The Price for Liberty

’When Tomorrow Comes is crafted in gorgeous prose, and the author’s characterization gift shines on every page. The sparkling dialogue creates the drama that moves the narrative forward. The emotionally resonant characters captivate readers, and the finely drawn setting pulls readers into a place and time they find hard to escape.’ -Reviewer Jeff Klune, August, 2024 Book Commentary LLC When Tomorrow Comes won Honorable Mention in both the NY & San Francisco 2023 Book Festival. Reader Views awarded DL Larson a 5 Star Readers Award and Bronze Award in the 2023 Readers’ Choice Awards, for her novel When Tomorrow Comes. Now comes...The Price For Liberty, Book 7. Hattie is shot. Ruf fears some scoundrel he encountered from the horse race wants to harm him by hurting her. Hattie doesn’t blame him, but she hasn’t wanted to be close either and Ruf tries to understand her fears. He heads to Paducah, hoping Sheriff has some insight as to who is to blame for causing such heartache. Ruf also plans to head south to visit his cousin Jim Frailey, who is going to college in Georgia. Jim’s letters of late border on reckless and Ruf realizes Jim plans to kill his wife’s brother for sending bounty hunters after her. As Ruf waits for the boat, Sheriff approaches him, along with another man who flashes a federal marshal badge. Ruf is arrested for murdering the bounty hunter Virgil Lane, the man who mutilated and killed Shanna four years ago. Jim’s father sends him to New York City to be away from Ruf’s incarceration and the upcoming trial. Being in New York is torturous for Jim because his abolitionist lover is there. He can’t have controversy hanging about his name and vows to stay away from her, which fails miserably. He needs to stay out of society in order to protect his mulatto daughter, Liberty. Guilt sends Jim back to Kentucky to help Ruf and protect his daughter from prying eyes. He’s too late. The prosecutor discovers Liberty’s heritage, and the judge has no recourse but to send Jim’s little girl into slavery and him to jail for harboring a runaway slave. The Fugitive Slave Act prohibits anyone from searching for Liberty. Stealing her back is illegal. Finding her impossible. Ruf doesn’t care much for laws anymore and sets out to find his little one. It may well be the worst decision he’s made in his life.