Country At Heart

A Clean Christian YA Romance

Crack! It's 1996, and loner Susanna Quinn McCoy's last pair of glasses shatter, interrupting her family's once-peaceful RV camping trip. With only two weeks left before returning to school-and to its overwhelming noise, chaos, and bullies-she's left almost blind five inches past her nose. And the campground's owner expects her to give a tour to his grandson, Jordy Durant. The charming, confident transplant from Chicago has an attitude and a half-but something feels off. And he represents everything Susanna gets to escape while camping.

To cope, she leans on her theater training and plays a part. Only, at drama club, she becomes her roles. Introducing herself to Jordy as Sue-Ann, Susanna brings to life a braver, fiery version of her. Sue-Ann says the things Susanna never would. Sue-Ann hits back.

Jordy is hiding, too. A grieving former Boy Scout, he's determined to keep his distance from the hostile but pretty girl he spots beneath Sue-Ann's cindered clothes and disheveled hair. But the God he's walked away from seems intent on throwing them together-challenging both to face who they're pretending to be and who they're becoming.

Country at Heart is a slow-burn, faith-forward, coming-of-age romance about identity, honesty, and courage. It is for ages 16+ due to tactful references to the back story including a sexual assault and an unsolved murder. It can be read alone or as the first Embers of Hope novel. Book 2 is expected to be released in the fall of 2027.