About the Book

Book: In Tempest Winds (West Virginia: Born of Rebellion’s Storm #3)

Author: Kendy Pearson

Genre: Christian Historical Fiction

Release date: May 7, 2025

Not all heroes are born of battle.

Some heroes are born of loss.

War has a way of changing a man, taking more than he has to give. When Zander Dabney joins in the fight, army life is not what he expected, and it seems impossible to escape his hero-brother’s shadow. When Zander finally gets the chance to test his mettle, the horrors of battle shatter his faith and leave him questioning everything—even what he thought he knew about his brother.

Lola Wade has her hands full with the mercantile, rising prices, family, and a cunning thief. Despite her chaotic life, Zander has captured her heart. But the war has taken much from him. And he needs more than her love to confront his inner demons and fractured faith.

In a whirlwind of deception, the enemy attacks the town and garrison, leaving death and destruction in its wake. But this was no ordinary attack, and the evidence Zander has just falls on deaf ears.

He is determined to unearth the truth. She has lost everything and must make a heart-wrenching decision.

Betrayal plunges Zander into a nightmare of injustice and a perilous ordeal of sacrifice and endurance few can survive. He needs a miracle. A lot of them.

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About the Author

Kendy Pearson is a worship leader, Bluegrass fiddler, and Civil War reenactment enthusiast. As a veteran high school teacher, she loves to discover a pocket of American history missing from the schoolbooks and turn that pocket inside out. Her novels lead fictitious characters through historical events and settings, engaging with period personalities. And she always includes a romantic thread to warm the heart. Every story is a journey through tragedy, secrets, regrets, and God’s undeniable grace.

She has received multiple lit awards and enjoys public speaking and teaching writing workshops. When she’s not clicking away on the computer or scaling mountains of research, she relishes ice cream, snowy days, fireplaces, and maple trees. Kendy is the mother of four grown children and lives with her sweet hubby and two amusing miniature dachshunds.

More from Kendy

As always, writing from the Heart of History requires I choose little-known events in history and weave a fictionalized story through them. In Tempest Winds is Zander’s story, the middle son of the five Dabney siblings of the “West Virginia: Born of Rebellion’s Storm” series. I promise, you will still laugh, cry, and maybe even swoon—and you will definitely learn a few things you didn’t know before.

I’d like to share a secret with you. When I wrote In Tempest Winds, I was thinking of two of my sons. Only a year and a half apart in age, they both joined the military around the same time. They each served one-year deployments. The first son deployed to Iraq and the second to Afghanistan a year later. They each left an infant child and wife behind. I held my breath for two years (barely hyperbole!).

As I researched the last desperate year of the Civil War, I somehow knew what events Zander must experience in this book. Like my sons, Zander is witty, athletic, handsome, and sensitive. And as a mother of veterans and the daughter of a two-war veteran, I know this to be a truth: “…War has a way of changing a man, taking more than he has to give.”

Zander’s journey in this story is a little like Peter’s experience on the Sea of Galilee. Peter learned a valuable, frightening lesson when he took his eyes off Jesus and started sinking. (But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid… Matt. 14:30). Peter lost his faith for a time, forgetting who made that sea in the first place.

So, you are wondering about the leading lady by now. Lola is adorable, with her fly-away blond hair and spectacles that won’t stay where she puts them. And boy, is she smart, feisty, and falling hard for Zander! When the fireworks spark, she gives our boy much to think about. Lola’s got faith and pluck. She’s determined to trust God, no matter what the tempest threatens to destroy.

If you’ve read the other books in this series, please shoot me an email (kendy@kendypearson.com) and tell me your ideas for a grown-up Will and Bertie! What will they be like? I am excited to write their stories next.

Blessings from the Heart of History, my friends!

Kendy

Author Interview

Can you tell us a little bit about what readers can expect from your books?

My books are Christian Historical Fiction with romance. In other words, the romance is not the dominant story. The love story will melt your heart, bring tears, and applause, but the plot is the journey my main characters travel. True to history, my stories are realistic and gritty. Readers will encounter tears and laughter and violence, because that is real life. So, you will find my books filled with the fire of faith, the fervor of love, and the fury of war. And lots of history!

What book made you fall in love with reading?

I remember reading Little Women. I think I ordered it from one of those book flyers we used to get at school. I was Jo, and Meg, Beth, and Amy were my sisters. How I loved being someone other than me. It was the start of something wonderful that continued feeding my imagination and creativity for the rest of my life.

Can you share 5 random facts about this book?

West Virginia was actually part of Virginia until halfway through the war, when it pulled away from Virginia and joined the Union.

Farmhands with rakes were mistaken for Rebels with firearms.

The Civil War did not officially end until 16 months after Robert E. Lee’s surrender.

President Lincoln was shot on Good Friday and died the next day, just five days after Lee’s surrender.

Civil War prisons were grossly overcrowded because no one expected the War to drag on for so long.

What was the inspiration behind it?

My brand is “Heart of History” which leads me to places and times in America that are not general knowledge. I am a former high school history teacher, so, of course, I love history. And I am pretty sure I was born 100 years too late! My favorite Christian Historical novels always seemed to be set during the Civil War. I knew I wanted to write a Civil War story, so months of research took me to the most contested piece of real-estate during that time—western Virginia. Once I found the where, a story line developed from my research.

I have always wondered what it would be like to be a normal farm family caught right smack dab in the middle of that conflict. There were many families who experienced just that, thus When the Mountains Wept became a seedling. The pieces fell quickly into place for the West Virginia:

Born of Rebellion’s Storm series because history itself wrote much of each book. Actual events inspired practically every chapter, and my mind filled in the rest.

Having had two young sons deployed to war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan inspired In Tempest Winds a great deal. Tender-hearted Zander Dabney experiences one of the bloodiest battles of the war. It sends him into a crisis of faith, much like when Peter took his eyes off of Jesus on the Sea of Galilee and began to sink. When I read about a trial of endurance experienced by captives, I knew Zander had to go through that as well. Though painful, I forced my character through the events that would ultimately restore his shattered faith. And when I witnessed the sutlers at a reenactment, I knew he had to fall in love with a fetching little sutler gal.

What do you hope readers will take away from the book?

I hope readers see a bit of their own life in these pages. Not the specific circumstances, but the way the main character struggles with his faith. We all struggle with our faith at some point, asking God why. Zander, in In Tempest Winds, feels so very alone in the most painful, horrific ordeal of his young life. With the help of a young woman’s uncompromising love and a friend’s unthwarted faith, he learns something crucial about God’s nature. Zander discovers God is always there for his children, even when we cannot see him or feel him. Just as the sun is always up there in the sky, even though the dark storm clouds hide it from view.

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Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. Before you go, where can readers keep up with what’s next?

I dearly love hearing from readers! You can discover more about my books and what’s next at my website: https://kendypearson.com. Please consider connecting with me through my newsletter at Email Subscribe (mailerlite.com) Also, follow on Amazon to get notified of new releases. https://www.goodreads.com/kendypearson https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kendy-pearson https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0CZZ4LMDC https://www.facebook.com/Kendy.Pearson.Author/ https://twitter.com/kendypearson https://www.instagram.com/kendypearson/ https://www.threads.net/@kendypearson