A 19TH CENTURY LADY'S HAIR By Annee Jones

 

A 19^TH CENTURY LADY’S HAIR

By Annee Jones

          While writing my second novel for the Old Timey Holiday Kitchen series, Pumpkin Pie by Patience, releasing on September 27, I grew curious about how women wore and maintained their hair in the late 19^th century.  The main character, Patience Sutton, has thick and curly hair in a striking shade of red.  Like women of today, I’m sure many blessed with such rare tresses during the Victorian era enjoyed the attention they received, while others in a similar position may have longed for a greener grass of blending in with the crowd.

          According to the author of Hairstyles, 1840-1900, Maureen A. Taylor, most women of this period wore hairpieces.  It could be something as simple as a comb with hair added to it to achieve the desired look of volume, or it could be a complete wig.  Curling irons were also very popular, both for men as well as women.  Hair dye was commonly available in the 1800s.  A person could get their hands on a wide variety of such accoutrements by mail-order if they couldn’t find what they needed at their local store, much as we shop on-line today when we’re unable to locate a particular item or physically travel to a retailer.

          Women in the late 19^th century typically brushed their hair about 100 times per day – but didn’t wash it more than once per month.  Did you know there was no such thing as shampoo until the latter part of the 1800s? 

          It was said that “a woman’s crowning glory was her hair” – thus, women strove to grow their hair as long as they possibly could.  

However, it was considered immoral for a female to wear her hair down in public.   

Thus, elaborate up-do’s were very popular, and married ladies strove to “protect” their locks from view by members of the opposite sex other than their husbands by wearing hats and other types of head coverings.  

          Unfortunately, poor women often had resorted to cutting and selling their hair to meet the demand of the upper class for false hairpieces. 

          My research on this topic gave me pause to reflect on my own ideas of beauty and the roles time and culture play in our limited (and often-skewed perspectives).  I hope it helps you do the same. 

About Me:

Annee Jones is an inspirational romance novelist who enjoys sharing her heart and imagination with others.  She is passionate about writing stories that offer hope and encouragement and likes to think of her books as “romance filled with faith and a sprinkle of fairy dust!”

Professionally, Annee works as a disability counselor where she helps her clients navigate through complex medical and legal systems while rediscovering their wholeness in Spirit.

Annee also enjoys professional freelance writing for Publishers Weekly in the genres of faith-based fiction and Christian living.  

Connect with Annee here:

www.anneejones.com

https://www.facebook.com/groups/anneesangelgroup

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAnneeJones

Available Now: 

RELEASING September 27, 2021:

Sources:

https://maureentaylor.com/learn/hairstyles-of-the-1800s/

https://dustyoldthing.com/victorian-women-long-hair/

 

 

Boston, Colorado

 Post by Doris McCraw

writing as Angela Raines

There were actually two 'Boston' Colorados. One was the name of a company that had mining concerns in the mountains. The second was a town in the Southeast part of the state. It was the one near Lamar, Colorado that sparked an idea for a story way back in 2015. Below is a news clipping about the town that caught my eye. 

Boston Colorado.

And a second article I found that same year.

Badman killed in Boston, Colorado

It was these clippings and other stories that eventually became the seed of the story "Chasing A Chance" My 'what-if'? What would a man do if he found his first love was in that town and possibly in danger. The story began to take shape. 

Below is a short excerpt:

"Chet, where did you see her? Why would I need to help her?" Edwin knew he'd frightened Chet,

but the mention of Mary brought back so many memories, memories he'd kept safe. Now, he couldn't let Chet go without finding out where Mary was. He had to admit, he'd never stopped loving her.
 

 

Amazon

Until next time, happy writing. As for me, I'll be combing those old newspapers for the little tidbits that fascinate me so much. Who knows?

Doris Gardner-McCraw -

Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in
Colorado and Women's History

Angela Raines - author: Telling Stories Where Love & History Meet

Books: Angela Raines Books

Website: Angela Raines - author

Angela Raines FaceBook: Click Here

Gambling, Gunfighting and Celebrating The Life of Doc Holliday - by Kimberly Grist

It’s Almost Fall, Y'all, and where I’m from, it’s the time of year we celebrate the birth of a notorious gambler and gunfighter, who’s also a dentist. Surprisingly, I work only a block away from the location of his former dental practice.

Doc Holliday is well known for his participation along with Wyatt Earp in the O.K. Corral gunfight in 1881. The battle itself lasted less than a minute. After almost 140 years, what do we still find so intriguing about the man? Multiple movies retell the story of lawman Wyatt Earp. But strangely, the character we’re most drawn to is a sickly dentist turned gambler and gunman known as Doc.

Pictured left Doc Holliday with Wyatt Earp and his brothers.

Perhaps the complexity of his character is the reason for his lingering appeal. His vibrant personality is rooted in contrast. Doc is critically ill but bold and gallant. He’s a deadly gunslinger and gambler, yet smart, educated, flashy, witty, compassionate, and loyal. Stir in a bit of vulnerability, a touch of vanity, and don’t forget a healthy dose of gallant southern charm to describe this critically ill man.

Born with a cleft palate on August 14, 1851, John. Henry Holliday was fed by his mother with an eyedropper and a spoon.

The baby’s uncle, Dr. John Stiles Holliday, performed surgery, assisted by Dr. Crawford Long, the namesake of the Emory Hospital in Atlanta. The operation may have been the first time in history in which ether was used on an infant. He was schooled at home by his mother, who spent years training him to conquer his speech impediment. She also instilled in him Southern etiquettes, which would forever be part of his demeanor.

Two actors who played Doc Holliday, Stacy Keach, and Jason Robards were also born with the same condition.

Jason Robards played Doc in Hour of the Gun in 1967. 

In 1864, his family moved to Valdosta, Georgia, where his mother suffered from consumption, now known as tuberculosis, and died when he was fifteen. Three months after his mother’s death, his father remarried.

 John Henry Holliday, age ten.

Holliday attended Valdosta Institute, where he received a classical education, and in 1870, nineteen-year-old Holliday left home to attend the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery. He graduated five months before his twenty-first birthday. He returned to Griffin, Georgia, in 1872 to practice dentistry. 

John Henry was soon diagnosed with consumption and, in 1873, ended his career as a dentist. Some say he didn’t want his family to see him deteriorate and die from the disease. Others suggest he went west in hopes that the climate would be beneficial to his lungs. Regardless, Doc took the train to the literal end of the railroad line—Dallas, Texas.

Holliday understood the gravity of his disease and most likely considered himself a walking dead man. Though a realist, he remained hopeful for a cure. Doc found comfort in whiskey and gambling.

Texas was full of guns, knives, and violent men, some of whom were suffering from post-traumatic stress from the effects of war. Doc reinvented himself—from a southern gentleman dentist to a dangerous gunman who’d killed more than a dozen men in various altercations.

Holliday traveled from town to town, following the money and gaining a reputation as both a gambler and a gunman. In 1877, Doc was involved in an argument, but he used his walking stick instead of going for his gun. His serious wounds, compounded by worsening tuberculosis, spurred a change of scenery. His next stop was Fort Griffin, where he met Wyatt Earp, who ultimately saved his life.

Earp and Holliday became fast friends. Eventually, Doc would join Earp in the wild boomtown of Tombstone, Arizona. Due to recent silver strikes, the town was flooded with merchants and cash but short on law and order. By the end of 1880, Tombstone was embedded with organized rustlers and thieves called the Cowboys. 

Val Kilmer as Doc alongside Sam Elliott, Kurt Russell, and Bill Paxton as Virgil, Wyatt and
Morgan Earp in 1993.

 On October 26, 1881, Tombstone City Marshal Virgil Earp deputized Holliday. Virgil asked Doc to carry his shotgun under his coat, and the four strode down the middle of the street to meet and disarm five members of the Cowboys near the O.K. Corral, which resulted in a thirty-second shootout.

The famous line quoted by Doc at the end of the fight was reported in the Tombstone papers. When confronted by one of the Cowboys at point-blank range, "I got you now Doc...., to which Doc retorted, "Blaze away! You're a daisy if you do!"

This past weekend my family and I attended the Doc Holliday Festival in his birthplace of Griffin, Georgia and we were fortunate to watch a reenactment of the famous shootout of the OK Corral put on by Aces & Eights. https://www.facebook.com/acesandeightshistory/

Both historically accurate and entertaining, the villains and heroes alike were gracious with their time. I was especially grateful for the extra attention they gave to my adult son, who has special needs. 

Jonathan Keeney and the town of Stone House

 

Captain Jonathan Keeney was a mountain man with Jim Bridger, a wagon scout, a pioneer of the Oregon Trail and Barlow Road, a settler, a miner, a soldier, and an inn and ferry owner.

Jonathan was born in Indiana on April 27, 1813, a son of John Jr. and Mary Ramsey Buckhalter Keeney. The family moved to Ray County, Missouri, where Jonathan grew into early manhood. He reportedly had a "roving disposition" and a yearning to explore.

Jonathan left Missouri at the ripe old age of 19 to explore the Rocky Mountains with a company of men. Shortly after the adventure, he joined Jim Bridger of the American Fur Company and traveled throughout the west trapping and trading. 

Reportedly, he returned to Missouri in 1835 and again in 1837 to marry Mary Shoemaker. In 1846, he returned to Missouri and packed up his family. Together, they headed across the plains and he served as a guide to the wagons accompanying them. 

Jonathan Keeney led the life of an adventurous pioneer. In 1831, at the age of 19, he left Missouri to explore the Rocky Mountains with a company of men. Shortly after, he joined Jim Bridger of the American Fur Company and traveled throughout the west trapping and trading. 

He led one of the first wagon trains across what would become the Oregon Trail. Jonathan earned the title of Captain during the Oregon Indian Wars. In 1846, after returning to Missouri, Keeney took his family and headed across the plains, serving as a guide to the wagons which accompanied them. 

In 1851, he reportedly brought a wagon train and 300 head of cattle to the Willamette Valley in Oregon, losing 80 head along the way primarily to theft by Indians. After driving cattle to the gold mines in California and doing some gold mining for himself, he returned to an area on what is now on the Oregon and Idaho border in southeastern Oregon. 

In 1863, he established the first ferry at Fort Boise on the Snake River then went on to build a small willow and adobe cabin near the hot springs on the Malheur River, which became the first building in present day Vale. This little community offered weary travelers access to fresh water with the river, as well as hot springs where many of them bathed, washed their clothes, and rested before continuing on with their journey.

That little cabin on the south side of the river served as a wayside inn for the pioneers passing along the Oregon Trail from 1863 to 1870. One of Jonathan's sons, James, ran a tavern in one of the rooms. 

In 1870, Lewis B. Rinehart purchased Jonathan's holdings and built a two-story sandstone house where the cabin once stood. The Stone House became a focal point in the region as travelers stopped to rest there. A stage coach office was there, as well as the office for the ferry that hauled wagons across the Malheur River.  Today, the Stone House still stands, and is the second oldest building remaining in Malheur County. Open as a museum, visitors can explore the rooms and envision what it might have been like to cross nearly twenty miles of nothing but rolling hills and sagebrush to find a two-story home greeting them yards beyond the bank of the river.  Many referred to the growing settlement by the name Stone House, Malheur Crossing, or Rinehart's Crossing.

Always looking for his next adventure, Jonathan  also established the first homestead in the area near Dell, now known as Jamieson, about twenty miles from Vale. After delivering cattle from his homestead to gold miners in Mormon Basin, he accidentally shot himself and is buried in the Dell Cemetery above his homestead. The gold he brought back in payment for his cattle from the miners in Mormon Basin has never been found. A later owner of the Keeney Homestead in Jamieson was the noted J.R. Simplot. who went on to build an agriculture products empire.

Because of Keeney's contributions to the settling of Oregon and this little corner of the state, visitors to Vale can go just a few miles out of town to the Keeney Pass Interpretive Site. Located directly on the ruts of the Oregon Trail, the interpretive center gives a clear glance into what pioneers might have seen when they crossed the dry, desert are dotted with sagebrush. The landscape has remained largely unchanged since the days when hundreds of wagons crossed the rolling hills. Managed by the Bureau of Land Management as an interpretive site, it offers a 2/3-mile round-trip hike along a section of the original Oregon Trail and visible wagon ruts near an interpretive shelter. Wayside exhibits tell the stories of the overland experience and the native peoples of the area. Please stay on the path in order to protect the historic wagon ruts.

The town of Vale also has many murals painted on buildings. One of them is dedicated to Jonathan Keeney.

In my soon-to-release sweet historical romance book, the three stories are set in the town of Rinehart's Crossing, one of the many names Vale was once known by.

Life on the Oregon Trail will never be the same . . .

Tenner King is determined to make his own way in the world far from the overbearing presence of his father and the ranch where he was raised in Rinehart’s Crossing, Oregon. Reluctantly, he returns home after his father’s death to find the ranch on its way to ruin, his siblings antsy to leave, and the women in town completely infatuated with a mysterious poet. Prepared to do whatever is necessary to save the ranch, Tenner isn’t about to let a little thing like love get in his way.

♥ Austen – After spending her entire life ruled by her father, Austen Rose King certainly isn’t going to allow her bossy older brother to take on the job. Desperate to leave the hard work and solitude of the Diamond K Ranch, she decides a husband would be the fastest means of escape. If only she could find a man she could tolerate for more than five minutes.

♥ Claire – Two thousand miles of travel. Two thousand miles of listening to her parents bicker about the best place in Oregon to settle. Two thousand miles of dusty trails, bumpy wagons, and things that slither and creep into her bedding at night. Claire Clemons would happily set down roots that very minute if someone would let her. What she needs is her own Prince Charming to give her a place to call home. When a broken wagon wheel strands her family miles from civilization, she wonders if handsome Worth King, the freighter who rescues them, might just be the answer to her prayers.

♥ Kendall – Anxious to escape her mother’s meddling interference, Kendall Arrington leaves her society life behind, intent on experiencing a Wild West adventure. Hired as the school teacher in a growing town on the Oregon Trail, Kendall hopes to bring a degree of civility and a joy of learning to the children of Rinehart’s Crossing. However, the last thing she expects to find is a cowboy with shaggy hair, dusty boots, and incredible green eyes among her eager students.

Will love find the three King siblings as Romance arrives in Rinehart’s Crossing?

Read all the books in the Regional Romance Series featuring historic locations, exciting drama, and sweet (yet swoony) romance!

USA Today Bestselling Author Shanna Hatfield is a farm girl who loves to write character-driven romances with relatable heroes and heroines. Her sweet historical and contemporary romances are filled with sarcasm, humor, hope, and hunky heroes.

When Shanna isn’t dreaming up unforgettable characters, twisting plots, or covertly seeking dark, decadent chocolate, she hangs out with her beloved husband, Captain Cavedweller.

Follow online at shannahatfield.com

_____

SOURCE:

Wagon Ruts West  by Ralph Ray Keeney, 1983

Pioneer Days in Malheur County by Jacob Ray Gregg, 1950

Look What Our Authors Published in August!

Our authors have been busy writing and publishing books. Here is what we published in August:

 

Shoo-fly Pie By Selah: Old Timey Holiday Kitchen Book 2

By Kimberly Grist

Selah Anderson agrees to participate in a matchmaking service organized by her pastor and the orphanage's matron, where she spent most of her life and become a mail-order bride. The man of her dreams will share her love of creating delicious confections and running a successful bakery. People will come for miles to purchase her specialty-shoo-fly pie.

Stagecoach driver Emerson Clark isn’t looking for love. But he knows life is better with a partner by your side- like a good team of horses supporting one another around the ruts in the road and along the narrow paths. As long as she’s practical, he’ll be happy.

Can his mail-order bride handle the diversity that comes with her husband’s dangerous vocation? Together will they blend their opposing desires to create a recipe for love?

Released August 2, 2021

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09645C3MP

 

Days Gone By: Christian historical romance collection

Take a step back to the days of old in this anthology of historical romances.

Includes Kimberly Grist’s Rebecca’s Hope

Wanted: Husband for Rebecca Mueller. **Must be handsome, nice, like children, and live within walking distance of Carrie Town School.

Will her circumstances change and allow her to hold out for true love?

Released August 5, 2021

https://www.amazon.com/Days-Gone-Christian-historical-collection-ebook/dp/B09C2HLKMV

 

Lighthouse Escape (Keeper's of the Light, Book 13)

By Zina Abbott

  Stina Dinesen loves her older sister but felt relieved once Lisbet and her new husband moved away from the Crystal Beach Lighthouse. ...She wants to move to town where she can have neighbors and enjoy a social life.

  Much to Stina’s dismay, as the sky darkens during the day of what promises to yield the first big storm of the season, her father informs her a passing ship sent a Morse code message that they have a man overboard. ...With a wrenched shoulder, Arend Dinesen cannot man the rescue boat alone. He will hold the light and help, but he needs his daughter, Stina, to row.

  John Andersen felt lost at sea long before he left his Oregon home on business to sail to San Francisco. Now, he is in the water with a twisted ankle, clinging to a rock miles from shore, ...The first hint he might survive comes when he sees a glowing lantern and realizes it is being held by someone on an approaching boat.

  Is it the light that promises a bright future, or could it be the young woman plying the oars?

Released August 10

http://mybook.to/LighthouseEscape 

 

Charm Cake by Charity: Old Timey Holiday Kitchen Book 3

By Annee Jones

    1889, Chicago.
It’s Christmas and Charity DeWitt is celebrating her engagement to recent medical school graduate Dr. Fox Skilling with a Charm Cake – a cake that contains symbolic charms crafted by her father at his jewelry store. When her slice contains a fleur-de-lis, she’s certain the tiny silver symbol of new beginnings has to do with her upcoming wedding to Fox – or does it? When he announces his plans to go out west to open a medical clinic, she journeys with him to Oregon where she meets Peter Abrams, a schoolteacher partially paralyzed after being thrown off his horse. Why is she so drawn to Peter and his books? Is it just because she’s never learned to read? Or could it be more?

Find out as you read this heartwarming holiday romance set in Sunset Hills, Oregon!

Released August 16, 2021

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0965XD6ZQ

 

Alastair: Romancing the Weavers, Book 13

by Kit Morgan

She has to protect her sister.
He has to find a wife.

If Alastair Weaver wanted a wife, then he saw no other choice but to send for a mail-order bride. Selena Manning saw no other choice but to become one. Perfect, right? But when Selena shows up with more than her carpet bag, Alastair must decide what to do, and lucky for her, he still wants to marry her. Despite the fact she has her younger sister in tow. But as far as Alastair's concerned, if his father could do it, then so could he. After all, his mother, brought her seven siblings into the Weaver clan when she married his father. Alastair could handle one, couldn't he? But Selena and her younger sister have suffered a horrible tragedy and Alastair isn't sure how to help them heal after losing their parents to a house fire. Worse, Selena doesn't think it was an accident...

Enjoy this sweet historical romance full of love, laughter, and a bit of mystery.

Released August 16

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09BLX1P2V

 

Sadie: Sweet Historical Romance (Pendleton Promise Book 1)

By Shanna Hatfield

Inspired by the true stories of women who served in France during World War I, Sadie is a sweet romance filled with courage, hope, and lasting love.

She yearns for far-flung adventures. He longs for the home he’s found in her heart. Will a world at war tear them apart, or draw them closer together?

For most of her life, Doctor Sadie Thorsen has imagined seeing the world on grand adventures. When America joins the war raging across the world in 1917, it seems her dreams are about to come true. She travels overseas as a contracted physician, eager to do her part to help the war effort. Endless streams of wounded push her to the limits of endurance, then she receives word Harley John Hobbs, the man she's loved for years, is missing in action. Unable to bear the thought of life without him in it, she refuses to let go of her hope that he’s alive. 

The day Sadie Thorsen shoved Harley John Hobbs down on the playground was the day she marched off with his heart. He spent years doing everything in his power to become successful, determined to have more than himself to offer Sadie if she ever returns to their eastern Oregon town. 

Conscripted to join the American Expeditionary Forces, Harley John answers the call and heads to France. Wounded and alone, he clings to the promise of seeing Sadie one last time.

Can deep, abiding love withstand the tragedies and trials of a world at war?

Released August 26, 2021

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BPTT4TM

 

Lemon Pie by Lucinda: Old Timey Holiday Kitchen Book 4

by Marisa Masterson

Two ladies named Lucinda.

Lucy never uses her real name and is surprised when Rev. Caldwell calls her that at the pie auction. She's even more surprised when Ty Goodson bids on her pie. He's never shown her a bit of interest, and whoever wins her pie will share the dessert with her.
What follows is a series of misadventures and a night spent in a cave. That night with each other leads them into a forced marriage—a shotgun marriage with Ty’s father doing the forcing.

How will Lucy win the love of a man who longs for a different Lucinda? And what about the thieves Ty and Lucy witnessed burying something? Will they return?

Released August 30

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0968KLJNV

 

 Not all our authors put their books up on preorder. For those who do, advance sales go a long way to help their rankings on Amazon. Please consider buying before the book is releases.

Preorders for September Releases:

 

A Match for Althia: Marianne's Mail Order Brides book 7

By Linda Carroll-Bradd

Chicago socialite Althia Heathley feels pushed out of her life by her father’s new wife. Convinced all she needs to write a great novel are a few more life experiences, she agrees to become a mail-order bride. But once she arrives in Denver, she’s not so sure she’s cut out to live in such a wild and less-than-civilized city.

Released September 5, 2021

https://www.amazon.com/Match-Althia-Mariannes-Order-Brides-ebook/dp/B09FJQBKPJ

  

A Bride for Devlin: The Sheriff's Mail Order Bride Book 6

By Zina Abbott

Searching for her sister, Dolly, who left behind a letter stating she was traveling to Wyoming to marry a rancher, Carrie Watson travels to Baggs Station. She learns, except for a few items of clothing she packed in a tow sack, Dolly left her trunk behind at the station for safe-keeping and departed with a man who claimed he was sent to bring her to her intended.

Carrie asks to be directed to the sheriff, only to learn the Carbon County sheriff is seventy-eight miles away in Rawlins. However, the Little Snake River Valley ranchers, frustrated by the increase in cattle rustling, pooled their funds and hired their own local sheriff, Devlin Anders, to track down the culprits.

Devlin Anders, frustrated over his lack of success in locating the rustlers, is ready to quit and stick to running his own ranch. Then, his friend, Jesse Hardin, begs him to help search for Jesse’s missing bride. They travel to Baggs Station, the last place she was spotted.

The last thing Devlin needs is an upset, headstrong woman from the East demanding help to find her sister. However, when he learns Dolly left on the back of a horse behind a man Devlin has been trying to catch up with for months, he knows it is time to raise a posse and go after both Lem Coker, suspected cattle rustler, and Jesse’s missing bride.

If only Carrie did not insist on trailing behind them…

Releases September 10, 2021

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B097QGBC93/

 

Ace’s Tenacious Bride: (Matchmaker's Mix-Up Book 13)

By Kimberly Grist

Can a spirited pastor’s daughter up the ante, causing a card-playing, cigar-smoking workaholic to wager his heart?

Mercy Fairchild, a sheltered pastor’s daughter, is ready for adventure. She’ll comply with her late father’s last wish—to obtain the help of a matchmaking service and find her a young pastor out west to marry. Yes, she wants God’s perfect plan for her future, but she hopes it will be an exciting plan. Perhaps a missionary in a new territory?

Widower Ace Caldwell’s unruly children make keeping a housekeeper impossible. The last one left in less than a week! If he could only be as good a father as he is a card player! But with his job as a railroad detective, he can’t be home more than a day or two each week. At least a wife would be legally and morally vested to remain. Wouldn’t she?

Releases September 15, 2021

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0952D79QX

Hearts of the Sierra Nevada: A Sweet Historical Romance Set in the Sierra Nevadas

By Kit Morgan

Three sisters in danger.
Three men willing to help ...

When the Barrett sisters inherit their aunt's small hotel in Nevada City, California, they quickly discover others in town not only want it, but will do almost anything to get it. The question is, why?

Out of work, Bram Forsyth and his cousins Sterling and Wellington travel to Nevada City looking for work. Lucky for them the new owners of the Barrett Hotel are looking to hire. But the three men didn't expect such lovely employers or the fact someone was trying to run them out of town. They were cowboys, not guns for hire. Could they resist the Barrett sisters, now in danger, from capturing their hearts? A better question was, could they afford such a distraction while trying to protect them? Find out in these sweet historical romances full of hope, love and a little danger!

Releases September 17

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B098R8PQPR

 

Romance at Rinehart's Crossing: A Sweet Historical Romance Set on the Oregon Trail

by Shanna Hatfield

Life on the Oregon Trail will never be the same . . .

Tenner King is determined to make his own way in the world far from the overbearing presence of his father and the ranch where he was raised in Rinehart’s Crossing, Oregon. Reluctantly, he returns home after his father’s death to find the ranch on its way to ruin, his siblings antsy to leave, and the women in town completely infatuated with a mysterious poet. Prepared to do whatever is necessary to save the ranch, Tenner isn’t about to let a little thing like love get in his way.

♥ Austen – After spending her entire life ruled by her father, Austen Rose King certainly isn’t going to allow her bossy older brother to take on the job....

♥ Claire – Two thousand miles of travel. Two thousand miles of listening to her parents bicker about the best place in Oregon to settle.

♥ Kendall – Anxious to escape her mother’s meddling interference, Kendall Arrington leaves her society life behind, intent on experiencing a Wild West adventure.

Releases September 17

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B098RFJMM3

 

Mr. Charming's Orphans: Charming Tales

By Kit Morgan

A woman not looking for love. 

A man not looking for a wife.

And seven mischeivous orphans ...

Wynter Snow had the arduous task of escorting seven orphans from New York to Charming, Texas. After all, it’s not easy to get seven mischievous orphans to behave. But dealing with what awaited them in Charming was worse. There was no sign of the Tuckers, the couple that sent for them, and a storm was coming. A big one. Thankfully the woman who ran the inn got them a ride to the Tucker’s farm. Once there all would be well. Or so Wynter thought. Imagine her surprise when she found a handsome rancher living on the farm instead of the Tuckers! Now what was she to do? Other than wait out a nasty snow storm with seven orphans and a handsome cowboy …

Releases September 22, 2021

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B098N9VH19

 

Madeline: Cowboys and Cupids Book Book 14

By Zina Abbott

Madeline Denham realizes something doesn’t add up. More than with her siblings, her parents are very careful about who they allow to socialize with her. After graduating from normal college, she accepts a teaching position close to Knights Ferry. Much to her dismay, during a community social, a well-dressed man she's never met before asks her to dance and then forces a kiss upon her. Rather than being flattered, she feels ruined.

After purchasing land east of Oakdale, James Hennessy, like his Italian mother’s side of the family, finds growing fruit trees and a small table grape vineyard competes with his love of practicing law. At a dance, he meets a delightful woman who reminds him of his Italian heritage. When he realizes she is the object of unwanted attention, the fiery Irish from his father’s side comes to the fore. He steps forward to rescue her. He soon finds himself representing members of her family in a cause important to his own interests—stopping the hydraulic mining that is clogging the Valley’s rivers and streams that provide the water the farmers need to irrigate their crops.

Madeline hires James to uncover the secrets that plague her. However, will what they learn drive him away? Fortunately, she has two young twin brothers, who, like their oldest brother, want to become cowboys. For now, they’ll settle for corralling a good husband for their big sister, even if they have to rope and hogtie Madeline and James to get them to the altar.

Releases September 23, 2021

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B096WNPH59/

 

Pumpkin Pie by Patience: Old Timey Holiday Kitchen Book 5

By Annee Jones

    1890, Baltimore.
19-year-old Patience Sutton has never been praised for her cooking – in fact, she burnt the pumpkin pie at her family’s last Christmas celebration. As the youngest of 10 children, she’s tired of always being the baby and longs to grow up. When she spies an ad in the paper from Oregon banker Jefferson Cooke seeking a mail-order bride willing to travel out west and who “must love children,” Patience jumps at the chance for a new life. With children of her own to take care of, maybe she’ll finally get some respect! Right?

Releases September 27, 2021

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0965W2PCJ

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Preorders for October Releases:

 

A Bride for Dun: The Sheriff's Mail Order Bride Book 9

By Marisa Masterson

If you read A Bride for Boss, you'll want to find out the rest of Dun's story--

Dun, a former Pinkerton agent settles into a sleepy Wyoming town. Danger should be far behind him now. The worst he faces is drunken cowhands on Saturday night.

He finally has what he considers a hometown. All that is missing is a bride. Easy to fix! He simply writes away for one.

There's no way he could know the wild adventure she brings with her. And will he believe what he learns about his own birth?

Releases October 1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B098B7X5ZD

 

A Match for Lilah Jo: Marianne’s Mail Order Bride Book 9

By Marisa Masterson

Roland Devers vowed to stay a bachelor after his fiancée broke off their engagement. He never expected to raise a child, especially not a girl. His brother’s death lands the four-year-old at his livery and into his care.

Lilah Jo Henry struggles through life. Her husband’s death only adds to those struggles. Her sixteen-year-old daughter’s scandalous behavior gives Lilah the push she needs to move the two of them away.

A matchmaker’s advertisement and the promise of marriage to a stranger seem the only way to make that happen. Will two forty-year-olds find the will start over and risk love?

Releases October 8, 2021

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09C3X23N7

 

Cranberry Cake by Cora: Old Timey Holiday Kitchen Book 6

By P. Creeden

When Cora Sullivan's father moved out west to Kansas City in order to help his bank start a new branch in a different state, she hadn't realized just how much she would miss her old home. Now Christmas is coming, and what she misses more than anything else is her dearly departed mother's cranberry cake. But out west of the Mississippi, cranberries are almost as impossible to find as friends. At least she has is Jonas, the one man who travelled all the way to Kansas City with her and her father to remind her of home, but he still thinks of her as a child, when she really wants him to notice her as something more. And when Jonas is accused of stealing money from the bank, she needs to put her own needs aside to help Jonas and clear his name before Christmas.

Releases October 11, 2021

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B096RJP36T

 

Ginger Cake by Glynna (Old Time Holiday Kitchen book 7)

By Linda Carroll-Bradd

              Astoria, Oregon--Fall, 1876
Baker Glynna Shaughnessy wants to bolster sales for her struggling bakery almost as much as she wants to revive her drab personal life. A baking competition in commemoration of the city’s incorporation offers a chance at making the shop’s name known…until she’s accused of cheating. According to the competition’s sponsor—a roguish man who sets her heart aflutter—Glynna can only remain a contestant if she invents a brand-new recipe…something she’s never done before.

Hotel manager Ritter Anton has six months to boost patronage at his grandfather’s Anton Grand Hotel. He accomplished success with the family’s Cheyenne hotel and he’ll succeed here then move to the next. The baking contest he invented sparks controversy with the entry of a baker who others claim has an unfair advantage. Ready to reject her, he can’t say no when the auburn-haired beauty pleads her case. How will he remain neutral as a judge when all he can think about is Glynna?

Releases October 25. 2021

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0964XJ1PN/

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Preorders for November Releases:

 

Apple Pandowdy by Alice: Old Timey Holiday Kitchen Book 8

By Kimberly Grist

Alice Connelly agrees to participate in a new matchmaking project organized by her pastor and the orphanage's matron. She can find no peace accepting a role as a mail-order bride and instead becomes the first volunteer to accept a job in a local restaurant and relocate to Carrie Town, Texas.
She hopes the experience will help her to discover what she wants in life. But in a town where single men outnumber women thirty to one, she’s more confused than ever. Determined to put her skills as a baker to use, she plans a holiday dinner for the diner featuring a crowd pleasing deep-dished spiced apple dessert

Can an itinerant mail-order bride find her recipe for her happily ever after?

Releases November 8, 2021

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09646YNT2

 

Wren's Wooer : (Westward Home & Hearts Book 24)

by Marisa Masterson

Wren Donaldson rejects her wooer, wanting him to only be her good friend. When Mildred Crenshaw, her mother's cousin, sends "the perfect groom" to Wren, she begins to realize her dream man already proposed. Too bad she rejected him. Her rejected wooer has moved on to another girl--or has he?
And what about the man sent by the matchmaking cousin? What desperate and dangerous measures will her mail-order groom do so he marries Wren?

Releases November 9, 2021

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B091ZK78JV

 

A Child's Faith : Keepers of the Light Book 16

by Annee Jones

1892, Tacoma, Washington

Elin Kristiansen has her hands full as a single mother following the tragic death of her husband in a shipwreck off the rocky coast of the Pacific Northwest. Thankfully, the U.S. government has recognized the need for a lighthouse at Brown’s Point, and Elin couldn’t be more pleased when her father accepts the position of Keeper. However, she just can’t seem to bring herself to accompany him on his weekly rowboat trips to the station to tend the lamp – and what’s more, the mere thought of Finn, her son, setting foot on board sets her insides churning.

Elin knows her father keeps hoping she’ll get over the terror that washes over her every time she considers braving the waters, but she's starting to have doubts. When she gets into an argument with Finn over his adamant wish to learn how to swim, she can’t possibly trust the handsome captain who offers to instruct him and vows to keep him safe – or can she?

Releases November 9

 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0992Y9M7M

 

A Christmas Wish for Clara: Mail-Order Brides' First Christmas Book 7

by P. Creeden

Clara Gibbs has wanted nothing more than a husband and family her whole life, but not one bachelor in Norcross Georgia had ever shown any interest in her until now. She had spent most of her youth taking care of her ailing father, only to find out upon his death that he was the very reason that every suitor had kept a distance from her. Now that she was well over twenty-five years old, the only one who shows her interest is an older bachelor with a known penchant for vice but somehow promises the holidays have made him a better man. Regardless, he's not exactly the prince she's been wishing for, and her only escape is to trust a family friend who knows of a younger man out west in need of a bride.

Clyde Wheeler has just inherited a ranch... or rather, debt. And the bank has come to call. His only way to get his loan approved is to marry the banker's daughter. But part of him would rather die than give the man the satisfaction....

Releases November 10

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B098C49LQP/

 

Figgy Pudding by Francine: Old Timey Holiday Kitchen Book 9

By Zina Abbott

Francine Munsen’s life in 1878 had been a series of ups and downs—all because she allowed one of the benefactors of the Albany Elite Academy for Girls to raise a hope that she could attract a man willing to marry her, a spinster math and science teacher.

Jason Sewell, a full professor of science and astronomy at the University of Iowa, was a widower with no interest in marrying again. Then, during a trip to Rawlins, Wyoming to view a total solar eclipse, in the weeks of hunting and exploring that followed, his friend—from whom his mother extracted a promise that a letter from a girls’ academy teacher would be answered before the end of the summer—handed him the letter. As a wedding gift for his friend, he promised to respond. Months later, he invited Francine to spend her Christmas break in Iowa City.

Before Francine could travel to Iowa to meet Jason in person, she must keep a promise. Serving the girls who could not return to their homes for the Christmas holiday a figgy pudding made using a centuries-old recipe had become a school tradition.

Releases November 22, 2021

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0968WFFJV/

 

A Christmas Tree for Trudel: Mail-Order Brides' First Christmas Book 12

By Linda Carroll-Bradd

Rancher Gibson Bainbridge travels to Pine Knot to investigate how his younger brother was swindled out of his mining claim. He finds the suspect, businessman Bernard Heinrik, at a poker table and squares off opposite him. Gib goads the man into betting big, staking the mining claim and then ends up with the winning hand and retrieves the deed. Goal achieved, he heads back to the hotel, planning how he’ll leave in the morning and arrive triumphant in Redlands at the family home in time for holiday festivities.

Mail-order bride Trudel Andersen traveled from Los Angeles to Pine Knot to meet up with her fiancé, Mister Heinrik, with whom she’s been corresponding for several months. But he’s a day overdue in meeting her. She waits in the hotel lobby with her lace-making materials and her little dog, Butterscotch. Released from the orphanage two months earlier, Trudel has been on her own and terrified she will always be so.

When Gibson realizes he’s the cause for the lovely lady’s misfortune, he’s stuck with a dilemma. If he confesses what he did, he’ll have to offer the woman a ride back to where she came from. Propriety demands they marry, and both agree it’s only for the duration of the trip. But will forced proximity deepen the relationship into something more?

Releases November 30, 2021

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0988V1F85/

 

 

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