About the Book

Book: A Summer at The Niagara of the South

Author: Denise Weimer

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release date: June 28, 2024

She came to the resort to heal her voice, only to discover her heart needed healing more.

Breaking under the stress of being a rising star, opera singer Grace Galveston travels to Tallulah Falls in search of reprieve. With its multiple waterfalls, spectacular gorge and mountain scenery, and lavish resorts, “The Niagara of the South,” seems the perfect place to do just that. Even amid the crowds and excitement of an aerialist’s attempt to cross the gorge, Grace hopes to find peace.

Daniel Monroe basks in that peace as minister of a local church. He’s the perfect tour guide for Grace during her visit—until his heart gets entangled with the red-haired beauty with an angel’s voice. The trip sheds light on the secret pain in Grace’s heart. And does she even share the faith that’s so vital to his ministry? Can the blessing of friendship and the possibility of love guide her toward healing, or will the call of her life back in New York mean even greater heartbreak?

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About the Author

North Georgia native Denise Weimer has authored over a dozen traditionally published novels and a number of novellas—historical and contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and time slip. As a freelance editor and Acquisitions & Editorial Liaison for Wild Heart Books, she’s helped other authors reach their publishing dreams. A mother of two daughters, Denise always pauses for coffee, chocolate, and old houses.

More from Denise

A Vanished Gilded Age Resort on the Edge of a Gorge

I first discovered Tallulah Gorge in Northeast Georgia when I was a student at Toccoa Falls College, only a couple years before the area was designated a state park. It was considered a perfect place for a day out hiking, tracing whatever faint trail one could find to an overlook into the thousand-foot-deep canyon or down to the series of waterfalls below. The more daring (or crazy) would jump off the rock cliffs into the pools—without a clue that the dangerous currents feeding the rapids had whisked many an adventurer to their death.

As a young mom, I moved to Habersham County and learned that over twenty lavish resorts had clung to the rim of the gorge during Gilded Age and Edwardian times. In fact, Tallulah Gorge with its series of six spectacular falls had drawn people from all over the nation and been dubbed “The Niagara of the South.” To power the city of Atlanta, Georgia Power Company dammed the river and constructed a large hydroelectric facility at the site in 1912, greatly reducing the amount of water flowing through the gorge. In 1921, a fire destroyed most of the hotels and brought an end to the glamorous tourist era.

The idea of recreating on the page something lost to history has inspired many a story idea for me. I had set aside my quest for publication with the birth of my daughters, but Tallulah Falls called to me. I soon penned my first published novella, Redeeming Grace, set during the summer of 1886 when tightrope walker Professor Leon crossed the gorge before a crowd of around six thousand. (The stunt was repeated in 1970 by Karl Wallenda.) That little book was a tiny initial stepping stone on my journey to becoming a multi-published author and editor.

Another more recent novella of mine, A Winter at the White Queen, set at Hotel Belleview in Florida kicked off Wild Heart Books’ Romance at the Gilded Age Resorts Series in January 2023. It took quite a while for it to dawn on me that after being released from its original contract, Redeeming Grace was pretty much gathering digital dust—and with a light edit and new cover and title, it could perfectly bookend the series. So we give you A Summer at the Niagara of the South, the story of a New York opera singer breaking under the stress of newfound stardom, and the Tallulah Falls minister who doesn’t dare to dream she could fit into his humble world.

My Impressions

“Don’t you go lookin’ for no ghosts, Miss Gracie. Not here. You get on with your own life an’ don’t spend it pokin’ about in the rubble of the past like Miss Martha.”

Denise Weimer gives us a beautiful setting of Tallulah Falls, Georgia in the Gilded Age, in this case 1886. It is the time of fancy hotels and resorts attracting the wealthy way from the heat of their regular mansions. I loved the descriptions of the gorge, the waterfalls, the gorge, the mists, and the hiking trails. They made me want to visit the area as it had been back then!

And to see the spectacle of a tightrope walker. Not so sure I would enjoy that, but I’m sure it would add to the crowds, just as it did in the novel.

Against this backdrop, we meet Grace Galveston, a poor, rich girl who must rest her operatic voice if she is to be the next Met Opera diva. Accompanied by her matronly and snobbish Aunt Martha, Grace finds new friends as they stay at the Cliff House resort. Amelia and Daniel become wonderful friends to Grace.

While Grace doesn’t look at the same past for answers as her aunt, she finds she has a huge hole in her heart. Living up the her rich father’s expectations is nearly impossible, and a longing for belonging compels her to dig into her parents’ past.

Weimer uses Daniel’s sermon to show Grace and the reader that without God, everybody has an empty space in their heart. “No possessions, no experiences, no talents, can fill the void created by the Lord. Nothing can but Himself.” Yet, Grace starts to find success with her singing and in her relationships and begins to dream of the future.

I liked Daniel a lot, but I was disappointed in his failure to keep alert. But sometimes we do that, too. We make our plans and close our eyes to anything that may hint that we may not be in God’s will.

This is one of those books that I could readily identify with the hurts of several of the characters. Would each one rise above those hurts and find a way to forgiveness, or would each stay bitter at those who had wronged them? If you love historical fiction based on real geographical locations, and faith-filled romances, this would be a great choice!

I received a copy of the book from Celebrate Lit. I also bought my own ecopy. No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own.

Notable Quotables:

“Grace couldn’t imagine having a human father that involved in the details of one’s life, much less a heavenly one.”

“Or do you think God is as distant as your own father?”

“He had let himself drift along, satisfied by surface comments, drawn into a relationship without having a clear sense of her faith when differences between them in this area could prove a far greater obstacle than mere geography.”

“There’s only one Person who will never let you down.”

“It will give you answers…It will show you God loves you and longs to heal your hurts and fill the hole in your heart.”

“my faith is not important to me because I’m a minister. My ministry is important to me because my faith is the core of who I am. It affects everything about my life.”

“They all expected her to show herself worthy. And what didn’t she have to justify? Her father’s money, her mother’s life, Aunt Martha’s wasted years, even her own existence. Yes, all those things she held inside her, and their raw edges scraped when they stirred.”

“…He allows humans a choice. Because of that, there is evil in the world. But difficulties can produce character, if we allow.”