Wednesday Writers–To Claim Her Heart by Jodie Wolfe

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book excerpt from To Claim Her Heart, Catherine Castle Wednesday Writers series, Cherokee Strip Land Run, Christian romance, historical romance, Jodie Wolfe, To Claim Her Heart

Welcome to Wednesday Writers. Today’s guest is Jodie Wolfe with a great story about how she wove some family history into her new historical romance release To Claim Her Heart. So, without further ado, I give you Jodie!

 

Thanks, Catherine.

 

September 16th will mark the 125th anniversary of the Cherokee Strip Land Run which took place in Oklahoma Territory in 1893. There were nine different starting places along the Kansas and Oklahoma Territory. Over 115,000 people showed up to race for only 42,000 packets of land. I can well imagine the fierce competition that took place.

While researching my new release, To Claim Her Heart, I discovered some interesting things about those who claimed the same parcel of land. Some waited until the courts decided for them, others went back to their original starting places and re-raced to see who won the second time, and of course some of the disputes were bloody in nature by one person shooting the other.

This book is especially meaningful for me because I was able to use some of the stories from my husband’s family who participated in the land run. The photo here  is taken of the original land that was claimed. The house was built in 1894.

Come journey back in history with me to a rough and rugged land.

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To Claim Her Heart

by Jodie Wolfe

In 1893, on the eve of the great race for land, Benjamin David prays for God to guide him to his ‘Promised Land. Finding property and preaching to the lost are his only ways of honoring his deceased fiancée. He hasn’t counted on Elmer (Elsie) Smith claiming the same plot and refusing to leave. Not only is she a burr in his side, but she is full of the homesteading know-how he is sadly lacking.

Obtaining a claim in the Cherokee Strip Land Run is Elsie Smith’s only hope for survival, and not just any plot, she has a specific one in mind. The land’s not only a way to honor her pa and his life, but also to provide a livelihood for herself. She’s willing to put in whatever it takes to get that piece of property, and Elsie’s determined to keep it.

Her bitterness is what protects her, and she has no intentions of allowing that preacher to lay claim to her land . . . or her heart.

 

Excerpt

Chapter One

Competition should be relegated to the male species. Proper young ladies should avoid a situation which permits rivalry, particularly involving the male species. If unavoidable, allow the gentleman to win. Be above reproach in this manner.

Mrs. Wigglesworth’s Essential Guide to Proper Etiquette and Manners of Refined Society

 

September 15, 1893, Kiowa, Kansas—Border of the Cherokee Strip

“Elmer Smith?”

For once in all of her days, Elsie welcomed the name Pa had insisted on when her life began and Ma’s had ended.

“Is that you, son?”

“Ain’t your son.” Ain’t no one’s son. Elsie shifted her Stetson lower to ward off the man’s scrutiny.

“There’s no need to get your prickles up. Do you testify you’re at least twenty-one years of age and head of your household?”

Elsie nodded and bit back a retort.

“Then sign here.” The man shoved a paper across the makeshift desk. Beads of moisture dotted his upper lip.

She scrawled her name on the line. The page crinkled when she folded and shoved it into her shirt pocket, along with the copy of The Homestead Laws and Pa’s hand-drawn map.

“Get out of the way, kid.” A scraggly looking fellow jabbed into her shoulder.

Elsie stepped out of line, glaring at him. He ignored her and turned his attention to the clerk.

She elbowed through a crowd of men. How had her small town swelled to so many folks? Thankfully there were few she recognized, or, more so, who could recognize her. The less who knew her gender, the better. She certainly didn’t need no man to help her get the land she and Pa had dreamed about.

Elsie scooted her hat up and swiped at the sweat on her forehead before dropping it back into place, scrunching the thick braid she’d pinned up three days prior. Hefting her saddlebags to her opposite shoulder, she hiked the short distance to the livery and retrieved Buster. A short ride would clear her head and prepare her for what lay ahead.

Dust swirled and nearly choked Elsie as she rode in the opposite direction of the throngs, to see the old farm one last time.

Acrid smoke filled her lungs. Nearby fires, to deter Sooners from entering the strip before the race began, burned in the west, but not out of control.

Elsie urged Buster, careful not to tire him. Everything hinged on finding the land tomorrow.

Everything.

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Want to read more? Check out Jodie’s book To Claim Her Heart at Amazon

 

About the Author:

Jodie Wolfe creates novels where hope and quirky meet. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and Romance Writers of America (RWA) and has been a semi-finalist and finalist in various writing contests. A former columnist for Home School Enrichment magazine, her articles can be found online at: Crosswalk, Christian Devotions, and Heirloom Audio. She’s a contributor and co-founder of Stitches Thru Time blog. When not writing she enjoys spending time with her husband in Pennsylvania, reading, walking, and being a Grammie. Learn more at Jodie’s website.

Links

Website

Facebook

Goodreads

 

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Wednesday Writers—Love’s Harvest: Adventures in Research by Linda Shenton Matchett

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adventures in research, book excerpt from Love’s Harvest, Catherine Castle's Wednesday Writers blog series, historical romance, Linda Shenton Matchett, Love's Harvest, retelling of biblical story of Ruth

Today’s guest on Wednesday Writers is Linda Shenton Matchett, author of the historical romance Love’s Harvest. Linda will be talking about the research required to write this book. I think you’ll find it interesting—I know I did. Welcome, Linda!

 

 

 

 

 

Love’s Harvest: Adventures in Research

 

I’m of an age that when I was in school research was conducted with encyclopedias and trips to the library to question the reference librarian and search among the shelves for sources. Now I use the internet where I can check my library’s “card catalog” online, send an email to anyone in the world with my questions, look at maps and photos, watch YouTube interviews (thanks to oral history projects, these a great resource for primary source material), access museum and university information, read archived newspapers, and chase any number of rabbits.

You heard me…chase rabbits. That’s the blessing and the curse of using the internet for doing research. As mentioned, the blessing is the plethora of information available. The curse is the ability to follow link after link after link…! Eventually, a writer needs to stop researching and put pen to paper (or fingers to the keyboard)!

My novella, Love’s Harvest is a retelling of the biblical book of Ruth set between 1923 and 1946. In order to “translate” the story to the new time period, quite a bit of research was necessary. In Ruth, there is a famine that sends the family to Moab, the loss of Naomi’s husband and sons, Ruth’s rights to glean the fields after she and Naomi return to Israel, marriage laws and customs, and several incidents that shed light on Ruth’s and Boaz’s character.

Let the adventure begin!

Because I wanted to set the majority of the book in England during WWII, I had to find a famine that occurred twenty or so years prior to that time. Figuring that I’d be looking for a needle in the proverbial haystack because “famines don’t happen anymore,” I was stunned to find numerous incidents during which large segments of a population faced crop failure, drought, and hunger. The event that fit with my story was the 1921-23 famine that nearly devastated the Volga River area of Russia.

Research about the region told me about Catherine the Great’s efforts to colonize Russia by inviting Europeans to immigrate and become Russian citizens but keep their language and culture. A large number of Germans took her up on the offer. That fact allowed me to make the Ruth character German which would give me the tension I needed when I sent her and the Naomi character home to England.

One link I followed helped me discover that many of these Volga Russian-Germans immigrated to Kansas, the Dakotas, and California during the 19^th and early 20^th century. During the famine years, these people set up the American Volga Relief Society to collect and send relief and supplies to the Volga region. I was able to weave this information in the story.

Further research allowed me to find wedding customs, the British Women’s Land Army, Lord Woolton and his Ministry of Food, and the craft of basket weaving. I was surprised that it took me about two months to conduct all my research. Are you?

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Love’s Harvest

By Linda Shenton Matchett

Noreen Hirsch loses everything including her husband and two sons. Then her adopted country goes to war with her homeland. Has God abandoned her?

Rosa Hirsch barely adjusts to being a bride before she is widowed. She gives up her citizenship to accompany her mother-in-law to her home country. Can Rosa find acceptance among strangers who hate her belligerent nation?

Basil Quincey is rich beyond his wildest dreams, but loneliness stalks him. Can he find a woman who loves him and not his money?

Three people. One God who can raise hope from the ashes of despair.

 

Book Excerpt:

Volga Region, Russia, 1923

Noreen yanked the zipper closed on her over-stuffed canvas satchel. Always resourceful, Edmund had attached straps to the moss-green bag so she could wear it on her back. She would also carry a suitcase in each hand. The journey promised to be arduous.

Sighing, she wiped a weary hand across her dry eyes. Even if she had any tears remaining, crying was useless. It would not make their situation less dire.

Muted voices and the occasional bump filtered through the ceiling from the boys’ bedroom above. Noreen shivered and hunched into her threadbare, ruby-red sweater. An impulse purchase made during her honeymoon, the garment held more memories than warmth. Edmund insisted it brought out the roses in her cheeks.

She tossed the bulging satchel to the floor and turned her attention to the yawning luggage on the bed. Two steel pots and a fry pan nestled in the bottom of one boxy, brown suitcase between faded blue towels that had been a belated wedding present from her mother and father.

Hopefully, Edmund would find somewhere they could live in his home country with enough food to actually cook. Here, along the Volga River in Russia, the crops had failed again, and the famine was entering its second year. The decision whether to eat or plant their seed wheat had caused many families to die of starvation.

Shuffling footsteps sounded behind her. She turned as Edmund enveloped her in his arms. Nestling against his too-thin chest, she breathed in his musky scent. He bent and kissed her forehead, his black beard scraping her skin.

“You work too hard.” He tucked a stray strand of her nutmeg-colored hair behind her ear.

She leaned into his touch. “Isn’t that why you married me?”

“No, Schatzi, it is most certainly not.” He grinned. “You stole my heart. I had to marry you, or I would die a broken man.”

“Don’t joke about that. Our friends are dying every day.” She frowned. “Who knew this famine would last so long? If it weren’t for the bit of help arriving from America’s Volga Relief Society, matters would be much worse.”

“They are sending more assistance than we are receiving. Jakob told me there is proof the government is confiscating some of the packages and keeping the money to construct new buildings and conduct repairs. As always, development of the country is valued above the lives of the people.”

“Shhh!” She pressed the work-worn fingers of her right hand against his lips. “You could get in trouble for saying that. Then where would we be?”

Edmund hugged her. “There is no one to hear us, but I understand your fear. Many unexplained disappearances make for extreme caution.” He released her and gestured toward the pile of clothes on their bed. “Enough depressing talk. What can I do to help?”

“Do you have our passports? With the government ratcheting up the price, we have no more savings to purchase new ones.”

“Now who’s speaking out against the authorities.”

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Want to read more? You can find Love’s Harvest at Amazon

 

About the Author:

Linda Shenton Matchett is an author, journalist, and history geek. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry and has lived in historic places most of her life. A member of ACFW, RWA, and Sisters In Crime, Linda is a volunteer docent at the Wright Museum of World War II, and a trustee for her local public library. Receive a free book Devotions from a Writer when you sign up for her newsletter. 

Social Media links:  Website: Facebook: Pinterest:

A Writer’s Garden with author Becky Lower

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A Writer's Garden, Author Catherine Castle's gardening blog, Becky Lower, historical romance, Monticello gardens, Thomas Jefferson, Winning Violet

Welcome to A Writer’s Garden where writers who are gardeners or just love gardens will be sharing their garden and flower stories, as well as a bit about their writing gardens—aka their books.

 

Today’s guest is historical romance author Becky Lower. She’ll be talking about the Gardens at Monticello. Since Becky’s Monticello pictures are locked in an old computer she can’t access, I’ve added one of my own from a September 1998 visit to Thomas Jefferson’s estate. From what I can see on the Monticello website, the gardens have changed quite a bit since I was there. Much more lush. Time for another visit, I think.

The Gardens at Monticello

By Becky Lower

My father, being the enterprising man that he was, planted a vegetable garden every year, in order to help feed his growing family. My mother grew the beautiful flowers that surrounded the vegetables and entered her award-winning irises each year in the township fair. It’s from them and their early instruction on how to care for and grow things that I became familiar with the joy of sinking my hands into the dirt.

I already had a love of roses, having spent several years in Texas and paid annual visits to the Antique Rose Emporium (https://www.antiqueroseemporium.com/). Then, I moved to Virginia and discovered Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello, near Charlottesville, VA. (https://www.monticello.org/site/house-and-gardens/flower-gardens). I especially loved the fact the plantings on Jefferson’s estate produced seeds and cuttings that were available to the public. I took a bit of Thomas Jefferson home with me each year. Over time, my backyard grew into a miniature version of Jefferson’s, with roses, hyacinths and bottlebrush plants, as well as seeds from a myriad of plants. I carefully cultivated each, calling them my “TJ” collection, after Thomas Jefferson. I cried more at leaving my plants than I did at leaving my house, when I moved away.

I’ve just relocated again, this time to balmy North Carolina, and am eager to buy new roses that are heat-tolerant, to brighten the little spit of land surrounding my condo. After eight years of suffering through the harshness of Ohio winters, finding roses that prefer warmth will be a welcome challenge.

My background in writing is American historicals, but I had a notion to write a Regency romance and expand my reader base. However, I couldn’t resist planting an American in England with my first book in the Flower Girl series, Winning Violet. My hero is not only an American, but he’s a landscaper charged with the mission of buying a collection of English roses for Thomas Jefferson’s estate at Monticello. So art does imitate life, to some extent.

About the Writer/Gardener:

Amazon best-selling author Becky Lower has traveled the United States in search of great settings for her novels and picking up a love for plants along the way. At various times, she’s cultivated bonsai plants, cacti, roses and various herbs she’s never found a way to use. She loves to write about two people finding each other and falling in love amid the backdrop of a great setting, be it in America on a covered wagon headed west or in Regency England. Winning Violet is mildly spicy, but what else can be expected when discussing the propagation of roses? Becky loves to hear from her readers at beckylowerauthor@gmail.com. Visit her website at http://www.beckylowerauthor.com/

Winning Violet by Becky Lower

Everything’s coming up roses for an English miss and an American gentleman in this delightful new series from the author of the Cotillion Ball saga!

After British soldiers killed his wife and child during the War of 1812, Parker Sinclair vowed to never set foot on English soil. But as Thomas Jefferson’s landscaper, one must sometimes make the ultimate sacrifice. The last thing Parker expects to find is an educated English beauty who can teach him so much more than how to plant a magnificent garden.

An expert at cross-pollinating roses, Violet Wilson’s dreams of becoming the first woman recognized by the Royal Horticultural Society are fading because she’s afraid to leave the quiet solitude of her family’s nursery. Distrustful of men after a traumatic encounter, she’s not keen on disrupting her routine to help the American landscaper, but she soon blossoms under his kindness and respect.

As they fall in love, can this shrinking Violet take the risk of leaving behind all she knows for a new life with Parker? Or is he considering a different ending altogether?

You can find Winning Violet at Amazon

Warning for readers of sweet romance: this book may contain spicy love scenes.

 

 

Wednesday Writers–A Borrowed Dream by Amanda Cabot

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A Borrowwed Dream, Amanda Cabot, Catherine Castle's Wednesday Writers blog series, historical romance, Inspirational romance, Sweet romance, The Cimarron Creek trilogy

 

 

Today’s Wednesday Writers’ guest is bestselling author Amanda Cabot. Amanda will be talking about her book A Borrowed Dream, the second book in her Cimarron Creek historical trilogy. Welcome, Amanda.

 

The Promise of Spring

 

The first full day of spring – what a perfect day to talk about A Borrowed Dream. Though the story stretches over a longer period than one season (it begins in January 1881 and ends in July of that year), perhaps more than any book I’ve written, it embodies all that I love about spring.

Those of you who’ve read my interviews over the years know that when someone asks about favorite seasons, I answer without hesitation: spring. For me, spring is a season of rebirth, reawakening, and – most of all – hope. And, oh, do Austin and Catherine need hope! Though she’s found unexpected satisfaction in her position as Cimarron Creek’s schoolteacher, Catherine’s personal life is dismal. Her mother’s death at the hands of the town’s incompetent doctor has left her with a deep-seated distrust of all physicians, and the fact that the man she’d once expected to marry was so easily infatuated by another woman has caused her to believe that she’s not destined for marriage.

Austin has only one hope – that he can keep his daughter safe from a truly despicable man. That’s why he fled Philadelphia, put aside his rewarding career as a surgeon, and established himself as Cimarron Creek’s newest rancher. While his brain tells him that his daughter needs a mother, his heart won’t let him make the same mistake he did the first time. No, sirree, marriage is not for him.

But as spring comes to the Texas Hill Country and the bluebonnets carpet the countryside, both Austin and Catherine experience a reawakening. And when a woman with a mysterious past comes to town, their lives are changed in ways neither one of them could have imagined.

I really enjoyed writing this book, although I’ll admit that some of the scenes wrenched my heart and brought tears to my eyes. But even as I was putting those difficult scenes on paper, I kept reminding myself that hope would triumph, that hearts would reawaken, and that Austin and Catherine would find their happily-ever-after. That’s the promise of spring.

Now I’d like to hear from you. What’s your favorite season and why? When you’re choosing a book, does the season when it takes place affect your choices? Why or why not? Lastly, have I intrigued you with Catherine and Austin’s story? I hope so!

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A Borrowed Dream

by Amanda Cabot

There is no such thing as an impossible dream . . .

Catherine Whitfield is sure that she will never again be able to trust anyone in the medical profession after the local doctor’s treatments killed her mother. Despite her loneliness and her broken heart, she carries bravely on as Cimarron Creek’s dutiful schoolteacher, resigned to a life where dreams rarely come true.

Austin Goddard is a newcomer to Cimarron Creek. Posing as a rancher, he fled to Texas to protect his daughter from a dangerous criminal. He’s managed to keep his past as a surgeon a secret. But when Catherine Whitfield captures his heart, he wonders how long he will be able to keep up the charade.

With a deft hand, Amanda Cabot teases out the strands of love, deception, and redemption in this charming tale of dreams deferred and hopes becoming reality.

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About the Author:

Amanda Cabot is the bestselling author of more than thirty novels including the Texas Dreams trilogy, the Westward Winds series, the Texas Crossroads trilogy, A Stolen Heart, and Christmas Roses. A former director of Information Technology, she has written everything from technical books and articles for IT professionals to mysteries for teenagers and romances for all ages. Amanda is delighted to now be a fulltime writer of Christian romances, living happily ever after with her husband in Wyoming.

 

Social Media Links

http://www.amandacabot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/amanda.j.cabot

https://twitter.com/AmandaJoyCabot/

http://amandajoycabot.blogspot.com/

 

Buying Links

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Christian Book Distributors

 

Tuesday Wedding Tales–A Heart’s Gift by Lena Nelson Dooley

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A Heart's Gift, A Heart’s Gift. The book is the winner of the 2017 Faith, Catherine Castle's Tuesday Wedding Tales blog series, Christian Historical, historical romance, Lena Nelson Dooley, marriage of convenience novel

Welcome to Tuesday Wedding Tales blog series, where wedding themed stories are the fare.

Today’s guest is multi-published author Lena Nelson Dooley, who will be telling us about her historical Christian romance  book, A Heart’s Gift. The book is the winner of the 2017 Faith, Hope, and Love Reader’s Choice Award for Long Historicals.

Welcome, Lena.

Thanks, Catherine,

A Heart’s Gift is marriage-of-convenience novel set near the continental divide in Colorado in the 1890’s. Both the Franklin Vine and the Lorinda Sullivan have legitimate reasons for not wanting to allow another person into their hearts—deep hurts from the past. They were thrown together in the same house, complete with a housekeeper, and the household runs smoothly for quite a while.

A marriage in-name-only looks like the perfect solution for both of them. He wants an heir; she has a baby from her first marriage. She wonders how she’ll provide for her child; he owns a large successful ranch, so she’ll never have to worry about that again.

What could go wrong?

They don’t want anyone else to know the situation of their relationship, so they keep it a secret. Something happens at the wedding that puts each of them in a sudden and dramatic downturn … Or is it an upturn?

You, as the reader will need to decide for yourself. Events spiral out of their control until someone from the heroes past reappears in their lives and puts the heroine in mortal danger. The event from the wedding becomes the one thing both of them cling to in their minds and hearts.

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A Heart’s Gift

By Lena Nelson Dooley

Because of an earlier betrayal, Franklin vows never to open his heart to another woman. But he desires an heir.

When Lorinda is finally out from under the control of men who made all the decisions in her life, she promises herself she will never allow a man to control her again. But how can she provide for her infant son?

A marriage of convenience seems like the perfect arrangement, until two people from Franklin’s past endanger Lorinda. How can he save her? And how will this affect the way they feel about each other?

Excerpt:

Flames danced on the opposite side of the room from the cold black stove sitting on a slab of rock. The smoke didn’t come from the pot-belly. Flames? Her heart jumped into her throat and thrashed like a bird caught in a snare. She stared, fascinated at the macabre dance before her. The fire leapt, eating its way through the log wall and wooden floor. Wavering tongues of light took a bite from her curtains then raced up the fabric, consuming everything in their way.

Panic rose like a specter in her mind. The fear stole her breath away. She had to get out of here. Lorinda took a deep breath and held it. She quickly turned around and thrust her feet into the men’s boots beside her bed. Her breath swooshed out. She leaned over for a moment, light-headed. She’d never make it across the burning room if she couldn’t hold her breath any longer than that.

Her agitation reached the baby, and it squirmed and thumped inside her. She grabbed a handkerchief from the top drawer of the chest and held it tight over her nose before plunging into the mounting inferno. She pulled her garments close, trying to keep the flames from grabbing them as well.

Lorinda lumbered across the dwindling floor to the front door. The door stuck. Panic screamed inside her. The metal handle was almost too hot to hold. Using the hem of the robe, she grasped it again. She put her whole weight into wrenching the heavy door open and stumbled away from the intense heat melting an ever-widening circle in the dwindling snow. Tongues of fire burst after her, and she was barely able to stay out of their reach.

When the flames no longer scorched her, Lorinda stopped and took several deep breaths, trying to cleanse her lungs from the choking smoke, but the hacking coughs continued. She felt woozy, swaying a moment before straightening her spine. She walked around the log cabin, watching the fire that consumed everything she owned. Her hands clutched the hard pokes in her pockets. Everything, except the gold.

Want to read more? You can find A Heart’s Gift at Amazon.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

About the Author:

Multi-published author Lena Nelson Dooley has had more than 875,000 copies of her books sold. She is a member of ACFW and the local chapter, ACFW – DFW. She’s a member of Christian Authors’ Network and Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas.

She has been on the ECPA and CBA Bestseller lists, Publisher’s Weekly bestseller list, and several Amazon Bestseller lists as well as a reviewers’ Top Ten Books of 2011. She has won a dozen awards.

She hosts “The Lena Nelson Dooley Show” on the Along Came a Writer blog radio network.

Connect with Lena at her

Website:  Official Fan Page

Wednesday Writers A Train Ride to Heartbreak by Donna Schlachter

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A Train Ride to Heartbreak, Donna Schlachter, excerpt from A Train Ride to Heartbreak, historical romance, Inspirational romance, The Mail Order Brides Collection

The Story Behind the Story . . . A Train Ride to Heartbreak

By Donna Schlachter

 

Today, I’m welcoming back Donna Schlachter to the blog with The Story Behind the Story of her book A Train Ride to Heartbreak, a novella in the Mail Order Brides Collection—nine historical stories where marriage precedes love. She’s also sharing an excerpt from the book with us. Welcome, Donna!

 

Thanks, Catherine.

The idea for this story came from a love of a movie and a friend with a great story to share.

The movie was “The Fugitive”, both the original series pilot and the more recent remake. I loved the idea of a train ride leading to a second chance.

My friend had recently taken a train ride from Denver to San Francisco, and she shared several delightful stories. I wondered if a train ride might be like a cruise in that it would provide an insulated environment where the travelers might do something they’d never done before. If so, this was perfect fodder for a romance, much like the old TV show, “The Love Boat”.

And then I saw “Murder on the Orient Express”, and as a lover of anything Agatha Christie, decided to incorporate a few of the details in my story.

The result? A chance meeting, two characters with integrity, and a way for God to reach both of them.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

 

A Train Ride to Heartbreak

By Donna Schlachter

1895, Train to California

John Stewart needs a wife. Mary Johannson needs a home. On her way west, Mary falls in love with another. Now both must choose between commitment and true love.

October 1895

Mary Johannson has scars on her body that can’t compare with the scars on her heart. She is alone in the world, with no family, no prospects, and no home.

John Stewart is at his wit’s end. His wife of three years died in childbirth, leaving him with a toddler and an infant, both girls. Theirs was the love of fairy tales, and while he has no illusions about finding another like her, his children need a mother.

Though separated by thousands of miles, they commit to a mail-order marriage. But on their journey to Heartbreak, they meet another and realize the life they’d planned would be a lie. Can they find their way back from the precipice and into the love of God and each other, or are they destined to keep their word and deny their heart?

Excerpt:

 

Groverton, Pennsylvania

September 1895

Chapter 1

Mary Johannson plunged reddened hands into the dishwater and scrubbed at a crusty spot on the chipped china plate.

In the yard, the vicar, shoulders slumped from the cares of his congregation, held a small child in his arms while two toddlers clutched his pants leg. And Matron Dominus, the imposing head of the Meadowvale Orphan’s Home, towered over the small group huddled before her.

Mary checked the plate. Satisfied it would pass muster, she dipped it into the rinse bucket and set the piece into the dish rack to air dry. Next she set a burnt oatmeal pot into the water to soak while she dried her hands on her apron and surveyed the scene outside.

The vicar nodded and turned to walk the gravel path he’d traversed just minutes before, the wee ones in tow as he hoisted the child to his other hip for the mile-long trip back. No doubt he was waiting for space to open in the orphanage.

Her space.

Mary would turn eighteen in two months. And despite her desire to escape the confines of the orphanage, she wasn’t excited about making her own way in the world. The last girl who aged out—as the other orphans called the act of turning eighteen—now worked at the saloon.

And everybody knew what kind of girls worked there.

Mary swiped at the scarred worktable set in the middle of the kitchen floor, her washrag sweeping crumbs into her hand. She still needed to finish the dishes and report to Matron Dominus for her next order for the day.

By the time she returned to the sink, the vicar and his charges were out of sight.

But Matron Dominus stood outside the tiny window staring in at her.

Checking up on her, no doubt. Making certain she wasn’t lollygagging. An activity all of the residents indulged in. According to Matron.

Mary hurried through the rest of the washing up. She swept the floor, put a pot of beans on to soak for supper, and shooed the cat out from under the stove. After checking the dampers to make certain the range wouldn’t needlessly heat the kitchen—another of Matron’s accusations—she hung her apron on a nail beside the back door.

Stepping out into the fresh air, Mary drew a deep breath and leaned against the clapboard siding.

Perhaps she could work at the seamstress shop. She was a fair hand with a needle and thread. Or maybe the general store.

“Mary Johannson.”

The screech like a rooster with its tail caught in a gate startled her, and she straightened. But in her haste, she overbalanced and stepped forward to catch herself, hooking her toe in the hem of her dress, which she’d just let down last week to a more respectable length.

The sound of rending cloth filled her ears as the ground slammed toward her. She got her hands out in front of her just in time to prevent mashing her nose into the soil. The toes of Matron Dominus’s boots filled her vision.

Mary pushed herself to her feet, wincing at an ache in her lower back not there a moment before. Tears blurred her vision when she checked her dress—she had a three-inch rip just above the hem.

“Are you lollygagging about? Sunbathing? Do you think you’re on the Riviera?”

Despite her imposing height and girth, the matron’s voice—particularly when she was irked—resembled the irksome peacock Mary had once seen in the zoo in Philadelphia. Why God would create such a beautiful bird with such a nasty voice was beyond her.

But if what Matron said was true, He’d created Mary, too, only to have her burned by the flames that killed the rest of her family. Angry red scars ran from her forearms to halfway up her neck, and a collar of white tissue, the result of an inept doctor sewing her back together again, ringed her neck and inched toward her ears.

No, if God really loved her, He wouldn’t have allowed that to happen.

Want to read more? You can find the book at Amazon

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

About the Author:

Donna lives in Denver with husband Patrick, her first-line editor and biggest fan. She writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts. She is a hybrid author who has published a number of books under her pen name and under her own name. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Sisters In Crime; facilitates a local critique group, and teaches writing classes and courses. Donna is also a ghostwriter and editor of fiction and non-fiction, and judges in a number of writing contests. She loves history and research, and travels extensively for both. Donna is proud to be represented by Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary Management.

Connect with Donna at:

http://www.historythrutheages.com/ Receive a free ebook simply for signing up for our free newsletter!

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/DonnaschlachterAuthor

Twitter: www.Twitter.com/DonnaSchlachter

Other Books: Amazon: http://amzn.to/2ci5Xqq and Smashwords: http://bit.ly/2gZATjm

 

 

A Writer’s Garden with Gail Kittleson

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A Purpose True, A Writer's Garden, Author Catherine Castle's garden blog, Gail Kittleson, garden herbs, historical romance, WWII romance series

Today’s A Writer’s Garden guest is Gail Kittleson who is delighting us with pictures and uses for herbs. I can almost smell them now. Welcome, Gail.

Thanks, Catherine. This year, our garden produced an abundance of herbs…thyme, oregano, sage … well, you know the list.

Here it is, October already, and I’m still taking in some of the beauty through my sense of smell. Yes, peppermint still regales me, in the form of dried, crushed leaves for tea. I’ve been known to add some of the flowers, as well.

Recently, I discovered the pleasure of an evening cup of parsley tea. I’d heard that this garnish also served as a mouth deodorizer, but tea? Yes! Nothing better, imho, than a hot cup after dinner.

Here’s the plant (Italian parsley) in all its glory last summer. Now, I’ve brought it inside and keep making this mellow brew.

And then there’s rosemary. I love that it’s for healing … when the world’s harshness seems over the top, there’s rosemary to shave into your baked sweet potato. With butter—lots of it.

Our glorious summer gardens can accompany us into winter’s starkness, even if we live in the frozen hinterlands. Here’s to hot tea and curling up with a wonderful book on a wintry day.

 

About the Gardener /Writer:

Gardener/writer Gail Kittleson has been gardening just about everywhere she and her husband have lived, including Senegal, West Africa. Her favorite thing about gardening is the survival of plants over harsh Iowa winters, the anticipation of new growth, and eating fresh salads. When she’s not gardening she’s writing memoir and women’s historical fiction novels and teaching a creative writing class. Gail writes from northern Iowa, where she and her husband enjoy gardening and grandchildren. In winter, Arizona’s Ponderosa pine forests provide relief from Midwest weather and a whole raft of new people and stories. Gail’s memoir, Catching Up With Daylight, paved the way for fiction writing, and her debut women’s fiction novel, In This Together (Wild Rose Press/Vintage Line) was released on November 18, 2015.Since then she’s completed two more books in her WWII romance series. You can learn more about her at http://www.gailkittleson.com/.

A Purpose True, the sequel to With Each New Dawn, reveals Kate and Domingo risking life and limb in French Resistance efforts to stymie the Nazi advance to Normandy. But even their fierce devotion to liberty cannot preclude questions raised by the enemy’s cruelty. How is faith to survive in the midst of relentless Nazi atrocities toward innocent citizens? Can the power of love withstand the worst of evil and forge positive paths for the future?

 

 

 

Wednesday Writers Welcomes Darlene Franklin and The Captive Brides collection

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best-selling author Darlene Franklin, Captive Bride collection, Catherine Castle Wednesday Writers series, Christian romance, His Golden Treasure, historical romance

I’m welcoming back the prolific author Darlene Franklin to the blog. She’ll be telling us about how prostitution plays out her story, His Golden Treasure, which is one of the books in the Captive Brides collection. Welcome, Darlene.

Thanks, Catherine.
When I was invited to participate in the Captive Brides collection, my thoughts flew to the many women caught in the whirlpool of prostitution. Whether drug addiction, poor self-esteem, lack of options, or even being sold for a price, woman as far back as the time of the Patriarchs until today have been forced to give their bodies to men.
Perhaps conditioned by the Barbary Coast episodes in Bonanza and Big Valley, or possibly the short-lived William Shatner vehicle, I decided I would take the dare and write about the street now known as Maiden Lane in San Francisco’s Barbary Coast.

A prostitute’s daughter—raised in a brothel after her mother died—expected to join the ranks at the appropriate time. How could I make it more interesting?

The talents an author much more brilliant than I am: Amy Tan. In her story, The Valley of Amazement, she spoke of a courtesan’s daughter whose first night was sold at auction.

Aha! She couldn’t possibly repay. How can the preacher who falls in love with her save her from her despair?

His Golden Treasure is one of nine amazing novellas in Captive Brides. This is one of the best collections I’ve ever been involved with.

His Golden Treasure
By Darlene Franklin

Goldie Hatfield grows up on in the Barbary Coast until her guardian demands she pay the cost of her upbringing–or work at her brothel. How far will Pastor Joshua Kerr go to set Goldie free?

You can find the Captive Brides collection and Darlene’s novella at Amazon

 

About the Author:

Best-selling hybrid author Darlene Franklin’s greatest claim to fame is that she writes full-time from a nursing home. Mermaid Song is her fiftieth unique title! She’s also contributed to more than twenty nonfiction titles. Her column, “The View Through my Door,” appears in five monthly venues. Other recent titles are  Christmas Masquerade, Her Rocky Mountain Highness, and Take Me Home. You can find her online at: Website and blog, Facebook, Amazon author page

A Writer’s Garden with Ana Morgan

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A Writer's Garden, Ana Morgan, Author Catherine Castle's garden blog, historical romance, vegetable garden, western romance

Today Ana Morgan is on A Writer’s Garden talking about the fruits of her labor. If I remember my emails correctly, Ana is an organic gardener. I’m soooo lusting after her vegetable gardens. Welcome, Ana.

 

Fruits of my Gardening Labor

Twin Cucumbers

I haven’t found the words to describe all the shades of green in a growing veggie garden. Or the satisfaction of turning on the light in my pantry on a snowy Sunday and seeing rows of multicolored quart jars on the shelves. For a writer, this is frustrating. Words are my tools, my stock in trade. I’m supposed to have them in abundance.

Brussel Sprouts

I have veggies in abundance, and in northern Minnesota, September is harvest game-on time. The stacks of pint packets of green beans, spinach, raspberries, and sweet corn in my freezer are swelling. The number of empty canning jars on my pantry shelves is going down.

Potatoes and onions

This weekend, I need to process a bushel of tomatoes into sauce. I like to separate the yellow tomatoes from the reds and simmer them separately. I arrange the sealed, cooled jars on the pantry shelves in rows of color. Red tomatoes, yellow sauce, green dill pickles with white garlic cloves at the top, orange peach jam, ivory pear wedges in clear light-sugar syrup, purple plum jam, rosy strawberry jam. Eye-candy.

Sweet corn and pea fence

Onions and garlic sleep in boxes off in a corner. Potatoes will hibernate in the root cellar along with the biggest carrots. I still need to dry and crush basil and parsley, and then pack into jars that fit in a kitchen drawer, safely away from heat and light that saps their essence. The eggplant didn’t do so well this season, but I have frozen ratatouille left over from last year.

We’ll make it through the winter just fine. I’ll keep searching for the word that describes the color of the first true leaves of an eggplant seedling.

 

About the Gardener/Writer:

Ana Morgan loves gardening so much, she raised vegetables for one hundred families.

Retired now, she’s still has trouble thinking ‘small’ –when ordering seed packets in the fall and starting seeds indoors in late winter.

Contact Ana at https://anamorgan.net

Stormy Hawkins

by Ana Morgan

Blade Masters has finally spotted his ideal Dakota Territory ranch, where he can live alone, forget his cheating ex-fiancée, and bury the shards of his shattered heart. All he needs to do is sweet-talk the ailing owner, and his spitfire daughter, into retiring.

If she weren’t desperate, Stormy would never hire a cowhand. She’s learned the hard way that she’s happier working her family’s ranch alone. But, the greedy banker who holds their mortgage just demanded payment in full—or her hand in marriage.

Will this handsome drifter protect her? Or does he have designs of his own?

Buy link http://amzn.to/2wXgykQ

Warning to readers of sweet romance: this book is a sensual romance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wenesday Writers–Darlene Franklin and The Mermaid’s Song

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Acadians, Catherine Castle's Wednesday Writers blog series, Darlene Franklin, historical romance, Le Grand Derangement, Mermaid's Song, Sweet romance

Today I’m welcoming Darlene Franklin back to Wednesday Writers. Darlene has been a frequent guest author on the series, and today she’s going to give us some historical background on the Acadians and the part they play in her book Mermaid’s Song. Welcome back, Darlene.

 

Thanks, Catherine.

Acadians were French settlers in the area now known as Nova Scotia, New Brunswick , Prince Edward Island in the 17^th century

Acadians settled on the coast four years before French settlers went to Quebec on the St. Lawrence River. Acadians and French had different cultures.

Acadians became French subjects according to the treaty of Utrecht in 1713.

When the French and Indian War began in 1754, British doubted the neutrality of the Acadians and kicked them out, A few remained in Maine (Eddie Bourgoin in Acadian Hearts is one of these Acadians) but the most ended up in Louisiana, the Cajuns.

The deportation was called Le Grand Derangement or The Expulsion of 1755.

During the French and Indian War, in 1754, the British built a palisaded star fort to prevent the Canadians and the Indians from using the Kennebec River to attack English settlements.

That’s the historical background of Mermaid’s Song.

Justine is an Acadian being deported to an unknown destination in the colonies when her boat is shipwrecked near Ft. Hallifax. She alone survives. She is taken in by a merchant’s family, but others suspect her of being a foreign spy.

 

Mermaid’s Song

by Darlene  Franklin

Noble Prescott is drawn to the scene of a shipwreck by a sweet song sung in a language he didn’t understand. The songstress is barely alive, holding onto a piece of the ship’s railing. Her dress wraps around her legs like a mermaid’s tail.

Thus begins this imaginative retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale.

Justine Battineaux, an Acadian forced from her homeland on Cape Breton Island by British decree, finds herself adrift in the Maine colony. She doesn’t know the language and is distrusted as a foreigner.

Noble lives up to his name, providing shelter for Justine—and protection, as distrust turns into danger. For himself, his family—and the woman he comes to love.

How will Justine and Noble overcome the evil woman’s schemes to find their own love everlasting?

Want to read more? Check out the book on Amazon.

About the Author:

Best-selling hybrid author Darlene Franklin’s greatest claim to fame is that she writes full-time from a nursing home. Mermaid Song is her fiftieth unique title! She’s also contributed to more than twenty nonfiction titles. Her column, “The View Through my Door,” appears in five monthly venues. Other recent titles are Wilderness Weddings and Opposites Attract. You can find her online at: Website and blog, Facebook, Amazon author page

 

Links: Website and blog

Facebook

Amazon author page

Twitter: @darlenefranklin