
The Lawyer's Luck by Piper Huguley
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
The Back:
Lawrence Stewart is a rare man. Raised with his grandmother’s Miami Indian tribe, as a Negro he has consistently walked between two worlds most of his life. He devotes his time and study to becoming a lawyer, fully intending to obtain justice for the ousted Miami Indians. No Negro man has accomplished these things before, but he is not daunted. He studies for his exams as he rides circuit through the backwoods of Ohio, handing out justice to people who cannot easily reach a courthouse. His life is perfectly set until one June day….
Aurelia “Realie” Baxter made her way from enslavement in Georgia to the free land Lake Huron in Ohio. Far from happy as a slave doing the bidding of a woman cooped up in a house all day, Realie is a bona fide tomboy with a special gift with horses. Now, she is so close to freedom in Canada, she can smell it, but her plans are interrupted when Lawrence shoots her…by mistake….
Lawrence cannot study encumbered with the care of an enslaved woman, but he’s responsible for her injury…
Realie wants to get to Canada, but Lawrence won’t let her get away in trying to help her…
One chance meeting can change your life from what you thought you wanted….to what you really need.
My review:
When I first opened the pages of this novella, I was more than intrigued. After all, you can’t say that in 1844 the life of a runaway slave, a horse burglary, or a defensive pistol shooting are boring – and certainly not when they appear together in a single scene!
From the very beginning of the story, when Aurelia “Realie”, a runaway slave on her way from Georgia to Canada is shot by the educated Lawrence “Lawyer” Stewart, a working, mixed-blood circuit judge and soon-to-be-lawyer, you can’t help but want to know what happens next. Especially since with the mindset that there is something more in life than slavery, Realie is determined to face each crisis that comes her way on her own.
That said, the author does an amazing job throughout making the characters relatable, creating a simple dialect that feels true to the time, penning their adventures well, and ultimately changing Realie’s heart – as well as touching the reader’s heart – within the pages of this story .
Its not soon to be forgotten and has earned a solid 4.5 stars.
As for the author, Piper G Huguley is the author of the "Home to Milford College" series. The series traces the love stories at a small "Teachers and Preachers" college in Georgia over time, beginning with the love story of the founders. Book one in the series, The Preacher's Promise, was a semi-finalist in Harlequin's So You Think You Can Write contest,and a quarter-finalist in the 2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. The prequel novella, The Lawyer's Luck, and The Preacher's Promise will be independently published in July 2014. The Mayor's Mission will be independently published in the fall of 2014. Huguley is also the author of "Migrations of the Heart," a five-book series of inspirational historical romances set in the early 20th century featuring African American characters. Book one in the series, A Virtuous Ruby won the Golden Rose contest in Historical Romance in 2013 and is a Golden Heart finalist in 2014. Book four in the series, A Champion's Heart, was a Golden Heart finalist in 2013. Piper Huguley blogs about the history behind her novels at piperhuguley.com. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and son.
If you are interested, you can purchase a copy of the book from Amazon here.