GEORGIA ANN, ENGLISH ROSE - Elva Cobb Martin - One Free Book

Author Bio: Elva Cobb Martin is a wife, mother, and grandmother who lives in South Carolina with her husband and a mini-dachshund. A life-long student of history, her favorite city, Charleston, inspires her stories of romance and adventure. Her love of writing grew out of a desire to share exciting stories of courageous characters and communicate truths of the Christian faith to bring hope and encouragement. 

Welcome, Elva. Why do you write the kind of books you do? I write colonial Christian historical romance because I love this period about the beginning of our great nation and God’s definite help in founding it. My love of writing grew out of a desire to share exciting stories of courageous characters and communicate truths of the Christian faith to bring hope and encouragement.

 

Besides when you came to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life? Here are three “happy days:”  a) the birth of our son, b) the birth of our grandson and c) the day I received a publishing contract for my first novel, Summer of Deception.

 

How has being published changed your life? Being published has given me satisfaction and more discipline to plan and write, and to help other writers.

 

What are you reading right now? Lily’s Dilemma (series My Heart Belongs in the Shenandoah Valley by Andrea Boeshaar), Maria by Eugenia Price, The Baron’s Apprenticeship by George McDonald, An Echo in the Darkness by Francine Rivers (Audio while exercising).

 

I almost always have 2 books going. One on my Kindle, which I carry in my purse, the other a print book I read at home. What is your current work in progress? Book 3 in my Charleston Brides series, Anna Grace, Patriot Rose, set in the American Revolution is my current work and in its final stages.

 

What would be your dream vacation? Touring the historical sites of England and Europe has been a dream of mine for years.

 

How do you choose your settings for each book? So far I’ve chosen Charleston, South Carolina, my favorite city, for all my novels’ main setting. Within that setting, I love rice plantations and sailing with privateers and pirates on the high seas and visiting various islands.                                    

 

If you could spend an evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why? Vice President Pence. He has a great Christian testimony and seems like such a likeable, calm, wise person, and convincing assistant for our spirited President Trump.

 

I agree. What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading? My hobbies, when I can tear myself away from the computer and writing, are gardening and baking. I also like to crochet.

 

What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it? Show don’t tell and Deep Point Of View are still constantly on my study list in order to stay strong. Here’s a link to a blog series I wrote on this (keep clicking at bottom of each blog for the “Newer Post” to get the entire series: http://bit.ly/2J2Tnek)   

 

What advice would you give to a beginning author? My paramount advice is to keep studying and writing and “Never Give Up!” My first novel was contracted thirty years after I wrote the first draft. I have an encouraging blog series and advice to beginning writers: “My Journey to a Book Contract.” Here’s a link: https://bit.ly/3d4W1xf

 

Tell us about the featured book. Georgia Ann, English Rose, is Book 2 in my Charleston Brides series. The hero, Samuel Valentin Vargas, is the grown up, privateer son of Book 1’s heroine, Marisol, Spanish Rose. Here is a blurb of Georgia Ann and Samuel’s story:

 

The lure of the legendary Spice Trail beckons, but he may never find a spice more precious than the treasure he left in Charles Town.

 

Two Charles Town men love Georgia Ann Cooper—Samuel Vargas and his step-brother, Joshua Becket—but only one both intrigues and infuriates her. Even though he’s a dangerous budding patriot and a privateer—or more likely pirate—Samuel fills her dreams and waking moments. When he leaves Charles Town for high sea adventure on the legendary Spice Trail, she determines to push him out of her thoughts and her graces. A task made easier when she sets out on her own journey to England on one of her father’s merchant ships.

 

Samuel Vargas is determined to make his own way in the world, not live in the glow of his parents’ escapades in Charles Town and the Spanish Main. There’s no better place to earn his fortune than the Spice Trail and along the Barbary Coast of the Mediterranean. But the adventure becomes more than he bargained for when, at Tripoli, he stumbles across a familiar face from Charles Town in a sultan's dungeon. He’s forced to use all his abilities to save the life of the woman he’s been trying to forget.

 

As their paths intertwine on a journey filled with Barbary pirates, intrigue, and romance, only love and the grace of God can overcome the past and ignite a new beginning for Georgia Ann and Samuel.

 

Please give us the first page of the book.

Charles Town 1760 

Georgia Ann Cooper stood on the Charles Town dock in the early morning light and blinked back tears. She clutched the ruffled brim of her white hat to keep it from blowing away, and drank in the handsome figure of Samuel Vargas as he spoke to his step-brother Joshua. Samuel’s newly outfitted brigantine, the Eagle, bobbed in the Atlantic behind them with its fresh paint and rigging. 

She and her father had come with Samuel’s family to bid him Godspeed on his coming voyage to the Spice Islands in the East Indies. 

A venture she had tried her best to discourage. 

Joshua clapped Samuel on the shoulder and laughed. “Brother, if you get arrested for piracy, I’ll do my lawyer best to keep you from hanging.” 

Georgia frowned. Not a possibility she wanted to consider. 

Samuel shrugged and moved on to his mother and Reverend Ethan Becket, his stepfather. 

Marisol Becket took one of his large hands in hers and pressed it to her cheek. She looked up into his animated face. “Son, you will be careful? Not take unnecessary risks?” 

He bent down and hugged her. “You know I will, Mother. And I’ll bring back spices for you and Mrs. Piper like you’ve never seen.” He kissed her cheek, and then looked back at Joshua with a smile. “And I won’t be needing any lawyers to get me out of trouble, either.” 

Rev. Becket cleared his throat. “Samuel, I never dreamed letting you spend so much time on the Dryade with Tim Cullen these past years would go this far, definitely not to the far reaches of the of the globe.” He grinned and gave Samuel a hug, and then shook his hand. “Our prayers will go up daily for your safety and success. Write when you can.”

 

How can readers find you on the Internet? A great way to connect and sign up for my newsletter is through my web site at http://www.elvamartin.com. Readers can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and my blog at http://carolinaromancewithelvamartin.blogspot.com

Other Author Links:

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/elva-cobb-martin

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/elvacobbmartin

Twitter: http://twitter.com/ElvaCobbMartin

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/elvacobbmartin

 

Thank you, Elva, for sharing this book with us. I’m eager to read it. I know my blog readers will be, too.

Readers, here are links to the book.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087YV77P2

https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1511268318

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/georgia-ann-english-rose

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/georgia-ann-english-rose-elva-cobb-martin/1136959840?ean=2940163950706

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link:

Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com