The Refuge

by Janet Morris Belvin

In a setting of pastoral beauty in the horse country of northern Virginia, a bright and beautiful young woman and a handsome, honest widower find each other after a tragedy. Peyton Thurman, a twenty-something London editor, assumes it will only take a few weeks to clear up the legal matters surrounding her parents' untimely deaths in a plane crash; but settling their estate and selling their home, Greyson Plantation in Loudoun County, Virginia, proves to be more difficult than she expects, even with the help of hunky farm manager Cameron Hill. Someone else wants that inheritance.

Peyton returns to the States to settle her parents' estate and oversee the selling of their historic mansion where she grew up. What she doesn't count on is the pull that Greyson would have on her. And seeing the farm manager, Cameron Hill, confuses her even more. Cameron, a tall, handsome widower, shows her more of the farm's operation than she knew existed and introduces her to his 2-year-old daughter, Ruthie. Worrying about the potential loss of his position if Peyton sells, nevertheless, Cameron shows her another hidden facet of the farm's operation, The Refuge. Hidden several miles back in the woods, The Refuge is another colonial-era manse on her family's plantation, one which Peyton didn't know existed. The Refuge holds another secret, too, one which could threaten Peyton's very life.

206 pages, Paperback

Published November 16, 2021

About the author

Janet Morris Belvin is a former teacher and writes for magazines and newspapers. She is the author of her memoir Southern Stories from the Porch Swing and five novels The Refuge, The Bookshop on Beach Road, Sycamore Hill, The Amazing Grace and Fog. With her husband Paul, she enjoys traveling, having toured the battlefields of Normandy as well as World War II sites in London and Portsmouth, England. Her favorite thing to do is to spend time with her six children and nine grandchildren. She enjoys reading, quilting, horseback riding and telling stories. She never met a pie she didn't love and has a love of anything old.

Reviews

[Janet Belvin]

I'm the author so I guess I better not comment. But I loved it.