered for being a crook and traitor to the south.  He was hardly a loving, caring husband to Olivia, but she is now paying the price for his actions.  She has been rejected by Nashville society and is now on her way to Belle Meade Plantation.

When we meet Ridley Cooper, he is fighting in the Civil War.  Being from South Carolina, his family expected him to fight for the south, but Ridley's conscience wouldn't allow that. He comes across a man from the Belle Meade plantation that is hiding some of the horses from the Belle Meade Plantation.  Ridley allows the man to take the horses, but is captured by Confederate soldiers as he leaves the mountain.

Olivia and Ridley meet when the carriage that Olivia is riding to the plantation is overturned.  She is saved and now is trapped in the carriage.  Terrified of horses, her scream draws the attention of Ridley and they become friends.  Ridley is there to learn how to train the horses from the man he met on the mountain.  He is sworn to secrecy, because if the General finds out that Ridley fought for the north, both Ridley's and the trainer's life could be in danger.

Olivia and Ridley fall in love, but he is determined to head to the Colorado Territory.  He has land waiting for him and he has a set amount of time to improve the land.  Olivia is just as determined to stay in Tennessee.  The secret that lies between them make the situation impossible.  Ridley can't betray the trainer, but he doesn't like holding the secret from Olivia.

In the end, I did enjoy this book, but it seemed to be a little longer than these types of books usually are.  I thought there were details in there that didn't need to be there, but the story was great.  The history was interesting and I love horses, so all those details didn't bother me at all.  I can't find evidence of more books for this series.  The author has another series she's writing, the Belmont Mansion novels, and the next one of those is supposed to come out in fall of 2013.  On the author's website, it labels To Whisper Her Name as one of the Belle Meade novels, so there is the possibility of more in the future.  I give this my Good Book! review.