The War Between the Hearts

Synopsis Click arrow to hear synopsis and/or read it, below. If no player appears, download Adobe Flash here. Intent on serving the Union Army as a spy, Sarah-Bren Coulter disguises herself as a man and becomes a courier-scout for the Confederate Army. Soon the savagery of war shakes her to the core. She stifles her emotions so she can bear the guilt of sending men, and sometimes boys, into paths of destruction. When Sarah is wounded and in danger of dying, her life is saved by a woman who stirs desire in Sarah for the first time. But Faith Pruitt is Sarah's enemy, and Sarah is betrayed into a hell worse than she has ever known. Sometimes hearts are killed instead of bodies. Can Faith save Sarah's heart and awaken her to love? Do they even want to try? Or are the women destined to be at war with each other forever?
Excerpt Click arrow to hear excerpt and/or read it, below. In this excerpt, Sarah Coulter is dressed as an army scout named Bren Cordell. She's been cornered by her fellow soldiers into visiting a prostitute. Bren knocked on the upstairs door that the server Kate indicated. As Sparks passed by, he elbowed Bren in the side, winked, and followed Kate down the hall. When the door opened, Bren removed her cap as a pretty, slightly overweight woman near her own age appeared. The young woman wore a garish yellow robe that matched her hair, and she looked up at the tall soldier, widening her hazel eyes in an apparent attempt to seem welcoming. "Hello, there. Come on in." She closed and locked the door, got rid of Bren's cap by tossing it on the bureau, and hung the saddlebag on the door back. Bren removed her holster belt and hung it above the saddlebag. "What's your name, soldier?" Taking Bren by the arm, she led her to the turned-down bed. A kerosene lamp on a circular table near the bed lit the room dimly, but Bren could see that it looked clean and neat. A double bed, a bureau, two chairs, and the table made up the bare furnishings. A multicolored throw rug rested on the hardwood floor next to the bed. "Bren," she muttered, finding the situation totally embarrassing. Blast that idiot Sparks. "Glad to meet you, Bren. My name's Leah. Why don't you sit here on the bed?" When Bren didn't respond, Leah reached for the rawhide tie at the top of Bren's shirt. "Or maybe you'd rather we start standing up." Bren pulled the tie away, and a blush rose as she thought about what this woman was expecting from her. "Look," she said weakly and cleared her throat for a stronger try. "No offense, miss, but I'm not here for what you think. One of my friends pushed me into this. I just want to get a good night's rest. I'm so tired I can barely stand, and I surely can't do anything else." Leah dropped her hands and stepped back, peering at what Bren hoped she saw as an exhausted man. "Am I hearing what I think I'm hearing?" Putting her hands on her ample hips, she tilted her head to one side and grinned. "This has got to be a first. A soldier who is too tired to-" Bren could feel herself blushing furiously. "Ah, I understand. You've never been with a woman, have you?" "I uh, no. I've never been with anybody," Bren stammered. "I never much wanted to." She hadn't been drawn to the flirtatious games played between the two sexes. In fact, she couldn't relate to their mutual attraction at all. There had been times when men sought her favors, but she was affronted by their attempts to turn a friendly kiss into permission to explore her body. A few sharp words or an occasional slap prevented any further familiarity. Though vague hungers sometimes plagued her, she usually managed to repress them and considered her sexual desires to be nearly nonexistent. "Well, maybe you just need a little warming up first, honey." Leah's grin broadened into a smile, and she put her dimpled hand on Bren's chest. Bren grabbed the hand and backed away as fast as her feet could move, but Leah came right along with her, until after only four steps, they halted against the wall. At that point, Leah reached out her other hand and clutched the triangle between Bren's legs. "Stop it!" No one had ever touched Bren there, even through trousers. In spite of the exhaustion that flowed through her like a sluggish river, she was rattled. She grabbed Leah's shoulders and clumsily pushed her away. "Stop it," she protested again. "I told you, I just want to sleep." A puzzled look replaced Leah's smile. Before Bren could react, she quickly ran her hands across the soldier's shirtfront, encountering the constricted but telltale shapes beneath. "You're a woman!" Alarmed, Bren sucked in a sharp breath. Leah grabbed one of Bren's hands and pulled on it. "Honey, I think we both need to sit down." She followed her own advice and drew a shaky Bren down to a seat next to her on the bed. "You want to tell me what's going on?" What can I say? Bren wondered. At first disconcerted by Leah's touch but now distracted by the woman's discovery of her gender, she groaned inwardly. I surely can't tell her I need to masquerade as a man so I can spy for the Union. I'll tell her I wanted to serve the Confederacy and hope that convinces her. "The Confederate Army won't let women be soldiers, but I wanted to fight. So I decided to dress like a man." The potential jeopardy suddenly occurred to her. "Please, don't give me away. I could get into a lot of trouble." "I won't give you away," Leah promised. "Soldiering has to be a hard life for a woman." "Yes, it is. Harder than I ever imagined." Leah cocked her head. "But you could leave whenever you want." "I'm not a quitter. The men are having a hard time, too. They risk their lives for the cause. I can't see me doing any less." "I guess we each have to do our part in our own way. Me, I just try to keep the troops happy. But in your case, my usual methods aren't going to work." Leah winked. "You sure look like a man. Of course, the beard's false, too. And here I was thinking how handsome you were compared to those other three, and how lucky I was to get you."

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