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by Sylvia McDaniel
Blurb:
Belle Bishop and her sisters, wealthy southern belles, are set to marry old men her guardian uncle has chosen for them. When the elder man kisses her, she knows it’s time to go. All three women sneak out of Savannah as penniless mail-order brides for a new chance at love and happiness in Mistletoe Falls, Montana.
Martin Keegan owns the local saloon and dreams of owning a ranch. He’s ordered a mail-order bride, hoping she will accept him as he is – a poor struggling working man. Will his new wife help support him until spring for them to move to the land he longs for? Or will his once-entitled wife desert him like his mother left his father?
Will Christmas bring them together or will Belle return to Savannah and wealth?
Excerpt:
Belle Bishop was doing her best to be the perfect niece. The good girl her uncle Reginald expected, but she was feeling miserable and rebellious and her mind was screaming no.
And her sisters suggestions looked better and better.
Her uncle’s partner Franklin Giddings, a tall, gangly man with a wispy beard and dry skin, took her arm and placed her hand in the crook of his elbow. The smell of dust and old man reached her nose and she glanced away as he walked her outside in the garden.
What were they doing out here alone? Why did she suddenly feel suspicious?
Holly and Angel’s warnings screamed in her head.
Mr. Giddings cheeks were sunken, his eyes glazed over and his skin powdered with age. His wiry beard had grey and white patches. His dark green coat was of the finest cloth, though dander graced the shoulders.
How could her uncle expect her to marry this man? Sure they were partners at the bank, but that didn’t mean she wanted him as her husband.
Tossing her blonde curls off her shoulders, she gazed at the man’s loose and sunken skin. His eyes were a close set of wrinkles, which were pulled tight like the brows of a cat in anticipation.
Could her uncle not find anyone younger? So many years stretched between them. He’d be dead by the time she reached thirty, if not sooner.
A bee buzzed in the garden and the smell of her mother’s gardenias reached her nose. When she needed her the most, she was dead and gone. For two years her sisters and her had to navigate through life without their parents steadfast advice. With their uncle as their guardian.
The old man’s hands slid up and down her arm and the thought of him touching her intimately sent a shudder through her.
“Dear, when we’re married, I will give you everything you desire,” he said his eyes flashing with promise. “Whatever you wish is yours.”
That seemed like an unbelievable statement. And was it worth giving up her dreams of a young man loving her, if she had to accept this old man’s advances?
Could she do this?
The thought of his fingers touching her body sent a tremor through her. An old man’s flesh not the youthful husband of her dreams. Were her sisters having the same thoughts and feelings? Their men had not looked much younger.
Her sisters were inside with their fiancees sprung on them today by her wretched uncle. On each of their next birthdays they would receive their inheritance and he was doing everything possible to control their money.
To keep the cash from ever reaching them.
They all knew it and understood why. The man would be near penniless, once they received their inheritance. Sure Uncle Reginald had his investments, but he spent money faster than he made it and these men had agreed to let him keep their money in exchange for three lovely young women.
Or that was what they believed. Their uncle was not the paragon of virtue when it came to money. Especially their dowry and inheritance.
Author Bio:
USA Today bestselling author Sylvia McDaniel has published more than eighty western historical romance, and contemporary romances. Known for her sweet, funny, family-oriented stories, Sylvia is the author of The Burnett Brides, Lipstick and Lead Series, Bad Girls of the West, and the Return to Cupid, Texas series.
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