In These Hills

Author: Tamera Alexander
Genre: Historical Romance
Pages: 416
Release Date: September 8, 2026
Publisher: Tyndale Fiction

1905. Josephine Dunham is running for her life. After a women’s suffrage rally in Atlanta turns deadly, she buys a one-way ticket on the first train out and lands in rural Tennessee. There, Dodge Coburn—a rough-edged stranger with undeniable appeal—begrudgingly offers her a ride to Lynchburg, a speck of a town where Josephine hopes to disappear.

Battered and desperate, Josephine has little to say when Dodge delivers her to Miss Mary Bobo’s Boarding House. Hoping to work in exchange for room and board, she soon discovers the only job matching her skills is at Jack Daniel’s Distillery, an irony not lost on a suffragist committed to prohibition.

Dodge is skeptical of Josephine’s claim that she’s on the run from an abusive husband. But between running Jack Daniel’s cattle farm and raising his young niece, he has little time or inclination to press her . . . at first. But when Josephine’s convictions and compassion draw him in, Dodge begins to reconsider the life he’s chasing, while Josephine must face a world far more complicated than the principles she’s held to.

As Jack Daniel’s Distillery gains national recognition, Josephine’s secrets resurface. In a place where whiskey making takes time but justice is too often hurried, Dodge and Josephine must decide what—and who—they are willing to risk everything for, and whether faith will hold when the cost is high and time is running out.

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Reviewer: Lori Parrish

I was so excited and delighted to see that Tamera Alexander has written another book! She hasn’t written one in a very long time.

When I saw In These Hills, I knew I had to have it. I wasn’t disappointed at all!

Oh, my, this book was everything that I’ve come to expect from this amazing author!

How cool it would have been to time travel back to those times. I’d see firsthand what those women had to deal with and fight for. They fought for our rights as women, and I so admire and appreciate them.

Through this beautiful and sometimes hard story, I was able to do that. There are places I cheered Josephine in, and other places I wanted to cry for her. She’s what made me keep turning the pages. She’s the one who wouldn’t let me go to sleep until she told me her story

Then we have Dodge Coburn. Skeptical, uncertain, and maybe leary at first, but I found myself rooting for him and Bethie too. Especially Bethie.

I actually enjoyed meeting Jack Daniels too. No, I didn’t like the idea of the distillery, but I enjoyed getting to know the man himself. I thought he was the most charismatic man I’ve ever met.

I learned many things from this book. The faith filled themes were wonderful. Some romance, but not overdone. 

I loved everything about this novel, and I was sad when it ended. I finished this book at 3am because I couldn’t put it down.

My friend would agree with this quote from the book:

“We all got our stories, don’t we? Chapters we don’t want read aloud, and other parts we pray to God nobody ever reads at all. But the thing is … He reads them, every page, every word, and loves us anyway. Whatever it is you’re carrying, remember that.” This also came from Nannie Calla’s niece.

Secrets were never meant to be kept. They do tend to come out sooner or later.

Another favorite quote “You can run, but you can’t hide. God always knows where you are.”

“Bethie, we shouldn’t judge all men by one. There are good men in this world. So, to judge them as all being the same isn’t fair to them. Just like not all women, or girls, are the same.” I agree.

This was such a good read that I’ll be thinking about it for a long time to come.

5 stars for a job well done!

I received this book from Interviews & Reviews through Tyndale via NetGalley for my honest opinion.

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