Thanks for stopping by my website. I’m a Maryland gal who loves the western mountains, horses, quilts, and history, especially the events long buried in dusty archives and libraries. I’m a bestselling author of inspirational historical fiction where I delve deeply into the lives of my characters and write stories of courage, love, and faith. I’m a USA Today favorite for my series The Daughters of the Potomac and a nominee for an Inspy Award.
EVENTS: Let’s meet, talk books, and let me sign a copy for you. Saturday, December 9, 11am to 4pm. C Burr Artz Library, 110 E Patrick Street, Frederick, MD
In Celebration of Frederick County’s 275 anniversary, I will be signing my novel Thorns In Eden and The Everlasting Mountains set in Frederick County, Maryland during the turbulent rise of the American Revolution, based on actual historical accounts I researched and couldn’t let go of.
NEWS ! WOMEN’S FICTION FOR THE ROMANTIC AT HEART!
Wedding of the Waters, previously published with Barbour Publishing in their Erie Canal Romance Collection has been reissued.
![Wait Until Morning by [Rita Gerlach]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31phHAzEhSL.jpg)
For fans of WWII fiction Wait Until Morning is an absorbing journey into the lives of three women faced with the absences of their men during WWII.
Alexandria, Virginia, 1944: Anna Aubrey’s desire to help with the war effort grates against the wishes of her cousin Freddie, the head of the family. She has reached a point where she has had enough of his interference in her life, especially when he rejects Corporal Daniel Blair’s request to marry her the night he leaves for Europe as a field medic.
Anna has no choice but to leave Alexandria for her sister’s home in the peaceful town of Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. Upon her arrival, she finds her sister’s health in decline, and ends up in a tug-of-war with the local doctor whose skills are antiquated, while struggling with whether she has lost or won the man she loves…and if he will return.
WAIT UNTIL MORNING is available in ebook and paperback. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09ZCFG979/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1
My novel, ‘Mercy’s Refuge’, is now available in ebook and paperback. This novel was an amazing writing adventure. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08J8HF7W4/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
Inspired by William Bradford’s ‘Of Plymouth Plantation’, Mercy’s Refuge is a sweeping historical novel of romance and adventure in the year 1620. Mercy McCrea, orphaned as a child and raised by her aging grandparents, lives in poverty. The only thing keeping her and her family from starvation is to work as a kitchen servant for a rich nobleman.
When catastrophe strikes and Mercy’s life is in danger, she flees England for her uncle’s farm in Holland. There she meets Caleb, a carpenter, and finds refuge among the Separatists who fled the wrath of the English King. Beginning in Ipswich, a North Sea port town in Suffolk, England, the novel takes the reader on a voyage across the English Channel to Holland, and then aboard the Mayflower.
When Mercy and Caleb face the dangers of the sea, their faith and love for each other is strengthened by the strong bonds of a people whose courage forged a nation.
Riveting historical fiction. One of the reigning queens of descriptive imagery and masterful storytelling, Rita Gerlach, has set the bar high.~ Diana Flowers, reviewer.
‘Mercy’s Refuge’ is indisputably Rita Gerlach’s finest historical novel yet. Unlike many romantic novels, Rita brings her stories to life through her deep immersion into the history and culture of the period. This time, she has written the gripping tale of a young woman fleeing dangerous enemies to join the other passengers aboard the Mayflower. I believe Rita Gerlach is one of our finest authors today in the category of inspirational historical novels. Author and Editor Barbara Scott
We have a Facebook Group entitled Mayflower 400th: Mercy’s Refuge, with lots of interesting facts regarding English life in the 17th century, as well as the Mayflower voyage. It’s a fun group, so if you haven’t joined, please come by at https://www.facebook.com/groups/249323152879604/
From Rita: Writing After the Rain. This is a story dear to my heart. I wrote this romantic historical while going through a tough year and recovery from breast cancer, which I beat.
It’s 1908, a year in the Edwardian era, the year J.M. Barrie’s play What Every Woman Knows premiered in Atlantic City and the first Model T rolled off the assembly line in Detroit, Michigan.
Louisa Jane Borden lives a privileged life in a mansion in Chevy Chase, Maryland, a new and thriving community on the outskirts of Washington, DC for the well-to-do. Against the wishes of her domineering grandmother, Louisa retreats from the prospects of a loveless marriage to the future Lord Pencroft, an upper crust Englishman who will be land rich but cash poor upon the death of his uncle. Rupert Eastcott finds Louisa’s dowry and future inheritance more desirable than her beauty or wit.
Louisa is unnerved her life has been planned out by her grandmother and decides to vent her frustration with a ride along Rock Creek Park. When her horse is spooked, she is thrown—an embarrassing situation for any affluent young lady. Soaking wet, bruised, and humiliated, she is helped by Jackson O’Neil, who changes the course of everything.
This epic novel is available from Amazon in paperback and ebook. Thank the Lord, we don’t wear corsets anymore!
More News! 
The Daughters of the Potomac Series is now available in audio at Audible. Listen to actress Christine Marshall read these stories as she captures each character and brings the stories to life.
http://www.audible.com/search/ref=a_pd_Romanc_c2_1_auth?searchAuthor=Rita+Gerlach
Before the Scarlet Dawn: book 1
Beside Two Rivers: book 2
Beyond the Valley: book 3
Save
RITA GERLACH 