Hi, I’m Ann H. Gabhart, and I got the writing bug when I was ten. I’ve been writing stories ever since. The same as most writers, I also love to read. I can hardly imagine how it would be if all words were a mystery of scribbled lines. But when I decided to write a story with history of the Moonlight Schools for adults started in Rowan County, Kentucky, I stepped into my character’s shoes to live her sorrow of being unable to read and her dream of learning. A CHANCE FOR KALLIE MAE, set in the Kentucky Appalachian Mountains in 1911, is her story and the story of others with the same dream. Kallie does have the chance to learn to read but will she also have a chance for love with Quinn, the boy who lives over on the next hill? With their families locked in a bitter feud, following her heart could cost Kallie everything she’s worked to protect. So read on for more about my story.
A – Appalachia – I love going to the Kentucky Appalachian Mountains for stories. The Appalachia area is beautiful, the people unique, and the stories abundant.
C – Chance – Will Kallie Mae have the chance to learn to read and to embrace love?
H – Hills – Kallie Mae lives up in the hills with her father, younger brother, Whitt, and little sister, Emmie.
A – Aunt Sudie – Aunt Sudie lives down the hill from Kallie Mae. She shares her life wisdom with Kallie Mae and her desire to read even though she’s up in years. She’s not sure how many years, but it’s plenty.
N – Names – The first thing the Moonlight School teachers taught the adults was how to write their names.
C – Cabin – Kallie Mae and her family live in a two and a half room cabin with a loft.
E – Emmie – Emmie is Kallie Mae’s little sister. She is six going on seven and I hope readers will love her.
F – Feud – Kallie Mae’s family and Quinn’s family have been having a feud since the War Between the States, but Kallie Mae and Quinn never wanted to be part of a feud.
O – One-room Schools – When Cora Wilson Stewart had the idea for Moonlight Schools to teach adults to read, she needed teachers. The teachers of the one-room schools in Rowan County, Kentucky volunteered their time to teach adults at night after teaching children during the day.
R – Reading – Imagine life without reading. Many in the Appalachian area knew that life. Kallie Mae did too and dreamed of having the chance to learn to read.
K – Kallie Mae – Kallie Mae is the main female character. She has given up so much to take care of her family. Will she ever get a chance for love?
A – Alike – Quinn has six-year-old identical twin sisters that Emmie calls those alike girls.
L – Love – What’s a story without love mixed in? In A Chance for Kallie Mae you can find romantic love, family love, love of learning, love of place, and love of reading.
L – Lost – When Emmie gets lost in the woods, a new chance for love opens up for Kallie Mae.
I – Imperfection – Emmie has a birthmark on her face that some ridicule. In the past, such an imperfection was sometimes thought to be a mark of the devil.
E – Education – At one time, some educators thought education was only for children and that adults couldn’t learn to read. Cora Wilson Stewart proved that wrong with her Moonlight Schools and her work to spread adult education opportunities across the country.
M – Mule – Moonlight – I had to have two M’s even though there is only one in the title. First M is for the Moonlight Schools, that is the thread of history through the story. And then there is a mule named Bird that terrifies Emmie.
A – Arithmetic – In the Moonlight Schools, the adult students learned reading, writing, and arithmetic.
E – Endings – Don’t you just love happy endings? But will Kallie Mae and Quinn get to have their happy ending? Read A CHANCE FOR KALLIE MAE, to find out.
Southern Historical Fiction set in the Appalachian Mountains with Friends-to-Lovers Romance
She believes her dreams have been buried until one is rekindled—but the other threatens to cost her everything she loves.
Kallie Mae Bertram has harbored two dreams since childhood: to learn to read and to one day marry Quinn Spencer. But her first dream slipped away after her little sister died of a fever and her mother passed in childbirth. Kallie promised to care for the baby and her younger brother, which meant putting aside her own desires in order to keep her family together. But then a Moonlight School for adults offers Kallie hope of finally fulfilling that goal.
After Kallie’s father forbids her from seeing Quinn, her second dream seems impossible. That is, until her frantic search for her missing sister leads to an unexpected encounter with Quinn in the woods—their first meeting in six years. The love they shared as children burns stronger than ever, awakening hopes Kallie thought were forever buried. But with their families locked in a bitter feud, following her heart could cost Kallie everything she’s worked to protect.
Bestselling author Ann H. Gabhart delivers a sweeping Southern historical romance where forbidden love, family feuds, and second chances collide in the early twentieth century Appalachian Mountains.
Romance Historical | Christian Romance [ Baker Publishing Group, On Sale: May 19, 2026, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780800746278 / eISBN: 9781493453962 ]
Ann H. Gabhart started writing when she was ten and has been writing ever since. Her first published writings were personal experience pieces, youth stories, and poems in church periodicals such as HomeLife. Her first novel, a historical romance about the settling of Kentucky, was published by Warner Books in 1978. Since then, she’s published numerous books for both adults and young adults. Ann lives on a farm in Kentucky not far from where she was born.
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