Elizabeth Camden's "Toward the Sunrise" a prequel novella to "Until the Dawn"

Elizabeth Camden's first novella takes her typical intensity and condenses it into a novella. Julia Broeder is in her final year of medical school, soon to follow her dream and become a missionary doctor overseas, when one rash action gets her expelled. Sent home to the Vandermark's estate, where Julia's family have been caretakers for generations, Julia enlists the wealthy family's attorney to help her appeal the expulsion. But in the meantime, she has been considering other options . . . Will she choose the easy or the hard path?

This is a well written novella. Given such a short word limit, the characters are well developed--strong, passionate, and compassionate--but not without faults. Humor touches the story, but the dreams and fears of the characters are the focus.What are willing to do to make your dreams come true? Are you willing to go so far as to admit you were wrong and beg forgiveness?

It sets the scene nicely for the upcoming novel, Until the Dawn, about Sophie van Riijn, the close friend of Julia Broeder. Not only is the setting established--the ancient Vandermark estate--but also its wealthy and potentially ruthless owners. And, all the more intriguing, there is definitely a mystery about the haunted estate and why the Vandermarks abandoned it so completely decades ago. I'm excited to see where the novel takes us!