Giveaways

Cover Reveal and Giveaway!

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Linda BrodayWoo-Hoo! I’m excited to show the cover of my May release, Twice a Texas Bride. I love this cover and the expression on the couple’s faces. So much love in the way he’s touching her and she’s leaning into him. I cried when I first saw it.

For those who don’t know, this is the second book in my Bachelors of Battle Creek series.

The Story Continues……..

Middle brother, Rand Sinclair has washed his hands of any hope of love. Everyone always leaves, always betrays. His heart can’t take anymore pain. He’s come to know two certainties…He’ll never fall in love again. Never marry.

The former saloon owner has sold the Lily of the West and bought a ranch. Rand finally has the land he’s dreamed of owning and that’s enough.

But when he discovers a woman and little boy hiding out in one of his outbuildings in the bitter cold, he can’t turn his back. He offers them safe haven and the warmth of his fire- nothing more than anyone else would do.

Callie Quinn is on the run from a killer outlaw who has vowed to see her dead and take the boy. She’ll die before she turns the six-year-old over to the man who’ll destroy him. Fulfilling a deathbed promise consumes her.

Twice a Texas BrideSlowly, Rand uncovers her secrets and realizes the only way to keep her safe is to push all his chips to the center of the table. He risks everything…his name…and his heart…for the woman who’s awakened a fierce hunger for love.

Locked in a desperate battle to rid themselves of the outlaw’s special brand of terror, Rand reaches deep inside for every weapon in his arsenal.

Whoever wants to harm her will have to go through him.

And he’ll go through hell for her.

This is a story of learning to trust again and finding a way to heal past hurts and deception and looking to the future.

When the three brothers–Cooper,Rand and Brett–stand as one as they have throughout their lives, no one can defeat them. Only now, the stakes are higher with the lives of two children and a motherless babe hanging in the balance.

Will Rand and Callie survive long enough to claim a future?

The release date for TWICE A TEXAS BRIDE is May 5. It’s available for preorder now. Click HERE to order from Amazon or HERE to get it from B&N.

Do you find stories with children in them much deeper or would you prefer it only to contain adults? For myself, I think a child/children adds so much more emotion and depth. All three of my Bachelor of Battle Creek series contain children.

I’m giving away a copy of the first book, Texas Mail Order Bride, to one person who comments.

There’s Mansions and Then There’s Mansions … by Charlene Sands

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Her Forbidden Cowboy front coverMy new three book series takes place on fictional Moonlight Beach in California.  Her Forbidden Cowboy is the story of my Texas hero removing himself to the Pacific shores to help heal from wounds, both emotional and physical.  He’s renting one of the many mansions built on the beach by hero  #2,  architect Adam Chase.  Now, it was fun to conjure up  and research lifestyles of the ultra-rich and famous and put those elements in my stories.  I had a field day using my own dream home fantasies for inspiration.   What’s better than ocean views, sandy shores and interiors complete with art galleries, wine cellars, state of the art kitchens and digitally-ordered master bathroom showers?

As I was doing my research on California mansions, I came across this amazing story of the Winchester House in Santa Clara, California that fits in with the Old West theme here at Wildflower Junction.   Talk about opulent!  The house was built on 162 acres of land, had seven floors, 13 bathrooms, two ballrooms, 47 fireplaces and three elevators. In total, there were 3oo rooms and two thousand (2000 doors!)

In 1881, Sarah Winchester was left heartbroken after losing her infant child and later her husband, rifle mogul, William Winchester, but upon his death she became a very wealthy woman, amassing a twenty million dollar fortune.  And since William’s company was still intact, she continually earned $1,000 daily.   Depressed and lonely, Sarah sought the services of a physic medium who advised her to seek a life out West with her limitless fortune to make amends for the lives lost due to those murdered spirits.  Poor Sarah, did just that.  She settled in California and continuously built and rebuilt the house as the physic had counseled.

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Today only four stories and 160 rooms remain due to earthquakes and neglect.

Originally, Sarah paid the workmen very well, a rumored 50% more than average wages to met her very bizarre demands, and they worked round the clock, seven days a week eager to please her.

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 It is said that she resorted to a ouija board to communicate with the spirits and make her decisions about construction.  It is believed no architect was ever used.  Notice the door to nowhere?  There are many throughout the house and Sarah believed they would help confound the angry spirits who followed her.    

Sarah used no architect when constructing her mansion. It's said she used a ouija board to communicate with the spirits, who advised her on what changes to make to the house. Thus, doors like this open to nothing but the air.

Here’s a servant’s kitchen with a mysterious door above.  It’s impossible to use and could prove very dangerous for anyone who doesn’t know where it leads!

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Here’s one of Sarah’s bedrooms.   Rumor has it that she never slept in the same room twice in a row to help her escape from and confuse the angry spirits.  Every night at midnight and 2 am, it’s reported by her neighbors that the bell tower of the Winchester property rang out.  

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The Winchester home was instilled with the height of luxury for that time period with heaters, elevators, steam, heating, modern toilets and push-button gas lights.  This ballroom below was exceptional in that very few nails were used. Each piece of wood was hand-crafted and fitted together like a giant puzzle.  Amazing!

This is one of the two ballrooms, though neither was ever used. In this particular room, hardly any nails were utilized. The wood was hand-crafted and fit together. The wood paneling throughout the house is exquisite, and the wood itself is very rare and expensive. It is said Sarah loved redwood, but hated the color. She insisted it all be stained or covered over.

(copyrighted by Winchester Mystery House, LLC)
If you could have one exceptional item for your home, what would it be?   I’ve always wanted a sun room filled with white wicker furniture and greenery and loads of lights filtering in.   Oh and a door that WENT somewhere!
 
Post a comment and be entered into a drawing for a $5 Amazon Gift card!

Chapel Cars

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Photo WG2 smallHi!  Winnie Griggs here.  The past several weeks have been over the top busy for me – I’ve got TWO book deadlines in March and I’m the coordinator for a writer’s conference that falls the weekend of March 6th.  So, with apologies to all of you wonderful readers, I’m going to reprise and older post for you today.  And to make up for my shameless lack of originality, I’m going to give one of today’s visitors who leaves a comment here their choice of any book on my backlist.

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In trying to come up with a topic for today’s post I pulled up my lagniappe file.  That’s the folder where I stash all the interesting stories and factoids I come across during research – the unexpected little tidbits that have nothing whatsoever to do with my actual story need, but that spark my imagination and get my ‘what if’ meter vibrating big time.

The piece that jumped out at me this time was an article I came across when researching circuit preachers for a minor story thread in one of my books.  The article talked about a very unique tool utilized by missionaries who were attempting to do their own brand of ‘taming the west’ – namely Chapel Cars.

These were railroad cars that were modified to serve as traveling churches.  They road the rails from town to town, diverting to sidings for as long as they were needed, then moving on to the next stop.  These cars were outfitted with very modest living quarters for the missionary and perhaps his wife.  The rest of the space was utilized for church services.

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Most western movies and tales glorify the gun-toting lawman or vigilante, portraying them as the tamers of the wild and wooly west.  In actuality, the peace-minded missionaries who road the rails played a larger part in bringing peace to the lawless west than any of their more aggressive counterparts.  They traveled in their mobile churches to remote areas of the country, bringing spiritual direction and a civilizing influence to people who were starved for something to offset the violence and loneliness of their existence.

These Chapel Cars traveled throughout the west and midwest – including North Dakota, Nevada, Minnesota, California, Louisiana, Texas, Oregon and Colorado.  They stopped at mining towns and logging camps, tent cities and newly established towns, bringing their gospel message and the reminder of civilization to people who had seen neither for a long time – if ever.

Chap car Int01

And, given the unfettered existence of those in the camps and towns, their appearance was surprisingly well received more often than not – especially by the ladies of the area.  The arrival of these Chapel Cars signaled not only the chance to attend Sunday services, but brought with them someone to perform weddings, funerals, baptisms and also a welcome excuse for social gatherings.  In addition, many a rough and tough cowboy who would have balked at attending a traditional church seemed to feel differently about these side rail services.  In fact, the very novelty of the Chapel Car brought folks from miles around just to have a look.

Of course, they didn’t always receive a warm welcome.  There are recorded instances of the Chapel Cars being pelted with eggs and refuse, defaced with graffiti and even set on fire.  But these were rare instances and the cars and their custodians survived to continue their mission.

 

These repurposed rail cars were furnished with pews, a lectern, an altar table and in some cases an organ.  Depending on the construction, they could seat over 70 people inside.  The Chapel Car was a multipurpose unit, serving as a home, church, Sunday School, social hall, library and meeting place.  They carried bibles and tracts which were distributed all along the lines.  The missionary and his wife, in addition to their usualExterior ministerial duties, were expected to function as singer, musician, janitor and cook.  They helped organize permanent churches, including raising the necessary funds and helping to construct the buildings.

There are records to support the existence of eleven Chapel Cars in all, though there is some evidence there may have been as many as seventeen.  Of the eleven known cars, three were utilized by Catholics, seven by Baptists and one by the Episcopalians.

Chapel cars remained in use throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  With the advent of World War I, however, the railroad tracks had to be kept clear for troop movement.  In addition, new regulations prohibited the railroad companies from giving ‘free rides’ to the Chapel Cars, something that had been common practice up until that time.  And as paved roads and the automobile became more prevalent it became easier for folks to travel longer distances on their own to attend church.  Thus, the Chapel Cars that had brought their spiritual message and civilizing influence to the rough and tumble west faded into history.

 

So, what is the most memorable place where you’ve attended a church service and what made it memorable for you?

“What if?” and the Mountain Man – Suzanne Ferrell

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suephoto2
Writers are asked all the time, “Where do you come up with your ideas?” Of course the smart-aleck in me wants to reply, “OH, you know, the big book of ideas.” But the wiser self always wins out and I tell them the “what-if?” game I play.

In Cantrell’s Bride I played the “what-if” game. What-if a woman came to Colorado to be a mail-order bride? What-if she was hiding from someone? What-if it was a murderer of a U.S. Senator? What-if her new husband had a friend who was a mountain man who helped save her from the murderer?

That’s when Micah Turner walked onto the page. Micah is the hero of Turner’s Vision, my second American historical romance just released. He’s big. He’s blond. He’s from Georgia, so he has a lovely southern accent and believes in honor above all else.

I fell in love with the movie Jeremiah Johnson when I was a teen. Honestly, has anyone ever looked so sexily shaggy as Robert Redford did in that role? Of course, the fact that I researched Jim Bridger the same year for a history project might’ve had something to do with my fascination with Johnson in that movie. Something about a man who wanted to travel into the wilderness to carve out their own world and live how they wanted, appealed to me.Cantrell-FRONT

Now, because of that paper I wrote I knew Jim Bridger had died in 1881, and that at the age of 77 was one of the last living mountain men. This was a problem, because that was the year I set up my first book in which Micah appears. Taking literary license let me go ahead and make Micah a latter day mountain man. He would’ve missed the boom days of trapping.

The next problem I had was, if Micah wasn’t one of the original mountain men why would he choose to live in the mountains, isolated from almost everyone but his old trapping partner? Both men served in the Civil War and came west afterward. They’d started trapping and tried their hands at mining. Nathan Cantrell went on to start a farm, but Micah retreated further into the mountains. Why?

What-if something in his past haunted him? If so, why would he leave his mountain sanctuary and head east?

What-if Micah has the gift of premonition? What-if those premonitions were accompanied by visions if it pertained to someone close to him? What if in Cantrell’s Bride, he learns there is a conspiracy much larger than the murder of a senator? What if one of the visions is of a much-loved sister in trouble? What if another vision was of a woman he’d never met, but was investigating the murder conspiracy?

Now, I had my mountain man coming out of his comfort zone to rescue two women. Sort of “a fish out of water” story.

Turner's VisionHis visions of the future brought them together…

Micah Turner’s visions have brought him down from his Colorado mountain refuge to the nation’s capital in search of his lost sister. Her disappearance may have something to do with the murder of a senator and a beautiful woman who is also haunting his visions.

Claudia Davis spent most of her life in fear. Now she has the chance to put her past behind her and help discover who is behind the senator’s murder. When a giant man approaches her one night with a letter from her friend who’d witnessed the murder she must decide if she can put her fears aside and trust the stranger.

As the pair work together to solve the murder they discover a deeper plot, one that has its roots buried in Micah’s past. Can they fight for justice and their love? Or will Micah’s visions of blood and death be fulfilled?

Not only does Micah’s past drive him out of the mountains to Washington D.C., but eventually back to the Rocky Mountains, where he discovers that sometimes dealing with betrayal and guilt in your past is the only way to have a future.
[Find out more at http://suzanneferrell.com/books/turners-vision/ ]

What-if you had to leave your home and travel into the wilderness, would you survive? Do you like “fish out of water” stories?

SUZANNE IS GIVING AWAY ONE EBOOK OR PRINT COPY OF TURNER’S VISION TO SOMEONE WHO LEAVES A COMMENT — SO JOIN THE CONVERSATION. AND REMEMBER TO LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDY.

HIDDEN TRAILS AND A GIVEAWAY BY CHERYL PIERSON

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Cheryl7126I’ve got a new release that hit the shelves last week just before Valentine’s Day! Hidden Trails is my latest western historical novella. This was a fun little novella to work on because it was something I hadn’t dealt with before. Though I write a lot of stories with heroes who are of mixed heritage–half white/half Indian, or half white/half Hispanic, I’ve never written a story with a heroine quite like Valentine Reneau.

Valentine’s mother was a slave, a beautiful octoroon, whose cruel master sold her off in a fit of drunken pique–luckily for her! She is able to marry and make a new life for herself, but there is always the uneasy fear that her former owner might find her–even though the Civil War has ended, and she is free. When Valentine is old enough to understand, her stepfather explains it to her, and so begins her burden of constantly looking over her shoulder, as well.

Now that Valentine’s on her own, she has to protect herself. The old fear is there, and it’s very real. But Valentine isn’t alone any longer.

Levi Connor rides into her life with a bullet in his leg, half dead from cold, hunger and blood loss. Once Valentine saves him, will he ride on, or will he stay and help her face her nightmare-turned-reality–the man she must acknowledge as her father?

Valentine intrigues me because I don’t know where she came from in my imagination. I “met” her walking along the road in the blizzard, carrying a wounded collie pup. I just knew she was the one for Levi. Have you ever read a story with an unlikely love match that stuck in your mind? I always am curious about what makes one person fall madly in love with another–especially when the odds are stacked against them.

There’s lots of excitement and action—and a Valentine’s Day hope for new love in this novella! Leave a comment to be entered to win a copy of HIDDEN TRAILS today!

PRPHidden Trails WebBLURB:

Levi Connor has never run from anything in his life, and he doesn’t intend to start now. After killing the two bandits who’d followed him into Indian Territory, he finds himself wounded and riding through a blinding February snowstorm. With no purpose ahead of him and no past to guide him, he discovers a reason to exist—the beautiful mixed-blood girl who takes him in and heals him. Valentine Reneau lives in fear that her father will find her someday in the heart of Indian Territory and force her to return to Mississippi to take her mother’s place—in every way. She knows her time has run out when a stranger shows up on her land with two hired guns—and the devil in his plans. With some unlikely help, Valentine must try to escape the slave’s fate that her mother left behind so many years before. Will Levi kill for a woman he barely knows? The chips are down, the guns blaze, and everything finally comes clear along these HIDDEN TRAILS…but who’ll be left alive?

EXCERPT:

She pulled the covers away so she could see his leg. Without saying anything more, she took the lantern from the nightstand and turned up the wick, holding it close to the wound.

“I better get to this,” she said under her breath. Then, she glanced up to meet his gaze. “How long have you been carrying this bullet? And what are you running from?”

Levi grimaced as she turned her attention back to the wound and prodded at it.

“Three days. And I ain’t runnin’, ma’am. A Connor don’t run.”

“And you are a Connor, I take it?”

“Levi Connor. Didn’t get a chance to introduce myself earlier,” he muttered, letting go a sharp breath as she laid a warm, wet cloth over the wound.

“Need to get it cleaned up,” she said. “I don’t want to hurt you, but it can’t be helped. Taking out a bullet is always painful, but when it’s been in there for three days—”

“I know.” He waved a hand dismissively. “I’m just obliged to you—and I’ll make it up to you—for bein’ such a bother.”

She shook her head. “No bother. Truly. My father was a doctor, so I do know a little about what I’m doing.”

Levi breathed a slow sigh of relief. This wasn’t his first bullet hole. But thank God, he’d ended up here, with a beautiful young woman who seemed capable of treating him. There had been times before when he would have prayed to be in this circumstance, rather than some of the ones he’d found himself in.

Gentle hands ministered to him, but he suddenly remembered the very delicate location of the bullet hole and tried to re-cover himself.

“Mr. Connor, I’ve seen everything you have—and many others just like it,” Valentine said matter-of-factly. “I can’t very well remove a bullet from a wound I can’t see.” She snatched the covers from his hand and threw them back to his side. “You’re making it harder for me to be able to do what I need to.”

“In a week or two, I’d pay money for you to flip those covers away like that,” Levi answered.

She bent a long, hard look on him. “I’m not for sale, Mr. Connor. Not at any price. You want to keep riding?”

Levi shook his head. “Forget I said that, Valentine. Just the pain and the…damn humiliation talkin’. I didn’t mean it.”

A slow smile quirked her lips. “I can’t imagine you ever being embarrassed.”

“Believe it or not, I was raised a gentleman, ma’am.”

“I believe it, Mr. Connor. I do believe it.” Her voice was soft and sincere, and full of loss for things Levi didn’t understand.

But just then, she pulled the wound open and probed for the bullet, and the pain stripped everything else away from him. There was nothing in Levi’s consciousness but Valentine and her tweezers, delving into the bloody hole in his leg. He swallowed back the cry that threatened to bring the roof down, forcing it away.

If you just can’t wait to see if you won, here’s the Amazon buy link:

http://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Trails-Cheryl-Pierson-ebook/dp/B00T235K92/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0CXADAP15ZC3G149KECH

Thanks for stopping by today! Be sure to leave your contact info in your comment in case you win!

What? No trees? by Carla Olson Gade

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In my new novella, “Proving Up”, in The Homestead Brides Collection from Barbour Publishing, my story is about the struggle to survive and thrive on the open prairie. The great expanse of the Nebraska plains harkened not the faint of heart. With golden fields ripe for homesteading, the land beckoned those to who had the gumption to stake a claim, cultivate the land, and create a community, such as the Swedish settlement of Swedeberg, Nebraska. Earning a government land grant of 160 acres was no easy task as the settler’s endured drought, prairie fires, and grasshopper plagues as they cultivated the land they resided on in order to “prove up.”

But when the homesteaders first arrived on their claims in the Great Plains there was nary a tree in sight. Some trees grew by the moist riverbeds, but the prairie was dry and treeless. What trees were available soon became exhausted and people were known to travel over fifty miles to obtain the lumber they so desperately needed.

Without the availability of trees, homesteaders had to rely on alternativechips means for supplying them with fuel and lumber. In the absence of firewood, cow and buffalo chips became a precious commodity for providing fuel to cook by and heat homes. This “prairie coal” burned well and surprisingly produced an odorless flame. Some people owned a hay burner stove, that was outfitted with a firebox and cylinders that were filled with twisted hay. The hay was quickly consumed and required constant tending.

The lack of lumber meant that there was no wood for building dwellings, so earth was used instead. Sod from the ground was cut into large bricks and stacked to create houses. They were often lined with plaster or newspaper to prevent bugs from getting in. These “soddies” became one of the most common dwellings on the western frontier. But lumber was also needed for furniture and wooden fences.

nebraska-sod-houseIf only there were more trees. Or any trees at all.

To encourage the growth of trees on the Great Plains, Congress passed The Timber Culture Act in 1873. Naturalists believed that the growth of trees would produce rainfall and transform the prairie by bringing moisture to the dry land. The trees would not only provide needed lumber, but would also provide a windbreak or shelterbelt that would reduce the force of the wind, direct the movement of snow, and provide much needed shade. It also provided shelter from the elements and a natural fence for the livestock.

“This country’s going to be covered with trees,” Pa said. “Don’t forget that Uncle Sam’s tending to that. There’s a tree claim on every section, and settlers have got to plant ten acres of trees on every tree claim. In four or five years, you’ll see trees every way you look.”

~ By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Homesteaders could add another 160 acres of land to the 160 acres they obtimberclaimtained from the Homestead Act of 1862 in exchange for planting one quarter (40 acres) of the property with trees. Once they proved that they had a successful crop of trees the government would issue them the title to the land. Initially the regulations required one quarter of the 160 acres to be planted with trees and cultivated over a period of ten years. In 1878 this was reduced to ten acres over an eight year period due to the extreme hardships on the Great Plains such as prairie fires, grasshopper plagues, and drought. On each of the 10 acres 2,700 trees (27,000 total) were to be planted with a stipulation that 675 (6,750) of them would thrive. About 20% of homtimber1aesteaders filed a tree claim. But many were abandoned as people used the land free of rent and taxes for years and then moved on. There were other abuses such as land speculation and fraud. In 1891 The Timber Culture Act was repealed. Nevertheless, millions of trees were planted and although it did not result in great forestation, the Great Plains was transformed into a landscape that is now dotted with trees.


I’m giving away a copy of The Homestead Brides Collection autographed by all nine authors who contributed to the book!

 

The Homestead Brides Collection (Barbour, February 2015)Homestead Brides Cover400

Through nine historical romance adventures, readers will journey along with individuals who are ready to stake a claim and plant their dreams on a piece of the great American plains. While fighting land disputes, helping neighbors, and tackling the challenges of nature the homesteaders are placed in the path of other dreamers with whom romance sparks. And God has His hand in orchestrating each unique meeting.

Proving Up novella by Carla Olson Gade

Elsa Lindquist applies her scientific theories to growing trees on the Nebraska plains, intruding on a handsome homesteader’s hard work and experience. Will their dreams come to ruin, or will love prove their success?

 

Pinterest story board for “Proving Up.” http://tinyurl.com/provingsb

Available for purchase at  Amazon.com.

Get Lucky in Love by Charlene Sands!!

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VALENTINE'S

 

February is the month for love and romance!  What more can we say about Valentine’s Day?  Well, here’s a few quotes from people you may just recognize.  Read them and tell me which one pertains most to you or give me your own quote on the subject and you’ll be entered into a drawing for this fabulous 3 in 1 prize including Diana Palmer, Donna Alward and little ole me!  Unless of course, you don’t like Red Hot Reads, or Hunky Cowboys or Romance at all!!

One Night with the Red Hot Rancher

Famous Love Quotes:

“Men always want to be a woman’s first love — women like to be a man’s last romance.” — Oscar Wilde

 

“You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly.” — Sam Keen

 

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.” — Helen Keller

 

“Where there is love there is life.” – Gandhi

 

“When you are in love you can’t fall asleep because reality is better than your dreams.” — Dr. Seuss

 

“I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way than this: where I does not exist nor you, so close that your hand on my chest is my hand, so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.” — Pablo Neruda, “Love Sonnet XVII”

 

“Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.” – Aristotle

 

“Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love.” — Albert Einstein

 

“Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward in the same direction.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupery

 

“Love doesn’t make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.” — Franklin P. Jones

 

“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind.” — Shakespeare

“Let us always meet each other with a smile, for a smile is the beginning of love.” — Mother Theresa

 

Funny Love Quotes:

“Falling in love is so hard on the knees.” – Aerosmith

 

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” — Charles M. Schulz

 

“True love comes quietly, without banners or flashinglights. If you hear bells, get your ears checked.” — Erich Segal

 

“Before I met my husband, I’d never fallen in love. I’d stepped in it a few times.” — Rita Rudner

 

“It’s better to have loved and lost than to have to do forty pounds of laundry a week.” — Laurence J. Peter

 

“I’m dating a woman now who, evidently, is unaware of it.” — Garry Shandling

 

“I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I have ever known.” — Walt Disney

 

“I love being married. It’s so great to find one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.” — Rita Rudner

 

“Love is a grave mental disease.” – Plato

 

“I want a man who’s kind and understanding. Is that too much to ask of a millionaire?” — Zsa Zsa Gabor

 

Lots going on in February!

Are you reading my Free Harlequin Online Read — Secret Designs on the Billionaire?

It’s the tie-in story to my February release Her Forbidden Cowboy.

Have you picked up your copy?

Her Forbidden Cowboy Graphic

 

AMAZON http://tinyurl.com/og9s4j2

Barnes and Noble http://tinyurl.com/monffa9

 

Get lucky in love!   Come to our DESIRE FACEBOOK PARTY on Lucky Friday 13th.

Win prizes and Gift Cards. Chat with all the authors!

 

 

 

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Lucky Friday the 13th!! by Charlene Sands

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Join me this coming Friday for the “Get Lucky In Love” Event on FACEBOOK!

There’ll be Prizes and Chocolates and Gift Cards Galore!  Sign up HERE

I’ll be there 5 PM PST on Lucky Friday the 13th!

Get Lucky in Love Small

 

SIZZLE IN THE SANDS in my FREE HARLEQUIN ONLINE READ…SECRET DESIGNS ON THE BILLIONAIRE! 

 Secret Designs on the Billionaire

Have you picked up your copy of Her Forbidden Cowboy?

Her Forbidden Cowboy Graphic

Welcome Sherri Wilson Johnson

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Sherri
My latest novel, To Laugh Once More, is set in Georgia in 1895. One of the highlights of writing this novel was doing the research for it. In its prequel, To Dance Once More, Lydia and Hamilton Scarbrough lived in Florida, so when I moved them to Georgia, I had to do a lot of research. During my research, I was thrilled to learn that in 1895, the year I had chosen, the Cotton States and International Exposition came to Piedmont Park in Atlanta, which was in the neighborhood Lydia and Hamilton had settled. The Expo remained in Atlanta for several months and had nearly 800,000 visitors come to see all of the exhibits before it left.

I love going to the county fair, and this is what I imagine the Expo was like, except the Cotton States and International Exposition offered more than the usual county fair. The Atlanta Botanical Gardens displayed its beautiful flowers. The Ford Motor Company was there displaying its latest inventions. The Agricultural building showed everything a farmer could ever dream of seeing. The Art exhibit displayed art from all over the world.

The most fascinating part of the Expo to me is the buildings dedicated to different countries to show to the residents of Atlanta and its visitors who they were, what the people looked like, sounded like, and what they ate. There was a Japanese exhibit, a Mexican exhibit, an African exhibit, and more. There was a beauty show for the elegant ladies and a Coochee Coochee show for the not-so-elegant ladies. Even President Grover Cleveland came and delivered a speech. The Liberty Bell was there on display, and Booker T. Washington gave the Atlanta Compromise speech and highlighted Negro Day. There were also exhibits for exotic animals like monkeys and tigers and a Buffalo Bill Wild West Show with sharpshooters entertaining the onlookers.

Imagine the reaction from the wealthy elite in Atlanta when they witnessed the sharpshooters in the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show pretending to shoot down wild animals and Native Americans. I can hear the gasps from the refined ladies and can see them covering the eyes of the children as the riders demonstrated bloody battles. I’m sure the children would have been trying to peek between the fingers of their mothers to see all the action, and I’m sure they dreamed of riding out west and conquering some territory of their own. I can also hear the whoops and hollers from the men in suits who could only dream of being part of Buffalo Bill Cody’s show. This show glamorized the rough conditions of the west and made it look like being a settler on the frontier was full of adventure. Buffalo Bill traveled all over the states demonstrating his Wild West Show, and I can’t help but wonder how many men tried to convince their wives to pack up and GO WEST!

Piedmont Park is still a very active part of the Atlanta community. You can still see some of the foundations of the buildings from the Expo. Atlanta is rich in all sorts of history (Civil War and beyond), and Piedmont Park still rings out the history of the Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition.

Here’s my Pinterest board that shows photos from the Expo, along with other fascinating Atlanta history pics. http://www.pinterest.com/sherriwjohnson/to-laugh-once-more/

If you click on the link below, you will see a map of the Expo.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_States_and_International_Exposition

Thanks so much for letting me share a bit of my historic passion.

To Laugh Once More is a Victorian Inspirational Romance ToLaughOnceMoreFinalset in Georgia in 1895.

A dissatisfied wife. A misunderstood husband. Three tragedies will alter their path forever. Will their choices tear them apart, or will they allow them To Laugh Once More?

Three years after her marriage to Hamilton, former debutante Lydia Barrington Scarbrough is dissatisfied with life. She has yet to have children, and she spends most of her days sitting in a circle of women chatting about homemaking. She thought life would be more than what it’s turned out to be. Hamilton travels on business and never takes her with him. What’s a lonely wife to do when she has no children to raise? She longs for adventure and romance, and really, she longs for the fulfillment of her purpose in life. A purpose beyond being a wife and raising children.

Lydia faces a series of hardships that stretch her faith beyond capacity. Leaving her childhood home in Florida for Georgia proves to be more difficult than she ever imagined, and her marriage may not survive the trials. Lydia’s own personal battles drive a wedge between them. What will it take to make Hamilton attempt to save their marriage and draw Lydia back to him?

As Lydia strives to etch out a place for herself in a new world full of unfamiliar prejudice and attempts to overcome her private battles, she must help Hamilton understand her deepest longings and learn the true meaning of joy. Will she surrender her will in order to find her purpose? Will her future hold a happier marriage, motherhood, and a calling greater than she could ever have imagined?

Sherri Wilson Johnson is an Inspirational Romance novelist, a speaker, and a former homeschooling mom who’d rather have laugh lines under her eyes than worry lines across her forehead. She lives in Georgia with her husband, her two children and her Chihuahua, Posey. Her favorite thing to do when she’s not with her family is to curl up with a good book or work on her current work-in-progress. Sherri is the author of To Dance Once More, Song of the Meadowlark, and To Laugh Once More. She is a columnist with Habits for a Happy Home and Choose NOW Ministries.
Sherri is giving away an e-book copy of both To Laugh Once More and To Dance Once More to one reader who leaves a comment. 

Petticoats & Pistols