Holding on to Hope — Nancy O'Berry

Sweetbrier Academy is more than just a school. The young ladies lucky enough to be accepted are educated in the social graces that only the wealthiest debutantes of 1870 would have learned. They can play the spinet, embroider, discuss politics, and issues of importance like any lady, but when the lights go down, the debutantes of Sweetbrier know how to make use of their God given talents and bring pleasure to their suitors.

When Miss Opal Benedict, Madame of the Academy, is called out of town, Hope finds Panther's Landing's doctor, the dashing Jonathan Norris paying court. When his attentions become obvious, they find themselves caught in a storm of their own creation. Their lust for one another becomes the object of unwanted attention in a most unflattering way.

When influenza strikes, Dr. Jonathan Norris must choose between his career or the woman who has captured his soul.