“A Reluctant Belle” (Daughtry House Book #2) by Beth White

A Reluctant Belle (Daughtry House Book #2) by Beth White
This story was set in the time period right after the Civil War where the North and South were trying to reestablish themselves, reunited and rebuild instead of fight, where African Americans were trying to gain more freedom and rights, and when the KKK was rising strong to try and prevent change and progress.

I read book 1 in this “Daughtry House” series so I was excited to continue reading the story about the Daughtry girls. This story focuses on Joelle who is very head strong, progressive and who wants to help African Americans educate themselves. Joelle’s family friend Schuyler wants to help her with the family Inn renovations but their differences keep getting in the way, especially once Joelle becomes engaged to another.

I loved the love/hate relationship and banter that Joelle and Schuyler had throughout the story. I like reading about the other family members who were also mentioned in book 1. This story kept me engaged and interested the entire time with lots of history, clean romance and drama.

I received a copy of this book complimentary for blog and social media review. All opinions are my own.

About the Book:
Impoverished Southern belle Joelle Daughtry has a secret. By day she has been helping her sisters in their quest to turn the run-down family plantation into a resort hotel after the close of the Civil War. But by night and under a male pseudonym, she has been penning articles for the local paper in support of the construction of a Negro school. With the Mississippi arm of the Ku Klux Klan gaining power and prestige, Joelle knows she is playing a dangerous game.

When childhood enemy and current investor in the Daughtry house renovation Schuyler Beaumont takes over his assassinated father’s candidacy for state office, Joelle finds that in order to protect her family and her home, she and Schuyler will have to put aside their longstanding personal conflict and develop a united public front. The trouble is, what do you do when animosity becomes respect–and even love–if you’re already engaged to someone else?

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About the Author
Beth White’s day job is teaching music at an inner-city high school in historic Mobile, Alabama. A native Mississippian, she writes historical romance with a Southern drawl and is the author of The Pelican Bride, The Creole Princess, The Magnolia Duchess, and A Rebel Heart. Her novels have won the American Christian Fiction Writers Carol Award, the RT Book Club Reviewers’ Choice Award, and the Inspirational Reader’s Choice Award. Learn more at www.bethwhite.net.