Secrets at Apple Tree Creek
(2026)(The first book in the Courage & Covenants series)
A novel by Christine Sterling
She found a secret in his orchard. He found a reason to stop hiding. But war is coming for them both.
BerkeleyCounty, Virginia, 1774. Selah Chapman has always been useful and unseen. With Patriot whispers filling her family’s supper table and her father riding north on business he will not explain, she knows the war everyone fears is creeping closer to their Berkeley County farm. Then a hidden mark in Gideon Vale’s cider shed pulls her into a dangerous courier line—and into the guarded heart of a man who has sworn not to choose sides.
Gideon Vale has built his life on careful neutrality. His orchard is all he has, and survival means keeping his head down while Patriots and Loyalists tear the county apart. But when Selah discovers the secret hidden beneath his apple trade, Gideon must decide whether protecting her means sending her away—or trusting her with the danger he can no longer carry alone.
Even as Selah falls for Gideon’s quiet strength, her courage draws the attention of a Loyalist neighbor determined to expose her. And although Gideon is falling for the farmer’s daughter, who sees past every wall he has built, claiming her openly could make them both targets before the first shots of war reach their door.
Can a love rooted in secrets survive when the Revolution comes to Apple Tree Creek?
Secrets at Apple Tree Creek is the captivating first book in Christine Sterling’s Courage & Covenants clean Revolutionary War historical romance series. If you enjoy forbidden love, Patriot intrigue, slow-burn romance, and faith-forward frontier courage, you’ll love Christine Sterling’s tender story of trust, sacrifice, and love on the eve of revolution.
Buy Secrets at Apple Tree Creek today, and discover the secrets waiting in the orchard.
Genre: Historical Romance
BerkeleyCounty, Virginia, 1774. Selah Chapman has always been useful and unseen. With Patriot whispers filling her family’s supper table and her father riding north on business he will not explain, she knows the war everyone fears is creeping closer to their Berkeley County farm. Then a hidden mark in Gideon Vale’s cider shed pulls her into a dangerous courier line—and into the guarded heart of a man who has sworn not to choose sides.
Gideon Vale has built his life on careful neutrality. His orchard is all he has, and survival means keeping his head down while Patriots and Loyalists tear the county apart. But when Selah discovers the secret hidden beneath his apple trade, Gideon must decide whether protecting her means sending her away—or trusting her with the danger he can no longer carry alone.
Even as Selah falls for Gideon’s quiet strength, her courage draws the attention of a Loyalist neighbor determined to expose her. And although Gideon is falling for the farmer’s daughter, who sees past every wall he has built, claiming her openly could make them both targets before the first shots of war reach their door.
Can a love rooted in secrets survive when the Revolution comes to Apple Tree Creek?
Secrets at Apple Tree Creek is the captivating first book in Christine Sterling’s Courage & Covenants clean Revolutionary War historical romance series. If you enjoy forbidden love, Patriot intrigue, slow-burn romance, and faith-forward frontier courage, you’ll love Christine Sterling’s tender story of trust, sacrifice, and love on the eve of revolution.
Buy Secrets at Apple Tree Creek today, and discover the secrets waiting in the orchard.
Genre: Historical Romance