THE RUNAWAY BRIDES COLLECTION - Vickie McDonough and others - One Free Book

Welcome back, Vickie? Do you speak at conferences and meetings? If so, what do you have coming up in 2019?

I don’t speak at conferences or meetings very often. I’m too much of an introvert.

If you were planning a women’s retreat, what would be the theme for it?

Finding peace in a hectic world.

Very good theme. Who would you want as speakers and why?

Liz Curtis Higgs. She’s the most encouraging and inspirational speaker I’ve heard. And she makes you laugh, too.

I’ve known Liz for as long as I’ve been on the Internet, and I’ve met her in person. She’s a dynamic speaker. Where would you hold the retreat and why?

Some place warm and near the water, like St. Pete’s Beach in Florida. I attended a conference in that area, and it’s such a beautiful, relaxing place.

Do you read print books or ebooks? Or a combination of the two?

I mostly read print books, but my mom recently died, and I inherited her Kindle, so I may be reading on it in the future.

That’s an interesting title. How did you come up with it?

Actually, my publisher came up with it. My Barbour editor put out a call for novellas for the The Runaway Brides Collection, and I submitted a proposal, which fortunately, she accepted.

So what is the book about?

Here is the premise of the The Runaway Brides Collection: What is a woman of the 1800s to do when she feels powerless to choose her own spouse and marry for love—run!

My novella is called A Day Late and A Dollar Short. Here’s what my story is about:

Callie Webster is fleeing one wedding and racing straight to another. The only way she knows to protect herself from marrying the awful man her guardian uncle insists on is to head west and become a mail-order bride.

I love the premise of your novella. Please give us the first page of the book.

Sandusky, Ohio

May 3rd, 1882

Callie Webster stood at her bedroom window looking at the choppy waters of Lake Erie. The gray skies mirrored her mood. She glanced down at the letter in her hand. Never had she thought that she’d choose to become a mail-order bride, but Uncle Roger had forced her hand.

 “Oh, Mama, you’d be so disappointed how things have turned out.”

She returned to her bed and folded her skirt and blouse then placed them in her satchel. Next, she took the picture of her parents with Callie and her sister when they were young, from her chest of drawers and laid it on top of her skirt. Then she folded her dark blue dress and put it on top of the picture, hoping to protect it during her travels.

           

She glanced around her bedroom, once a place of joy and comfort. But no more. She’d buried her loving parents just two months ago, and cold-hearted Uncle Roger had taken their place. And he had changed everything.

           

Closing her eyes, she relived her conversation with Uncle Roger at last night’s supper.

           

“I gave you a month to find a husband on your own, but since you’ve dragged your feet and chosen not to find one, I have arranged for you to marry my good friend, Otto Krenz. He’s willing to overlook the fact that you are destitute because of your comely looks.”

           

Callie sat stunned, unable to respond to his surprising command. Gathering her composure, she glanced around the opulent dining room. A beautiful Louis XVI table and chairs that seated twelve and two matching sideboards with lovely marquetry of walnut and kingwood filled the large room. Her European ancestors had brought the furniture with them when they emigrated to America. Expensive indigo-colored damask wallpaper she and her mother had selected adorned the walls.

           

Callie exhaled a quiet sigh. She was only destitute because Uncle Roger had taken everything her father had owned and claimed it as his. Bile rose in her throat.

           

If only her father had felt she could run his business and care for their lavish home on her own. Instead, she was being ordered to marry or leave with nothing. Either way, she was leaving her beloved family home. Fortunately, she had seen the writing on the wall and had made her own plans. She’d kept them a secret from her uncle for fear he would intervene.

           

Callie caught Evelyn’s eye. The servant quietly stood in the corner awaiting orders. The woman didn’t move a facial muscle, but Callie could read the disgust in her gaze. Evelyn despised Uncle Roger. Where her parents had been kind and generous, her uncle was a cruel, stingy ogre.

           

She folded the letter from her future husband and placed it in her handbag. She gazed out the window one more time. No matter where she ended up, she would always treasure her view of the lovely lake, even on a cloudy day.

           

A knock sounded at the door. “Come in.”

           

Evelyn stepped into the room, her eyes red and a handkerchief in her hand. “Jasper has the carriage out front, Miss Webster.”

           

“I’m as ready as I ever will be.” Tears blurred her eyes. She rushed forward and hugged the woman who’d been a part of her family as far back as she could remember. “If only I could take you with me. I will miss you so much.”

           

“We’ll all miss you terribly.” She dabbed her eyes. ”Please write and let us know you arrived safely.”

           

Callie stepped back. “I will.”

           

“Uncle Roger hasn’t returned, has he?”

           

“No, missy.” Evelyn took her satchel off the bed and carried it out the door. “I left an envelope for him on my chest of drawers. Perhaps you could put it on his dinner plate this evening?”

           

“It will be my pleasure.” The gleam in Evelyn’s dark eyes almost made Callie smile.

           

She breathed in a resolute breath and took one final look at her room then followed Evelyn down the stairs for the last time.

           

Outside, she entered the carriage and stared at the only home she’d ever known. Although tears blurred her final view as the carriage turned the corner, she would always remember the home she had enjoyed so much when her parents and sister were still alive.

           

Uncle Roger may have taken her home and everything she held dear, but he wouldn’t steal her future.

I love it! How can readers find you on the Internet?

Website: http://vickiemcdonough.com

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VickieMcDonough

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/vickie-mcdonough

Twitter: https://twitter.com/vickiemcdonough

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/vickiemcdonough  

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/VickieMcDonough/

Follow me on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Vickie-McDonough/e/B001JP4JE8/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1464450059&sr=8-2-ent

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/101317.Vickie_McDonough

Thank you, Vickie, for sharing this new book with us. I know my readers are as eager to read it as I am.

Readers, here are links to the book.

The Runaway Brides Collection - Christianbook.com
The Runaway Brides Collection: 7 Historical Brides Get Cold Feet at the Altar - Amazon paperback
The Runaway Brides Collection: 7 Historical Brides Get Cold Feet at the Altar - Kindle

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