A BRIDE AT LAST - Melissa Jagears - One Free Book, Plus Much More

Dear Readers, the storyline for A Bride at Last really interested me, so I read the book as soon as I received it. And I’m glad I did. It’s a really different twist on a mail-order-bride story. I loved the characters, and many of the plot twists were total surprises to me. You won’t want to miss this book.

Bio: Much to her introverted self’s delight, Melissa Jagears hardly needs to leave her home to be a homeschool teacher, day-care provider, church financial secretary, and historical romance novelist. She doesn’t have to leave her house to be a housekeeper either, but she’s doubtful she meets the minimum qualifications to claim to be one in her official bio. Her passion is to help Christian believers mature in their faith and judge rightly. Find her online at www.melissajagears.com, Facebook, Pinterest, and Goodreads.

Welcome back, Melissa. Why do you write the kind of books you do?

They’re my favorite genre to read. And since I’m going to be plotting, writing, revising, rewriting, fixing, and editing it along with reading and rereading it over countless times, I’m sure glad I like this genre!

Besides when you came to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life?

I’m going to skip the wedding and children’s birthdays since those are the other answers to be expected. So besides those?......Maybe the day I arrived back in the US after being in China for a month. A friend of mine’s parents picked me up from the airport and asked where I’d like to eat. I said “Anywhere that I can get milk, strawberries, and sugar!” So we went to Cracker Barrel I think, and I had pancakes topped with strawberries and whipping cream and downed two glasses of milk. Then when we arrived at their house because they’d been nice enough to keep my car, I took off my shoes and stood on the grass in their lawn. I never thought I’d miss the feeling of grass. (You’re not allowed to walk on the little patches of grass in big Chinese cities otherwise there wouldn’t be any basically with the amount of people who walk everywhere.) I got yelled at twice for stepping on grass in China and I just reveled in the grass between my toes when I got back!

How has being published changed your life?

It’s busier, so so much busier.

What are you reading right now?

Nothing. I’m at the very end of a revision of a novel, and I like to procrastinate with reading, so I’m denying myself books so I can finish my own. (Because really, how can you read just one chapter???? Though I do allow myself to read non-fiction while in writing mode. I can read that one chapter a day. I’m currently reading Is God a Moral Monster? By Paul Copan. It’s really good.)

What is your current work in progress?

It just got a title! A Heart Most Certain is the first full length book in my new series. Will come out next summer I believe.

Be sure to schedule an interview on this blog when you know the release date. I know my readers will be interested in it. What would be your dream vacation?

On a deserted island with my husband and a stack of books.

How do you choose your settings for each book?

The first series was determined by where there happened to be a train in Kansas in the time period I wanted to write in. I chose Kansas because that’s where I live. The next series was determined by a local historical landmark.

If you could spend an evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why?

Only one? I’d rather gather a bunch of theological intellectuals and just sit quietly and listen to them discuss over dinner....But one? My critique partner Naomi Rawlings. She lives so far away from me, we’ve only met once, but I talk to her almost every day. It’d be wonderful to spend a day with her.

What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?

Um, before kids I had hobbies! They were crocheting and doing frugal projects.

What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?

Every day as I write and edit, I think my stories are terrible and I should just quit. I force myself to continue trusting in the process. I’ve done it before; I can do it again.

What advice would you give to a beginning author?

Find critical critique partners. If the critical readers you have tell you it’s wonderful, only nitpick things like “I think you really meant crimson instead of scarlet” or give you advice that makes you think “did they read MY story or are they just telling me how they’d write it,” find someone else. Keep looking until you get critiques like this: “In summary [for this chapter], I’m not really sure how to justify this last turn of events, but however you do it, IMO, you need more setup and give the reader clear reasonable motivation, and more of his interior monologue to explicate his reasoning.” (And that is word for word what I just got from a critique partner of mine that will require a complete rewrite. If my partners are advising me to rewrite something completely, then as a beginner, you should expect such things too!)

Tell us about the featured book.

Abandoned by his mail-order bride, Silas Jonesey has fought an uphill battle to recover from a pattern of poor choices. Now his prayers for reconciliation have finally come true and his estranged wife has contacted him with her whereabouts.

Kate Dawson was supposed to be a mail-order bride, but upon realizing she'd been deceived about her intended groom, she's now settled into life as a schoolteacher. When the mother of a student passes away, Kate assumes she'll take on care of nine-year-old Anthony—until two men suddenly show up in town, claiming to be the boy's father.

Silas can see Anthony loves Kate, so he enlists her help in reaching out to the boy and attempting to prove his paternity to the court. When a common interest in Anthony leads to an interest in each other and Silas and Kate begin to think they can overcome their rocky start, neither is prepared for the secrets and past hurts that have yet to come to light. Can Silas, Kate, and Anthony's wounded souls bind them together or will all that stands between them leave them lonely forever?

Please give us the first page of the book for my blog readers.

Missouri, September 1885

At the sound of running footsteps, Kate Dawson glanced up from dumping mop water in the brick alleyway outside the school building, Anthony Riverton skidded to a halt in front of her, his little chest heaving as he drew in gulps of air.

“Why weren’t you in school today?” She frowned at his tattered clothing. She needed to find him a decent coat before winter.

“Mother’s dying.” Dread strangled his words. “Tonight. I just know it.”

A lump pushed against Kate’s high collar. “She seemed better yesterday.” Lucinda didn’t have many days left, but Kate wasn’t ready for her to leave yet—wasn’t ready to assume responsibility for this boy all on her own. She hadn’t saved enough money, hadn’t figured out where they would live . . .

“She coughed so much last night I couldn’t sleep, and this morning she begged me not to leave.” The nine-year-old swallowed hard, but his eyes were dry. “Said she’d be the one going. I thought she meant back to the laundry.” His ragged voice barely registered. “And she’s mumbling things about Pa.”

Kate’s breath stopped. “Your pa?”

The boy’s huge Adam’s apple slunk down his throat. “Said he’s coming.”

She shook her head vehemently. “No.”

“Said she wrote him.”

“Wrote him? Whatever for?”

How can readers find you on the Internet?

The easiest way is to go to my website www.melissajagears.com and look for links to my social media presence at your favorite places. (Though I will admit I barely touch Twitter!)

Can Silas and Kate overcome their rocky start and experience healing—and possibly love? Discover the answer in Melissa Jagears' new book, A Bride at Last. Neither Kate nor Silas is prepared for the secrets and past hurts that have yet to come to light as they attempt to prove nine-year-old Anthony's paternity to the court. Can their wounded souls bind them together or will all that stands between them leave them lonely forever?

Celebrate the release of A Bride at Last by entering to win a $100 Memory-Making giveaway and RSVPing to Melissa's August 4th author chat party!

 

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A $100 gift card to Netflix (for a family movie night), Shutterfly (to create a family memory book), or TablePlayGames (for a family game night)
• One copy of A Bride at Last

Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on 8/4. The winner will be announced at Melissa's 8/4 A Bride at Last Facebook author chat party. RSVP for a chance to connect with Melissa and fiction fans, as well as for a chance to win some great prizes!

RSVP today and spread the word—tell your friends about the giveaway via FACEBOOK, TWITTER, or PINTEREST and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 4th!

Thank you, Melissa, for sharing this new book with us. I know my blog readers will love it as much as I do.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
A Bride at Last - Christianbook.com
A Bride at Last - Amazon
A Bride at Last (Unexpected Brides Book #3) - kindle

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book from this blog. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (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, Google+, 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

A BRIDE FOR KEEPS - Melissa Jagears - One Free Book on This Blog, Plus Another Free Book for All

Here's another new author. Welcome, Melissa. Tell us how much of yourself you write into your characters.

None are a perfect reflection of me, but a lot of my characters get something from me, even if they’re my total opposite. Kind of like my children, my daughter looks a bit like me, but sometimes I wonder where she got everything else!

What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?

I think that would be showing off my Velociraptor impression to my college dorm mates. It requires jumping on furniture, and I like to stand on furniture for some reason. I’m part Billy goat.

When did you first discover that you were a writer?

I didn’t grow up writing novels with crayons or anything, but I just had this innate sense that I could do it, not that I ever did. I threw my ideas in a box and that was that. Then when I became a stay-at-home mom and left behind the academic exercise of school and work I was desperate to exercise my mind. So I pulled out the box…

Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading.

I’m rather cliquish with my reading choices. As a kid, nothing was better than Nancy Drew, so that’s all I read. Once I was ahead of the Nancy Drew Publishing Mill, having to wait a month or so for the next to come out—I quit reading, because nothing could be better than those, right? But now I read Fiction genres: Christian Historical Romance, Historical Young Adult, and Classics and for Non-Fiction: Religion, History, Parenting, and Education Topics. However, I’ll read anything outside of those genres that have garnered serious word-of-mouth recommendations.

How do you keep your sanity in our run, run, run world?

When life turns hectic, I take the time to reconsider what I’m doing and deciding if this really matters? And if the answer is no, I drop it. I’ve dropped a lot of things, no TV, hardly eating out, the desire to have a nicer home, my kid’s have limited extracurricular activities, I have limited extracurricular activities, etc. Rather, I just want to focus on what is best in life for my family, and that’s time together at home doing things we love and things that are important—attempting to ignore the pressure of the western world to do more and have more.

How do you choose your characters’ names?

Some just pop in my head. The others … I look at what letters of the alphabet I haven’t used to name other characters and see if I can pull something up that fits. If all else fails, I flip through a baby name book. I just go by feel.

What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?

Somehow convincing my husband to marry me … I’m a rather strange, uncommunicative, introverted, and unromantic girl.

If you were an animal, which one would you be, and why?

A cat, so I could sleep all day and come out to play only when I felt like it. And everyone waits on me because I deserve it. I’d love to be that selfish and not feel bad about it!

What is your favorite food?

Sugary Pastries

What is the problem with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?

Fear of Failure. Turning things over for others to criticize. How do I overcome it? Sheer willpower.

Tell us about the featured book.

A Bride for Keeps is the first novel in the Unexpected Brides Series.

Although Everett Cline can hardly keep up with the demands of his homestead, he won't humiliate himself by looking for a helpmate ever again—not after being jilted by three mail-order brides. When a well-meaning neighbor goes behind his back to bring yet another mail-order bride to town, he has good reason to doubt it will work, especially after getting a glimpse at the woman in question. She's the prettiest woman he's ever seen, and it's just not possible she's there to marry a simple homesteader like him.

Julia Lockwood has never been anything more than a pretty pawn for her father or a business acquisition for her former fiancé. Having finally worked up the courage to leave her life in Massachusetts, she's determined to find a place where people will value her for more than her looks. Having run out of all other options, Julia resorts to a mail-order marriage in far away Kansas.

Everett is skeptical a cultured woman like Julia could be happy in a life on the plains, while Julia, deeply wounded by a past relationship, is skittish at the idea of marriage at all. When, despite their hesitations, they agree to a marriage in name only, neither one is prepared for the feelings that soon arise to complicate their arrangement. Can two people accustomed to keeping their distance let the barricades around their hearts down long enough to fall in love?

The prequel enovella, Love by the Letter, is a free download at any bookstore offering ebooks.

Love by the Letter (An Unexpected Brides Novella) - Kindle

I love mail-order bride stories. Please give us the first page of the book.

Kansas

Spring 1876

Everett Cline loosened his grip on the mercantile’s doorknob and let the door shut behind him. Kathleen Hampden waddled straight toward him, the white feathers in her hat dancing like bluestem grass in the late March breeze. In the three years she’d been married to the store’s owner instead of him, couldn’t she have bought a new hat?

He hadn’t talked to her alone since the day she arrived in Salt Flatts with those identifying white feathers he’d been told to expect, but he hadn’t anticipated her being married to Carl before she stepped off the train. Why hadn’t she thrown her hat out a passenger car window and pretended she’d never been his mail-order bride?

“Afternoon, ma’am. Is your husband around?”

He glanced behind the long glossy counter cluttered with candy jars and sundry items and saw that the door to the empty back room stood ajar. The two overflowing shelves that cut the store into thirds kept him from being able to see into every corner. The fabric table was a jumbled mess, and a few potatoes lay on the floor in the corner, escaped from their bin. Were they the only ones in the store?

Mrs. Hampden stopped three feet from him, the tang of the wood polish on her rag warring with the leather and tobacco smell permeating the room. She was such a tiny thing, even large with child. Perhaps it was a good thing she married Carl. If she worked outside as Everett did every day, the wind would have blown her away sooner or later.

“Mr. Hampden’s away on business, otherwise he’d have rushed out at the bell. Especially since it’s you.” Her cheeks pinked.

Carl needn’t worry about him. Stealing someone’s mail-order bride was different than stealing someone’s wife.

Everett fidgeted. “He has no reason to be concerned.”

“I know.” She rubbed her swollen stomach. “But he’s still worried your good looks might make me wish I’d chosen differently.”

The skin under his collar grew warm, and he pulled at the strangling fabric. He might be a decent-looking sort of man, but a lot of good that did him.

“I hope you have better luck today than you did with me, and you know ... the others.” She bit her lip. “I’m sure this time it will be for keeps.”

He swallowed hard and eyed her. What was she talking about? Surely another rumor about him ordering a bride again wasn’t circulating. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“It’s all right. Rachel told me.” Her voice was hushed, as if someone might hear.

He leaned down and whispered back. “Told you what?”

“About the lady coming on the afternoon train. She said you’d need prayer.”

I know I’ll love this one. How can readers find you on the Internet?

Website: www.melissajagears.com

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

Inspirational Historical Fiction Index: http://inspirationalhistoricalfiction.blogspot.com/

Thank you, Melissa, for sharing your new book with us.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
A Bride for Keeps - Christianbook.com
Bride for Keeps, A: A novel  - Amazon.com
Bride for Keeps, A (Unexpected Brides Book #1): A novel - Kindle

Christian Book Store

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (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 Google +, Feedblitz, Facebook, 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