God doesn’t always do things according to the time we hope for. Today’s guest, Rebecca DeMarino, shares about God’s timing in bringing her dream to reality.

Rebecca DeMarino is a historical romance author who lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. She inherited her love of baking and gardening from her mother, a love of horses, reading and writing from her dad, and the wanderlust gene from both parents.

In God’s Time

Since high school I thought someday I would write a novel, and for my ten-year reunion I noted that my five-year plan was to be a published author. I was an avid reader of many genres, and in my wildest dreams I pictured myself writing contemporary suspense with a touch of romance. But dream as I did, I was a busy mother of three and the years slipped by without so much a Chapter One or a clue as to the story concept. And perhaps the idea was too silly to approach God with in prayer.

And then my daughters grew up, I found myself in the midst of an unwanted divorce, and I wondered what God had I store for me. If you ever ask Him, be prepared to hang on tight as you find yourself in the middle of the answer! For me it was to write the book of my heart—in a time, place, and genre I’d never considered.

We were fascinated by the fact that Barnabas Horton, a Puritan, was one of the founding fathers of Southold, and had built the first timber-framed house on the eastern side of Long Island.

A slab of blue slate covered his grave and still bore a legible engraving (it was re-lettered in the 1800’s) of the epitaph he wrote himself. Few records exist, but one lists his occupation as a baker. We learned he was a wealthy, jovial man whose presence filled a room. He later became a magistrate of Southold.

The lack of information about Mary Langton Horton, his brave young wife who left family to come to the wilds of Long Island—and our great-grandmother—troubled me.

I did discover Barnabas was a widower when she married him. She must have been courageous as she left her family to cross an ocean with him and his two young sons by his first wife. We never found her grave, but she is mentioned in the will Barnabas wrote shortly before he died at age eighty.

I began to read about the Puritan families who left persecution in England with hopes of rebuilding the church in the New World, and tried to imagine Mary’s life. What were her motivations? Her dreams? Her struggles? What if . . .

In 2008, three years after my mom passed away—and numerous return trips to Southold—I began to write the love story of Mary and Barnabas. I wanted to honor my mother—another feisty Horton woman who loved adventure and followed her heart—and to give Mary a voice, along with the countless brave and strong women who made the same journey.

My first novel, A Place in His Heart, was contracted by Baker Publishing Group/Revell, in 2012 as a three-book series, The Southold Chronicles. It debuted in 2014, and book two, To Capture Her Heart, released last year. To Follow Her Heart, the conclusion of the series, releases July 19th. God answered my prayer in His own time, in His own way, and blessed me far above what I could have imagined. “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

Duty and love are powerful forces. Only one has the power to make her life complete.

In 1664 Patience Terry is devastated to learn that Captain Jeremy Horton’s ship has been shipwrecked off the coast of Barbados. There were no survivors. She had hoped that Jeremy would someday give up the sea and settle down with her in Southold, Long Island.

Unaware his memorial service is being planned, Jeremy sails aboard a British warship with secret orders to attack New Amsterdam and claim it for the British Crown. When he makes his surprise return to Southold—and to an overjoyed Patience—it’s not quite the happily-ever-after his beloved had hoped for.

With a finely tuned sense for authentic historical characters and settings, Rebecca DeMarino plunges you into a world of tall ships, daring journeys, and yearning hearts.