LILY by Diane T. Ashley and Aaron McCarver is an interesting inspiration Historical Romance set in 1859 Natchez,Mississippi. #1 in the "Song of the River". Meet Lily Anderson, and her two younger sisters, Camellia and Jasmine. Lily dreams of a riding on the Mississippi River on a riverboat and adventure. But her family wants her to secure her and her sisters futures by marrying well even if this means a loveless match for Lily. She sets off to claim her own life and on an adventure of her own by purchasing the steamship Hattie Belle. Oh but things change quickly....enter gambler Blake Matthew,a Rogue and her new partner.....With a bit of faith,trust, lots of turmoil,and the attraction of Blake and Lily, God has his own plans for the two wayward souls. Natchez's Southern Belle meets the Roguish Gambler! Life changes quickly as does our plans. A wonderful read by two authors who are fast becoming one of my favorites. I can hardly wait to see what trouble, young Camellia gets into. *I have already read "Jasmine" and can honestly say what a challenge these Anderson girls are so far,yes I read them out of order.* Received for an honest review from the publisher.

RATING: 4

HEAT RATING: SWEET

REVIEWED BY: AprilR, Review courtesy of My Book Addiction and More ( )

Lily is a young Southern girl in the years before the Civil War. Her mother was killed in a riverboat accident, and her father abandoned Lily and her sisters. After the accident, lily and her sisters lived with her grandparents, but when her grandfather dies, her aunt and uncle pressure her to marry a widowerer almost twenty years her senior. Aft asking for her dowry money from her grandmother, she purchases half of a riverboat and moves in with her sisters, much to the dismay of the other owner, a riverboat gambler. Negotiating agreements with her parter, her sisters, and the river as well as villains, keeps Lily almost too busy to fall in love and find the path the Lord has chosen for her.

The story is rich with the south and the problems facing the people of the day. Lily's story is fun to read and affirming, especially for the women who has to choose to be alone rather than become unequally yoked. As Lilly attempts to make solid choices in her life, the application of passages of the Bible lift up the Christian reader and help to strengthen one’s choices today. I would recommend this for readers who enjoy historical romances with heroines who look to the Lord for their dtrength. This one is definitely appealing to the heart. ( )

Review: Lily by Diane Ashley and Aaron McCarver
5 STARS
A nice read for a sunday afternoon. No bedroom scenes. Deals with
forgivness, independant, freedom, choices, gambling, drinking, slaves
and even the Under Ground Railroad.
Lily is the eldest of three sisters, who have been raised by her grand-
parents. Her Aunt Dahlia & Uncle want her to marry a man their age. She is not
as pretty as her younger sisters. She does not want to be forced to marry someone she does not love.
After her grandfather dies she talks her grandmother to let her have her & her sisters dowery to put in the bank and let the money earn interest. Lily knows
her Uncle has accepted a proposal for her. She goes to a businessman that owns a lot of boats and wants to buy one and run gargo a long the river.
Blake owns a gamblers table and is known for having honest games when a
young man home from Europe comes aboard to gambles and he throws his ownership of a boat in the pot and looses to Blake.
Jean Luc Champney is home from Europe and his family throws him a party on one of thier riverboat Hattie Belle. He meets all the young ladies that are from the best homes. His father later gives him 49 % ownership of the boat.
Jean Luc is disapointed but feels at last his father is trusting him. He goes out to celebrate and ends up gambling away the boat.
When Blake finds he only owns part of a ship and not all of it. He decides to bring a business plan to his partner to keep the ship docked and open it for gambling.
Lily plans to take her sisters and live on the boat Mr. Champney sold her
and take cargo down to New Orleans and up the river as she can get cargo.
So she and her sisters won't have to marry against their will. When she finds Blake at her ship she finds she only was sold 51% not all of it. She will not have gambling on her ship.
Jean Luc's father is disapointed in his son gambling away the ship and he does not want to do business with Blake. So when Lily comes to buy a ship he agrees to sell the Hattie Belle. Jean Luc figures that he can marry Lily and get his ship back. He also arranges things to go wrong for her so that she will turn to him.
Blake figures Lily will get tired of being on the river and he just has to earn enough money to buy her out.
Things get interesting as they learn how to work together. Some surprises happens that add conflict and interest. I enjoyed reading Lily and look forward to reading more from Diane and Aaron in the future.
I was given this ebook to read in exchange for honest review from Netgalley.
06/01/2012 PUB Barbour Publishing, Inc. ( )