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Monday, August 08, 2022

INVENTIONS OF THE HEART - Mary Connealy - One Free Book

Welcome back, Mary. Can you please provide a summary of your new novel, Inventions of the Heart? After their middle sister’s marriage, Michelle Stiles and her younger sister Jilly are left at Two Harts Ranch, owned by Zane Hart. So far they’ve managed to stay one step ahead of their stepfather and his devious plans.
Zane has his own problems, having discovered a gold mine on his property. How does he harvest it without kicking off a gold rush? Michelle, educated and trained to run her father’s business, wants to manage all aspects of the mine. Zane thinks for a smart woman she can have some misguided ideas. Running that mine will be dangerous, and he doesn’t want her exposed to what might occur out there.
But danger finds Michelle anyway when a man breaks into the house and attacks her. Able to fend him off and capture him, they realize he has ties to Michelle’s stepfather. If they go to the sheriff, they’ll reveal her location, but if they do nothing, their troubles have only just begun.

Your books are often described as “romantic comedies with cowboys.” What do you love about writing stories like this? I always say if they’re sassing each other and falling in love while they’re running for their lives, then I’m happy. That’s what I love to read, so that’s what I write.

What was the inspiration for your novel? I try really hard to challenge myself. A new location, a new character type. I always write strong women, that’s just a fundamental baseline. For this series, I wondered how could I make engineering work before women could easily go to college. How could I have intelligent, well-educated women in this time and place? And I’d never set a book in California before. So new occupation, new location, but always I need humor and action and cowboys. It’s just what I love doing. So marrying all these new details with my traditional romantic comedy with cowboys was a fun challenge.

How do you maintain the accuracy of the time period in your writing? This series took a lot of research, and Inventions of the Heart was especially loaded with it. 1872 was the heart of the industrial revolution. New and improved versions of everything were being patented and developed every day. The more I researched the more I discovered. And the heroine of Inventions of the Heart is the inventor of the three sisters. She’s a mechanical engineer before there was such a thing. And at its base, engineering is applied science. It’s taking science and finding ways to use it to make the world better. And that’s what Michelle is a specialist at.

What do you hope readers will gain from reading this novel? What I most loved about the book is these very ambitious, talented, brilliant women learn a humbling lesson about how their high-flying ideas have caused them not to fully respect simple domestic chores. Sure you can improve the braking system on a train car, but can you cook? It’s fine to be able to do “important” things as long as you have people taking care of your basic needs. Washing and mending your clothes, cooking your meals. But my very smart women, when in hiding and in need of survival skills, learn that some of the skills they really need haven’t been learned. But they do find ways to help, and they do it with respect and humility.

What was your inspiration for the events in Inventions of the Heart? The research for this book inspired a lot of it. A lot of my book ideas spring from research for other books. I read something that plants a seed, and I store it away until I can focus on it. The reading and research I did was so fascinating that sometimes it slowed down my writing. But I loved it. The internal combustion engine, also called the four-stroke cycle engine. Turning highly unstable nitroglycerin into safer dynamite. The train had just gone transcontinental with trestles built across gorges. The holes they blasted in the sides of mountains to get a train tunnel through are such huge undertakings, and yet they figured it out. Oh, it was just pure fun. I love research and so many ideas spring to life from that.

What was your draw to write a business-savvy female character when women did not usually have that type of position in this time period? I have this theory that though history hasn’t properly recorded women’s roles, they were still very smart and contributed in many huge ways. For example, the patents during this time have hundreds of women listed. Women were right in there inventing and experimenting and getting legal patents. For some reason, probably because it just wasn’t done due to the male-dominated history of that time, those women just weren’t held up with the same regard as the men who were changing the world. I love bringing things that have been forgotten by history to my stories.

Are readers always promised a “happily ever after” in your novels? Why or why not? Readers are always, absolutely guaranteed a happy ending. I have readers who have expectations of my work and not to meet those expectations is, in my opinion, a betrayal to the reader. If a romance novelist isn’t going to give me happily ever after, you’d better warn me, or I’m going to be mad. I don’t want any readers mad. But honestly, I do it for myself, too. What’s the point in writing something that’s a bummer? Sure writers create angsty books, and I respect the skill, but isn’t life hard enough? Why would I want to write a book about that?

Where can our audience go to connect with you? They can find me online on Facebook and MaryConnealy.com. Or readers can get new release info straight to their inbox by Liking my Amazon Page or following me on Bookbub.

Find Inventions of the Heart online at:

Amazon https://tinyurl.com/2p8dh8eu

Baker Book House Inventions of the Heart - Baker Book House

Thank You for sharing this book with my blog readers and me. You know how much I love your books.

Readers, 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.)

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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 2 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

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10 comments:

  1. Inventions of the Heart sounds captivating, fascinating and wonderful. The story interests me greatly and is compelling. Anne in NM.

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  2. Ooh, I have the first one in this series. I’d love to get this one as well!
    Elly -Indiana-

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  3. I came across Mary Connealy's book by accident. I was searching for a book, and The Unexpected Champion came as recommended that I would also like. So I bought the High Sierra Sweethearts series because The Unexpected Champion is part three, and I fell in love with the series. I recommend it. It's a must read for those who have not read it yet. Also, The Element of Love, which is the book before Inventions of the Heart is an amazing book. It's also a must read.

    This is Billi from Texas.
    My Blog: toeverybookthereisaseason.wordpress.com

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  4. I love Mary's books, and it was an honor for me to meet her, at the CFRR in Maryland!
    Abigail in VA

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  5. A business savvy historical female sounds fascinating. Thank you for the chance. Blessings from Lucy in WV.

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  6. Sounds interesting and I really enjoy Mary's books. Thank you for the chance to win a copy of this book.

    Wendy in Nebraska

    wfnren at aol dot com

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  7. Hi everyone. this series of books was really just so fun to write. I re-read my interview answers and can think of so much more to say. I suppose when I answered I felt like I'd gone on long enough so I will mostly stick to that. :)
    But the inventions of the industrial revolution are just so fascinating.
    Someone theorized the four stroke cycle engine ten years before it was really invented.
    I've been to the Union Pacific Museum in Council Bluffs, Iowa and the pictures of the tracks stretching across gorges. The holes blasted through the mountains. Its just...humbling, honestly, to imagine someone with the skill to figure that out

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  8. Bill, I went to your site and saw a review for one of my books there. THANK YOU!

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  9. Anonymous3:02 PM

    I always enjoy Mary’s books and this sounds like a series I would enjoy reading.
    marypopmom (at) yahoo (dot) com
    Maryann in New York

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  10. Sharon Bryant9:26 PM

    Enter me in your awesome giveaway!!
    Nichols SC.

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