COVER REVEAL AND THE SERIES

My latest historical western romance is RACHEL, Bride Brigade book 5. I’m sharing the cover with readers today to whet your appetite—I hope! Her story will be released August 26.

On a side-note, do you love mail-order bride stories? I love reading and writing them. The aspects of the fish-out-of-water and the characters' adjustments appeal to me.

After reading Chris Enss’ books about real mail-order brides, I know that many were terribly unhappy. I believe most were—if not a marriage made in heaven—at least a life of satisfaction in which both the husband and wife gained.

After the Civil War, there were so many fewer marriageable men in the East than women. A woman had to choose whether or not she wanted to risk a mail-order marriage in order to have her own home, husband, and children. The other choices were to live with a relative as a sort of glorified servant, teach other people’s children, or work at a job with low pay and no prospects for more. Both Hero's family and mine had instances of the glorified servant. Life as the live-in spinster aunt doesn't sound like a fulfilling life, does it?

When I conceived the Bride Brigade Series, I wanted to create a twist on the mail-order bride. Lydia Harrison brings seven women from Virginia to Tarnation, Texas to meet the town’s bachelors. She was certain each woman would find the man perfect for her. In fact, she chose each woman with a man in mind—but she didn’t tell anyone that. Each of the seven is strong in her own way, Make that eight if you count Lydia, and I do.

So far, Josephine, Angeline, Cassandra, and Ophelia have fallen in love and married. Now we meet Rachel. She has just been released from prison after being framed for embezzlement by her boss. Her father has asked her to quickly leave before she resurrects the disgrace she caused the family by her arrest, trial, and imprisonment—as if being framed were her fault. 

I hope you’ll enjoy RACHEL as much as I do. I love Lydia and these young women and feel as if I know each one, as well as the strong men they come to love. LORRAINE and PRUDENCE will soon follow this fall.

Next month I’ll release two connected contemporary western books, GRANT ME THE MOON and CAPTURE A STAR.