Quilts of Love (Laura V Hilton) Books in Order

Laura V. Hilton's contribution to the Quilts of Love collection is Swept Away, written with Cindy Loven. The larger collection brings together stand-alone romances by different writers, with a quilt playing an important role in each story. That means readers can begin with Swept Away without needing to know any of the other books.

This story is set in Appalachia and follows Sara Jane Morgan, a schoolteacher who lives close to her grandmother, Sari. Sara Jane has lived with loss for a long time and carries a damaged relationship with faith. When Sari begins showing signs of early Alzheimer's disease, the family faces the painful reality that memory and independence may not last forever.

Sari has a plan, though.

Worried about Sara Jane's future, Sari hires Andrew "Drew" Stevenson to make repairs around her home. Drew is a handyman and artisan broom maker with losses of his own. Sari is convinced he is the right person for her granddaughter, even if Sara Jane's first impression is far from flattering and Drew is wary of being hurt again.

The quilt gives the story its heart. Sari and Sara Jane work to finish a ballad quilt begun years earlier, with blocks that reflect the lyrics and memories of a song connected to Sari's past. As the quilt takes shape, it becomes a way to hold on to family history, share stories that might otherwise be lost, and make room for grief as well as love.

The romance grows through ordinary contact, awkward conversations, and the practical work of helping Sari. Drew and Sara Jane both need to face the ways they have let old pain shape their view of other people. The story balances the grandmother's sometimes blunt matchmaking with the more serious realities of illness, family memory, faith, and forgiveness.

It is a gentle story with real sadness underneath it.

Because Swept Away stands alone, it works well for readers who want one complete, quilt-centered romance rather than a long sequence. The Appalachian setting, the handmade brooms, the aging grandmother, and the ballad quilt give it a different texture from Hilton's Amish community books. At its center, it is about two guarded people, one determined grandmother, and the stories families try to preserve before time carries them away.