About the Book
Book: The Last Quiet Autumn
Author: Loni Kemper Moore
Genre: Christian historical fiction with strong faith themes
Release Date: September, 2025
One letter stitched a family together. Now, with war on the wind, only love—penned note by note—holds the threads in place.
Autumn 1941
Three young women—strangers to one another—each receive an alluring invitation they cannot and dare not refuse—Thanksgiving dinner in Texas with a mysterious ninety-year-old woman.
Virginia Campbell, a poised Boston socialite on the brink of marrying into a powerful political family, is entrusted with a delicate family mission—one that could jeopardize the perfect wedded life she so carefully planned.
Eulalia Bell, a spirited nursing graduate, earned her scholarship in Nebraska thanks to the Orphan Train. But the truth of her past threatens the career she’s fought hard to build.
Francesca Smythe, a resilient wife and mother on an Oklahoma ranch, survived the Dust Bowl and Depression. She longs for the warmth and connection of a true family. When the letter arrives, she wonders if it holds the key to the belonging she’s yearned for all her life.
As secrets unfold and pasts entwine, these three women are drawn to a truth that will reshape their lives—about love powerful enough to face a potential world at war, desires too strong to be silenced, and the courage to claim their place in history.
Click here to get your copy!
My Thoughts:
I was very intrigued by this beautiful cover of this book. Three young women looking at a book with a picture of another hanging on the wall. I know you shouldn't judge a book by the cover, but this one called to me to open up the story and find out what these three women are so interested in.
This is a story where we get all three of their viewpoints. It is about families and their secrets. What it means to be a family and how even after years of mistakes there is hope of reconciliation and belonging along with forgiveness.
The story takes place in Texas during World War 2. It was interesting to see the times as there is still struggles due to the Great Depression and the world has been thrown into turmoil again. If you like a story of found family, this is a great story.
I was provided a copy of this novel by the author. I was not required to post a positive review, and all views and opinions are my own.
About the Author
Loni Kemper Moore is a sports-cheering, Diet-Pepsi-sipping, Rocky Mountain–adventure-seeking storyteller who longs to reflect God’s beautiful love through life’s hardest places, especially for remarkable women around the globe.
A preacher’s kid at heart though her father joined her mother in Heaven, Loni’s wanderlust was sparked early by family and missionary stories. She has visited more than a dozen countries, learning from other cultures while often experiencing life as “the other.” Though she attended multiple schools as a minority and later discovered African heritage through DNA testing, she approaches those experiences with humility rather than assumption.
Loni earned bachelor’s degrees in Education and Biblical Studies from the former Denver Baptist Bible College and completed graduate work in Education at the University of Evansville.
A Jesus-following history enthusiast, Loni was named Leonnie Sue after generations of strong women. Leonnie was her maternal great-grandmother, who died during the Influenza Pandemic, leaving behind her husband and four teenagers. Sue traces through the family tree to Susanna Dean, who stepped off a ship in Korea, Maine, in the 1640s. These inherited collections of more than 500 spoons; stories of faith, endurance, and love deeply shape Loni’s writing.
Her novel The Last Quiet Autumn came to life after cousin reunions on both sides of her family stirred memories of childhood gatherings at her grandparents’ homes—one on a Loudoun County, Virginia farm and the other on a southern Colorado ranch. Reflecting on shared family experiences and her parents’ childhood just before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Loni began to wonder how different her life might have been without nearly two dozen cousins spread across four time zones. That question sparked a story that grew far beyond her original imagination.
When she isn’t writing, Loni is visiting friends, studying history, and exploring meaningful places—like the Cherwell River near Oxford, UK where J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis once walked. During a trip to Swindon, England, she visited the Eagle and Child pub, where the Inklings met, a moment that proved especially encouraging.
Loni is the proud mom of Adam, a CAD engineer and YouTuber; Becca and Anthony, who made her a delighted grandmother of her “GrandMiracles,” Naomie and Zemira; and a frequent traveler with her beloved “Hugsband,” Robert, an embedded engineer. A granddaughter of ranchers and farmers, Loni holds close the legacy of trusting God through tragedy—faith that carried her grandparents and parents through the World Wars and continues to anchor her stories today.
More from Loni
I can still picture my grandmother standing at her farmhouse stove, cracking open precious eggs she’d just sold back to herself. The surplus eggs were sold to allow her to buy rationed products.
One recipe she made regularly was this ‘Wacky Cake’—a chocolate cake so frugal it needed no eggs, butter, or milk. While historians debate the exact origin of the name, the most likely explanation is that it earned its playful moniker from the unconventional method of mixing everything directly in the baking pan—no bowl required. Homemakers could hardly believe a cake without eggs or butter would actually rise and taste good. But it does!
As a child spoiled by Betty Crocker mixes, I had to admire her ingenuity, even if I couldn’t quite share her enthusiasm for the taste. When my character Chessa bakes in ‘The Last Quiet Autumn,’ I drew directly from recipes like this one. Understanding how women stretched ingredients during wartime rationing helped me write scenes that felt authentic.
Have you tried Depression-era recipes? I’d love to hear about your family’s resourceful traditions from that era.
It reminded me how faith, like that cake, often rises when we least expect it to.
Wacky Chocolate Cake
(a.k.a. Depression Cake or Crazy Cake)
Circa 1940s
Ingredients:
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon vinegar (white or apple cider)
- ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 cup cold water
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- In an ungreased 8×8-inch square baking pan, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
- Make three wells in the dry mixture:
o In one well, pour the vanilla.
o In the second, the vinegar.
o In the third, the oil.
- Pour the cold water over everything and mix well with a fork or whisk until smooth.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool in the pan. Dust with powdered sugar or enjoy plain.
Blog Stops
The
Avid Reader, April 9
Stories By Gina,
April 10 (Author Interview)
Debbie’s
Dusty Deliberations, April 11
Simple Harvest
Reads, April 12 (Author Interview)
A Simple Texas
Girl, April 12
Texas Book-aholic,
April 13
Artistic
Nobody, April 14 (Author Interview)
For Him and My
Family, April 15
Guild Master,
April 16 (Author Interview)
Life on
Chickadee Lane, April 17
Fiction Book
Lover, April 18 (Author Interview)
Truth and Grace
Homeschool Academy, April 19
Vicky Sluiter,
April 20 (Author Interview)
Pause for Tales,
April 20
Lily’s Corner,
April 21
For the
Love of Literature, April 22 (Author Interview
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Loni is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon Gift Card and a copy of the book!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://gleam.io/3bY3w/the-last-quiet-autumn-celebration-tour-giveaway
