Thorn in My Heart — Liz Curtis Higgs

In the autumn of 1788, amid the moors and glens of the Scottish Lowlands, two brothers fight to claim one father's blessing, two sisters long to claim one man's heart.

Leana slipped beneath the woolen covers, leaving one taper burning high on the dresser where it would not disturb her slumber. Clouds had moved in and blotted out the moon, for the window was dark, and her whole room, except for the tiny flame, remained pitch black. "As dark as a Yule midnight," Neda would say.

Darkness was nothing to fear. Far greater fears gnawed on Leana's soul. A life without love, without a husband, without children. For her it was no life at all. But what if that was the life the Almighty had chosen for her? If it pleased him, could she bear it?