The Hell That Burns Within
by Shirley Staggs
Stella Rumford was born into fire, raised in a strict Pentecostal home where rules were chains, love was tangled with fear, and obedience was demanded above all. Her father's leather strap and her church's stern sermons sought to mold her into submission, but deep inside, a different flame burned, a restless longing for freedom, love, and a life of her own choosing. When Stella meets Jaxon Slunder, a carefree boy her father brands a heathen, her carefully guarded world begins to crack. One kiss ignites a journey of defiance, heartbreak, and awakening. Torn between her family's iron grip and the pull of her own desires, Stella must decide if the cost of freedom is worth the pain it leaves behind. From secret meetings in the night to a desperate escape across state lines, The Hell That Burns Within is a powerful story of rebellion, love, faith, and forgiveness. It's about the fire that destroys-and the fire that refines. In the end, Stella must face the hardest truth of all: sometimes the fiercest battles are not against the world outside, but against the hell that burns within.