Happy Valentine's Day! Have you been commenting to enter my ♥ Valentine's Day ♥ Contest? If not, do so today to be entered for a box of swag, signed print books, and chocolates.
The winner will be announced at the end of this post on the 15th and on Facebook and Twitter.
Today is a celebration for me! Today is the release for my
42nd title (not counting box sets). Naturally, I am excited and hope
readers are, too.
DANIEL McCLINTOCK is book 4 of the McClintock
series. I love the people in this series (except for the villains, of course).
I feel I’d recognize them if I met them in person.
Since that isn’t likely to happen, I content myself with
bringing them from my head into life in electronic and paper forms. I hope they
become as alive for readers as they are for me. This story is set in 1888. The
heroine, Clara, uses what would now be called physical therapy but was then
called mechanotherapy. This treatment originated in Amsterdam, Holland and was
just emerging as feasible for paralytics worldwide.
Here is a bit about DANIEL
McCLINTOCK:
A compassionate
woman…
Clara Van Hoosan entered training when she finished school at
sixteen in Amsterdam, Holland. Now, at twenty-two, she is one of the best heilgymnast
in the new field of mechanotherapy. When her supervisor receives a request for
someone to travel to Texas in America and help a paralytic patient, Clara is
pleased to accept. On her arrival in McClintock Falls, she is surprised that
the patient she thought would be a teenage boy is a very handsome man her age.
A desperate man…
Two years ago Daniel McClintock was paralyzed from the waist
down. He is deeply discouraged and wonders if he is bound to live his life as an
invalid. Normally cheerful but shy, each week he becomes more depressed but not
idle. He keeps books for the ranch and paints landscapes with sales donated to
the church. The local doctor learns of a new type of treatment developed in
Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Daniel can’t go there, so his family writes for a
therapist trained in the new treatment to come to them.
A surprise
arrives…
Everyone is expecting a man when Clara Van Hoosan arrives.
As she and Daniel work together, they become attracted. She believes his is the
normal attachment a patient feels toward a therapist and will fade once he’s
healed. She tries to hide her feelings for him. Daniel knows she’s The One if
only he can convince her to remain in McClintock Falls.
Here’s an excerpt from the first morning after Clara arrives:
The next morning, Clara dressed carefully. For therapy work,
she wore a muslin split skirt and shirtwaist without a corset. The ensemble
allowed her the flexibility needed to work with a patient. The white fabric
reminded her of a nursing sister.
She hurried to check on Daniel. He lay on his back, staring
at the ceiling. Glancing around the room, she saw numerous paintings. She
recognized the ranch’s landscape in three. Others showed horses, two in which
the horses were alone and two with groups of horses.
“Good morning, Daniel. Dr. Sullivan mentioned you paint well
and I see he was correct.” She walked the length of the room and back, admiring
the lovely paintings. “These are beautiful.”
“They’re for Roan’s store to sell and donate the money to the
church.”
“Shall I help you get ready for the day?” She reached for
his sheet.
He batted away her hand. “Don’t think you’re going to be
helping me. You run along and do whatever it is women do each morning.”
“This woman helps you. I hoped you
would reconsider after thinking overnight. We can do this peacefully or in an
all-out war, but I will help you.”
He screwed up his face and mocked, “‘I vill helf you’. You
can’t even speak proper English.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I am sure my English is far better than
your Dutch.”
“Are you so eager to see a man’s privates that you’re
willing to help me? Does ogling a man intimately get you all hot and bothered?”
She fanned her throat and pretended to pant. “Oh, yes, I
just adore looking at piss and feces.” With one yank, she snapped the sheet
from atop him.
“Hey, you… you can’t do that.”
“I already have.” After pouring water into the pitcher, she
wrung out a clean wash cloth and carried it and the towel to his bed. She
grabbed one of the clean cloths used as his diapers.
He scooted up on his pillows and put out a hand. “Get away,
do you hear?”
“How could I not? I am sure men working in the barn heard
you. You may as well save your breath. We will start your bath with your face.”
He grabbed the wash cloth from her. “I can wash myself.”
“If you wish.” When he’d cleaned his face and torso, she
rolled him to lie on his chest and washed his back and pulled the covering from
his posterior.
He raised up so he rested on his elbows. “Hey, what are you
doing?”
“Checking your skin. Your mother has done a wonderful job of
preventing bedsores. There is one tiny area on each of your hips where tissue
has changed.”
“You said there weren’t any bedsores.”
“That is right, but these places must be watched carefully
or there will be. Now that you will be moving more, that should help.”
She touched a scar low on his spine. “You are fortunate the damage
to your spine is so low. Otherwise I would not anticipate you regaining use of
your legs. Now that I have seen the injury, I believe you can learn to walk.”
He craned his neck so he could look up at her. “Lady, if I
were fortunate, I wouldn’t be paralyzed in the first place.”
I hope readers will love Daniel as much as I do. He and
Clara make a perfect couple, in my opinion. Together they forge a future that
combines both their hopes and dreams.
Writers never give up. I’m at work on my next project, a
time travel trilogy. I don’t have the covers yet, but will post them when I do.
Keep reading! Please leave a review, too.
