FOUR WEDDINGS AND A KISS - Margaret Brownley, Debra Clopton, Mary Connealy, Robin Lee Hatcher - One Free Book

Readers, this is a novella collection by four of my favorite authors of historical romance. This time the collection has a Prologue and Epilogue that gives in a different flavor.

I read the book as soon as my copy arrived. As always, each of these women gave us an interesting story with three dimensional characters who grabbed my heart and didn’t let go until their story was told. Each unique story stayed with me a long time giving me a chuckle and a smile every time I revisited it.

You won’t want to miss this book.

Margaret Brownley's story

Courting Trouble

How did this collection come about?

The four of us worked together on A Bride for All Seasons, and we had so much fun we decided to do it again. We started with a phone conference to brainstorm. Robin suggested we do something with unlikely brides and the next thing we knew our muses were off and running.

Are these stories connected in some way?

The book opens with at a revival. One of the ministers attending is miserably in love with a woman he fears would make an unsuitable pastor's wife. The other ministers tell him stories about other unsuited couples and how God brought them together.

How does your story fit in with the others?

In Courting Trouble, my heroine is known as the “black widow.” That's because all three of her husbands died under mysterious circumstances. How's that for an unsuitable bride?

Who chose the setting for this collection?

We each chose our own settings. My story takes place in Colorado.

What did you want the reader to take away from your story?

My goal in writing is to provide readers with an entertaining story that puts a smile on their faces and maybe even a little hope in their hearts.

Readers want to get to know the authors they read. Can you tell us three things my readers probably don’t know about you?

I live in a halfway house. That's because I'm surrounded by projects that are only half complete and may never see the end. Can anyone use a half sweater or half quilt?

I run a shelter for abused, neglected, and depressed Boston ferns. I can turn any fern into a gigantic mass of fronds guaranteed to take over the room. No one is allowed into to my house unless first agreeing to adopt a fern. And no, you can't bring your sick fern over.

My office is painted Monet purple, and I sit on a big rubber ball. I fell off it recently during an earthquake.

Please give us the first page of your story.

Colorado 1882

Brock Daniels scowled at the brief he’d been studying for more than an hour. Obstreperous conduct? It took thirty-two pages to list a complaint that added up to little more than one shop owner calling another a name generally reserved for crooked politicians and stubborn mules.

Hardly a week went by that a similar freewheeling lawsuit didn’t cross his desk. No wonder the town was on litigation overload. They sure didn’t do things here in Colorado like they did back in Philadelphia.

Tossing the brief down, he reached for his fountain pen. No sooner had he dipped the nib in the ink well and started to write than a slight sound made him lift his gaze. A boy about ten or eleven stood in front of his desk, staring at him with big rounded eyes.

It wasn’t the first time someone had sneaked up on him while working at his desk. The two room office had been his for six months and he still hadn’t gotten around to attaching a bell to the front door.

Brock stuck the pen in the holder and reached into his vest pocket for his watch. The gold case opened with a flip of his thumb. It was nearly ten p.m. Too late for someone so young to be roaming the streets. He snapped the watch shut.

 “May I help you?”

For answer, the lad placed four coins on the desk with such care that the money had to have been hard earned. The coins added up to fifty-six cents.

 “I want to hire you,” the boy said.

Where can my readers find you on the Internet?

www.margaret-brownley.com

You can find me on FaceBook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest.

Now we’re welcoming Debra Clopton, a fellow Texas author.

How did this collection come about?

We had an all-out brainstorming session conference call that was the most fun. We tossed about everything but the kitchen sink and grabbed hold of this idea when it showed up. It was a blast.

Are these stories connected in some way?

Yes, by a fifth romance. It starts out with a bunch of pastors sitting around a campfire. This young pastor needs advice dealing with romance troubles that involve a young woman he thinks is unsuitable as a pastor’s wife. The 4 older pastors tell the poor fella about an unlikely couple that they’d known. And so the stories of unlikely brides begins.

How does your story fit in with the others?

OH, my heroine is very unlikely. She’s been trapped beneath her destroyed home after a tornado ripped through her land and killed her pa. I fashioned her after Crazy Cora from the movie Quigley Down Under and loved every moment bringing her to life. She was unconventional before she got hit on the head since her pa raised her to shoot better than most men and to use a whip—both he deemed the necessary tools a woman in the west needed to survive. She has no idea how to handle love … and the men she’s pointing her pearl handled pistol at are truly shaking in their boots. I think readers will love Crazy Katie Pearl … at least I hope so.

I know I did, and I didn’t know she was fashioned after Crazy Cora. I absolutely love the movie Quigley Down Under . Who chose the setting for this collection?

I believe we all did.

What did you want the reader to take away from your story?

I want readers to sigh at the ending after they have rooted whole-heartedly for my hero and heroine. I also want them to see that God walks beside us all the time, even in unlikely times.

Readers want to get to know the authors they read. Can you tell us three things my readers probably don’t know about you?

1. I truly understand God’s faithfulness … my first husband passed away in 03, and God never left my side.

2. 6 years later, trusting God, I finally went on my 1st date a blind date and met my husband J God truly works in mysterious ways.

3. I absolutely believe Banana taffy of any kind is God’s special gift … I even have my donkey Samantha in my 2nd book And Baby Makes Five love it, because I’m so crazy about it.

My husband of almost 50 years was a blind date, and I didn’t like blind dates. My first one had been rather unpleasant and I never planned to go on another one. Yes, God works in mysterious ways. Please give us the first page of your story.

A COWBOY FOR KATIE:

She might be as crazy as they said but Katie Pearl had learned that most men were light between the ears. She wondered which one of them she was gonna have to shoot today.

It wasn’t as if she wanted to, but if they came snoopin' around, she was willin’ to oblige them.

“There ain’t no sense pretending you like this, Katie Pearl, no sense at all,” Katie told herself.

From her perch on the wagon seat she could see the dusty buildings of town. And as Myrtle May pulled the wagon round the bend in the road Katie’s insides tensed up.

“You’re a good horse, Myrtle May. Yes you are.” She was glad to have the comfort of her old horse with her as the fire in the pit of her stomach informed her trouble was near.

Town was trouble and there was no getting around it.

Where can my readers find you on the Internet?

I love to hear from Readers and have them join my newsletter. I try to return all letters but sometimes because deadlines are pressing its hard. So I love being able to connect with them through my monthly newsletters and also my contests. Join at http://www.debraclopton.com from there they can easily find my links to facbook, twitter and goodreads. Happy reading everyone!!!

Welcome Mary Connealy. Each of these novellas are also available individually as ebooks. Here’s her cover for that.

How did this collection come about?

This is the second book in a two book contract we signed with Thomas Nelson. The first book A Bride for All Seasons came out last summer. Once we tricked TN into doing one, they decided to trick us into doing two. It’s been great.

Are these stories connected in some way?

They are connected by a group of pastors sitting around a campfire talking about the “unlikeliest couple” they’d ever performed a wedding ceremony for.

How does your story fit in with the others?

The stories don’t intertwine at all beyond the pastors spinning their yarns, a small prologue and a short epilogue tie them stories together.

Who chose the setting for this collection?

We picked a date which coincided with a gathering someone had heard of, of pastors with ministries on the frontier. But the settings were left up to each of us. We did talk about it, wanting to mix things up a bit and not all set our stories in the same place.

What did you want the reader to take away from your story?

I think the basic story is Maizy MacGregor learning to take pride in who she is. She’s quite a character but she’s got all the things a woman needed to succeed in the west and if she wasn’t always a proper lady, well, too bad.

Readers want to get to know the authors they read. Can you tell us three things my readers probably don’t know about you?

Um….I have a sort of “problem” with pretty jewelry. Not fine gemstones, just fun pretty jewelry. I LOVE IT! I’ve got quite a pile of it.

Please give us the first page of your story.

Spitfire Sweetheart

Saurita, New Mexico 1879

Maizy MacGregor leaned her head back against the rocks and knocked her Stetson off. She grabbed it as it fell, then tossed it aside in disgust. She had on men's clothes, her hat, her britches, her shirt, her boots, the six-gun she wore on her hip. It had never bothered her before Rylan Carstens moved in next door.

She wiped her eyes. It was sure enough bothering her now.

The water roared beside her, cascading down in a rush. She came here when she needed to be alone. And she really needed that now.

Tossing aside her buckskin gloves, she pulled her red handkerchief out of her hip pocket—no lace kerchief tucked up her sleeve for Maizy—and wiped her eyes again and blew her nose in a completely unladylike way.

How had she let herself get this upset? And over a man, of all things.

Over her neighbor who she'd long ago accepted would never see her as anything but a child and an unattractive, annoying child at that.

She was used to it and ignored it mostly, but today stung. He'd found her walking among his Angus cattle.

Maizy looked to her left and watched the sleek black herd spread out on the long downhill slope. She hadn't gone near them this afternoon. Instead she'd just slipped into this spot. She'd been using it for a get-away since childhood.

But this morning she'd walked right into the middle of his herd, wanting a close-up look. They were gentle cattle, not a horn on a single one of them. They weren't tame enough to touch, they gave way if she got too close. But they didn't run for the hills one day then attack the next like longhorns tended to do.

She'd heard they were gentle, even the bulls. And she was savvy about cattle. She knew how to judge their tempers and stay clear of them when necessary. Her eyes rested on one especially young calf that might have been born just today, long after cows usually threw their calves.

Maizy knew better than to go near a new mama, no matter how easy going she'd been before her calf was born.

She'd told Rylan all that and tried to make him see she was in no danger. He'd thrown her off his land anyway and later followed her home to complain to Pa, like she was a misbehaving child. He'd forbidden her to trespass ever again.

The river was the border between his property and her pa's, and it was true she was, right this minute, on the trespassing side. But surely he didn't mean her little hidey hole was off limits. She barely had a toe over the line and she was completely safe from his placid, fat cattle.

She did admit to taking childish pleasure in defying him. And it was a harmless defiance. If he didn't know she was here, then he couldn't throw her off.

Her horse was tied well across the river, on MacGregor land, cropping grass. She couldn't see the brown and white pinto from here and neither could her neighbor.

Hoping to get control of her hurt, she let herself soak in the peace of stone and water and air, loving the way this rocky ledge cut off the world. She couldn't hear anything thanks to the rushing water. Her spot was curved into the rocks and she could only see straight ahead and to the left. Water was on the right, cascading down from the mountain peaks. Her almost-cave hid her from behind and overhead.

She could be in her own world, alone with her thoughts. She'd always come here to lick her wounds.

A gunshot cut through the air and she sat up straight and banged her head.

Looking for the source of that gun, she turned left and saw him.

Rylan Carstens.

And he was coming straight for her, galloping on his big chestnut stallion. Even at this distance she could tell he was looking right at her. How had he known she was in here?

Another gunshot echoed from his Winchester.

Rylan bent low over his horse, coming as fast as he could on the rocky ground that rose to this bluff along the river. Was he trying to kill her? If so, he was doing a poor job of it. The bullets were missing, going way over her head. But even on their worst day she'd never done anything that oughta make the man killing mad.

Where can my readers find you on the Internet?

Seekerville
Petticoats and Pistols
My Blog
My Website
My Newsletter

And I’m on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maryconnealy

And Twitter: http://twitter.com/maryconnealy

Now let’s welcome the final author in this collection, Robin Lee Hatcher.

How did this collection come about?

We had so much fun brainstorming and writing the first collection, so it was very easy to slip into brainstorming mode for another conference call. Then one of us took the ideas and wrote up a proposal and sent it off to our editor.

Are these stories connected in some way?

Yes, which is why it is best for readers to get the entire collection (print or ebook) rather than just the individual ebook novellas. The collection opens at a pastors' convention, old west style, where one pastor is pondering his feelings for a certain woman back home, a woman he fears is unsuitable to be a pastor's wife. When he confesses the same to the other four pastors in his small prayer circle, they begin telling him stories about couples who God brought together but who seemed unlikely matches. This leads into the four novellas. The first pastor's story is wrapped up in an epilogue at the end of the book.

How does your story fit in with the others?

It is the pastors who tie the stories together.

Who chose the setting for this collection?

We each chose where we wanted to set our stories. I chose to set mine in western Wyoming.

What did you want the reader to take away from your story?

I want them to sigh with happiness at the romantic ending.

Readers want to get to know the authors they read. Can you tell us three things my readers probably don’t know about you?

I love to treat myself to a full-body massage on a regular basis. Helps the aches that come from all those hours at the computer.

I used to have naturally curly hair.

I got to be in the delivery room for the births of three of my grandchildren. Awesome!

Please give us the first page of your story.

A LOVE LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Dear Editor:


Do you think there are men in this world who can value a well-educated woman with a mind of her own and the courage to speak it? Is it possible for a man and a woman to have an equal partnership in marriage, seeing each other as God intended them to be? After thirty-five years on this earth, I have begun to doubt it.

Sincerely,

Wishful in Wyoming

                        *****

Killdeer, Wyoming, August 1879

Molly Everton flung open the door to her father’s office in the Killdeer Sentinel, not caring that it hit the wall with a loud crack. “Is it true, Father?”

Roland Everton looked up from the papers on his desk. “Is what true?”

“You know good and well what I mean. Have you hired someone else as editor of the paper?”

Her father removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. A familiar delaying tactic. She’d seen it many times in her thirty-five years.

Molly closed the door and then stepped closer to his desk, trying to check her temper. “It isn’t fair. You know it isn’t fair.”

“My dear, you should know by now that many things in life are not fair. Far from it.”

Where can my readers find you on the Internet?

Readers should visit my web site and blog at www.robinleehatcher. From there, they can find links to my accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, and Goodreads.

Thank you, Ladies, for sharing this new collection with us. As I prepared this post, your first pages took me back to each story, and I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting each one. 

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.

Four Weddings and A Kiss - Christianbook.com
Four Weddings and a Kiss: A Western Bride Collection - Amazon
Four Weddings and a Kiss: A Western Bride Collection - Kindle

Christian Book Store

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