The Value of a Great Research Website

 I’m sharing about a website I’ve used quite a lot over the years since I started writing historical romance. It’s for the Central Pacific Railroad, and the URL is cprr.org.

I’m the type of historical reader who wanted to know about the details of daily life for the people in the story. I’ve read too many stories that included vague statement like “The train trip lasts five days and she arrived at ten a.m. looking fresh as a daisy.” Those books I set aside. As a logical human who has traveled in real life, I know planes can take off at two a.m. (I booked one of those flights on a cheap ticket website) or a train can arrive at a small town at eleven at night. Those inconveniences can act as added tension in a novel.

This site is great for writers, as well as the general public, because of the historical photographs of the construction of the railroad, the picturesque locations, and maps of the actual routes of where the railway traveled, including elevations. Advertisements enticing travelers to go on excursions can be accessed. One fact that surprised me was some timetables listed connections with foreign travel to China, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. And this is in 1876!

What I have used extensively are the timetables for the various lines, which allow me to create realistic situations my characters experience. I can plan the travel route, using the names of the stops (some of these cities no longer exist) but, more importantly, the number of times the train stops. Hard to imagine anyone getting any sleep if the train makes eight to ten stops in an eight-hour period.

Ever thought about what westward travelers did once they encountered the Mississippi River? Or what happened when that traveler reached the end of the railroad line but still needed to reach a location fifty miles farther west or north? The timetables often list connections to other rail lines or stagecoach lines, in addition to listing when meals were served and how much luggage was allowed.

A visit to this site will spark questions you didn’t even know you had.

I used this resource extensively in my second Lockets and Lace story titled Taming A Scandal.

Socialite Mercia Saunders is traveling to her brother’s Texas ranch to let the gossip settle from a Philadelphia scandal. Pinkerton agent Dominic Prentice is pairing surveillance on the spoiled lady and hunting down stolen jewelry. Will the confinement of a cross-country train ride toss them together and ignite sparks?

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The Art of Darning Socks by Jo-Ann Roberts

 

It's no secret that I enjoy handicrafts (quilting, sewing, and crocheting). I am okay with sewing on a button, turning a hem, or adding a binding around the perimeter of a quilt. I am, however, grateful that I don't need to darn holes in our socks or clothing, particularly, socks.

Yet, when I began my research for this blog, I was surprised to learn that the art of darning socks is still alive, particularly for those hardy souls who maintain a sustainable way of living or create intricate embroidery technique designs, popular in Northern and Eastern Europe, India, Japan, and Mexico.

A hundred years ago, could anyone imagine that darning tools would now be unrecognizable except to antiques or craft enthusiasts? There always used to be a steady supply of darning in the family mending bag. A woman sitting darning was a common sight, and so was a darning egg. Inside a stocking or sock with a hole, the "egg" or darner made it easier to stitch a neat repair.

Darning is a sewing technique for repairing holes or worn areas in fabric or knitting using needle and thread alone. It is often done by hand, but it is possible to darn with a sewing machine. The darning stitch is a simple running stitch in which the thread is "woven" in rows along the grain of the fabric, with the stitcher reversing direction at the end of each row and filling in the framework.

Darning is the traditional method for repairing fabric damage or holes that do not run along a seam, such as on the heel of a sock.

Darning Tools

A darning egg is an egg-shaped tool, made of stone, porcelain, or wood which is inserted into the toe or heel of the sock to maintain the proper shape for repairs. 

A darning mushroom is a mushroom-shaped tool usually made of wood. The sock is stretched over the curved top of the mushroom and gathered tightly around the stalk to hold it in place.

A darning gourd is a hollow dried gourd with a pronounced neck. The sock can be stretched over the full end of the gourd and held in place around the neck for darning.

Often, darning eggs opened to reveal neatly stowed sewing accessories.

There's something about a clever design with small things unexpectedly tucked inside a well-crafted piece of hardwood.

Glove Darner

When a glove needed darning, little darning eggs were pushed into the fingers. Some glove darners had different-sized balls on each end of a handle. With big sock darners, the handle itself could sometimes be used for glove repairs. Not all glove darners had a handle. Some were single egg shapes dropped into the finger. 

Upcoming Release!

Years ago, Lily Sutton was drawn to the new orphan boy in town. Unfortunately, she soon became the target of Grady Walsh's mischievous deeds in school.

Lily is back home in Harmony, Kansas for good. It appears history is about to repeat itself when the first person she sees when getting off the train is Grady. Everyone says he's changed but is she willing and able to forgive the boy who made her childhood unbearable.

Grady Walsh lost his heart to the sweet girl the day she made him a quilt. Can this man, now well-respected and liked by the townspeople, make up for the reckless actions of his youth?

Or will another steal her away before they have a chance to discover a kind of love that might just heal the pain from the past?

Shooting Affray at Turnback Creek by Zina Abbott

 

When I first started research for my upcoming book, and sought a logical location within Tuolumne County close to where logging in the high Sierra Nevada Mountains took place in the 1800s. I looked at Tuolumne City. For a town that never was very large, it has some interesting history.

To include the following historical event in 1858 that had profound effect on Elizabeth’s life, The California gold rush—although it had switched from placer mining to other forms—was still going strong. As the discovery of gold embedded in quartz led to underground mines—particularly in the East Belt near Turnback Creek—lumber became an important commodity. That provided my opportunity to include my “mountain man” lumberjack in a situation he later wished he had avoided.

 

There are several retellings of this event—most placing it in 1857. However, I will allow the newspaper account tell the story. This is taken from the January 20, 1858 edition of the Daily Alta Californian. The original story came from the Sonora Herald, Tuolumne County’s local newspaper. Unfortunately, these years of the Herald were not available on the California Digitized Newspaper Collection.

Carter's store

I will say at this point that all the local historians give the location of this meeting as Carter’s store, not Robinson’s store. This comes from more than one history written local historians.

It is known that C.H. Carter started his retail business by the Long Gulch mining area. Once he learned of the richness of the gold found in the Eureka Quartz Mine in northeast Summersville, he packed up his store and moved next to the mine. Mr. Baker, a docent at the Tuolumne Memorial Historical Museum, and a direct descendent of one of the earlier Tuolumne City families, supports the view it was Carter’s store. As he pointed out, “There just wasn’t very much in his area at that time.”

In addition, I checked newspaper articles and the 1860 and 1850 Census reports. I found no listings for a Robinson who was a merchant.

 

I based several chapters in my Wyatt’s New Bride, which is available as of September 26, 2024, on this incident. Although Wyatt is a fictional character, I included all of the names in this article in my story.

Here is the book description:

     Wyatt Holt gave up searching for gold. Instead, he found work as a lumberjack to satisfy the demand for timber supports in the new Tuolumne County quartz mines and lumber for the nearby towns.  He is tired of sharing barracks-style quarters with other men. With more men bringing families to the logging camps and living in company-provided cabins, he begins his search for a wife. Guided by the most unlikely of matchmakers, he corresponds with, and then sends for, a bride.

     Following the murder of her husband, to provide for herself and her young daughter, Rosalie Barker turns her home into a boardinghouse for the local gold miners. As the two-year anniversary of her late husband’s death approaches, on the night of a miner’s meeting, three of her boarders and two strangers—one seriously wounded—enter her home just as she prepares to bar the door. They beg her to care for the unconscious man. She had not been able to help her late husband. Can she keep this man alive long enough for the doctor in Sonora ten miles away to brave winter weather, swollen creeks, and bad roads to arrive and take over?

     Between being shot during a meeting gone bad, no longer able to support the bride he sent for, and uncertain if he will heal well enough to work again as a lumberjack, is there is any hope for a loving wife and family in Wyatt’s future?

 

To find the purchase link for Wyatt’s New Bride, please CLICK HERE

 

 

 

 

Sources:

https://sierranevadageotourism.org/entries/summersville-now-tuolumne-no-407-california-historical-landmark/e0f91d76-82fa-44f6-9736-5f4c51da5a43

California Digital Newspaper Collection; https://cdnc.ucr.edu/

https://tchistory.org/out-to-tuolumne/

https://tuolumnemuseum.wordpress.com/our-rich-history/

There's More To the Story

Post (C) Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

Image (C) Doris McCraw

This post will not surprise those who know me and my passion for history, especially the Women Doctors. Many know of Elizabeth Blackwell and her admittance and graduation from Geneva Medical College. But there is more to her story and the story of women doctors. 

Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell
Image from Wikipedia

At one time, Blackwell had found the idea of studying medicine abhorrent as related in her book "Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women" published in 1895. A dear friend, who suffered greatly during her treatments, told Elizabeth, “You are fond of study, have health and leisure; why not study medicine? If I could’ve been treated by a lady doctor, my worst sufferings would have been spared me.” 

Dr. Hariot K. Hunt
photo from the National Park Service site.

Did you know, that before Blackwell even thought of medical school, a woman in Boston was a practicing physician? Harriot Kezia Hunt, in her book "Glances and Glimpses" published in 1856 tells her story of what led her to the practice of medicine and the social climate at that time. She began practicing medicine in Boston in 1835 and was well-known in her lifetime for her work to help empower women.

Dr, Sarah Hackett Stevenson
image from Northwestern Univeristy site.

In 1876 Dr Sarah Hackett Stevenson was the first woman to join the American Medical Association. She was a delegate from the Illinois Medical Society. She graduated from the Woman's Medical College in the class of 1874 and later was on staff at Cook County Hospital a first for a woman. She also wrote several books, which focused on educating the public on health.

There are so many more early women doctors whose stories are being found and told. Many of these early physicians were also involved in the suffrage movement. 

You can find Blackwell and Hnnt's autobiographies on Google Books. I personally found Hunt's the most fascinating read, but both contain rich history and personal thoughts.

Dr. Stevenson has many references to her in many of the publications of the late 1800s and early 1900s also on Google Books.

Make sure to watch for the upcoming "Christmas Quilt Brides" stories and my book in that series "Mack"

Until Next Time: Stay safe, Stay happy, and Stay healthy. 

Doris

Westward Ho! Parade

 

Tomorrow is the Westward Ho! Parade in Pendleton, Oregon.

One of the unique features of this parade that has been held annual since 1910, is that no motorized vehicles are allowed. The parade features wagons, Indians in full regalia, and marching bands. 

It pays tribute  to the early days of the West and to the pioneers whose descendants often participate in the parade and Pendleton Round-Up. 

There are always lots of Rodeo Royalty, including Pendleton's Queen and princesses.

I love seeing the teams pulling wagons and farm equipment.

These longhorns have become a parade staple in recent years. After the parade, they are in the park where people can have their photos taken with them.

And the sight of all these flags never fails to bring a great sense of patriotism to my heart. 

Many of the participants yell "Let 'er Buck" as they travel the parade route through town, the official slogan of the world famous Pendleton Round-Up that takes place this week, wrapping up Saturday with the finals and award presentations. 

Do you have a favorite parade in your community, or from our childhood?

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.

Shanna is a member of Western Writers of America and Women Writing the West. Find out more about her at shannahatfield.com

Food on the Home Front - Humble Pie

 By Kimberly Grist

Food on the Home Front - Humble Pie
Pioneers learned to alter food recipes according to their available resources. During the Civil War, people were introduced to the idea they could eat their horse's oats. When pecans were in short supply, oatmeal pie was a good substitute for southern pecan pie.


https://faithfoodfamily.blogspot.com/2011/09/civil-war-recipe-oatmeal-pie.html

Old Fashioned Oatmeal Pie

4 eggs

1 cup of sugar

2 tablespoons of flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup light corn syrup (molasses was traditionally used)

1/8 to 1/4 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup oats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat eggs until frothy. Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt and pour into a large mixing bowl. Add eggs and mix well. Pour in corn syrup or molasses, melted butter and, vanilla. Mix oatmeal in by hand using a spoon or spatula. Pour into an uncooked pie shell. Bake for 40 45 minutes until the center is set.


Shoo-Fly Pie

Shoo-fly pie was another recipe created using readily available everyday food staples. While researching my upcoming release, Shoo-fly Pie by Selah, I discovered some interesting information about its origin.

Origination


The origin of the recipe began in 1876 as Centennial Cake to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Two Versions
The very nature of the main ingredient of sticky sweet molasses is enough to imagine why it might attract a fly or two that one would need to shoo. There are two versions of the recipe. The dry bottom pie is similar to a coffee cake and is guessed to be the original version. The wet bottom pie is baked in a pastry crust with a gooey cake-like bottom and a crumb streusel-like topping.
Shoofly the Boxing Mule

The more likely explanation is shoofly pie was named after a brand of molasses popular in the 19th century. Shoofly molasses, Shoofly flour, and Shoofly horse powder were named after Shoofly, the Boxing circus mule that toured southeastern Pennsylvania in the late 19th century.


Available to Read for Free on Kindle Unlimited 

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

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?


About Kimberly Grist:

Kim has enjoyed writing since she was a young girl. However, she began writing her first novel in 2017, "Despite my best efforts, sometimes life just stinks. Bad things happen. I need and want an outlet, an opportunity to relax and escape to a place where obstacles are met and overcome."
Fans of historical romance set in the late 19th -century will enjoy stories combining, History, Humor, and Romance, emphasizing Faith, Friends, and Good, Clean Fun.


Connect with Kimberly:
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/GristKimberly
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Kimberly-Grist/e/B07H2NTJ71

Visiting the Old West for Inspiration

 Ah, Diamond Lake! My family and I have been coming here to camp every summer since the summer of 2000. The annual family camping trip used to consist of anywhere from 12 to 20 people depending on how many can show up that year. Tack on people that bring a friend, and the numbers can go higher. I haven’t been on the family camping trip for three years. And when I did go, I often ended up doing some work while there. 

Over the years as a writer, I’ve learned that all work and no play 

makes any author a little grumpy. We creatives need to put 

ourselves into a different environment now and then, experience 

new things, and just get out of the house. Different things inspire 

different people. At home, I live in a log cabin in the word but it’s 

in a canyon, so no wide-open space there. So guess what I’m 

attracted to when I go someplace new. You guessed it, wide 

open spaces! Such as the site of Custer's last stand in the 

picture below.

Writers draw inspiration from all sorts 

of different things. Not just 

getting out of the house now and then. 

I often listen to music 

while writing, especially if the scene is 

an emotional one. 

Other’s have their special writing place. 

I know one woman who 

literally used to write in a closet. She 

writes in an alcove near 

her stairs now. For others, it’s the 

kitchen table. Others have 

their office set up just so, while some write outside, look at their 

garden, and get inspiration that way. Me? I love to travel.

Writers need inspiration to stay fresh, enjoy the writing process, 

(which can be grueling at times) and come up with fun, new 

ideas for their stories. If everything remained the same, day in 

and day out, a writer can become stale and it shows in their 

writing. 

This is true of most artists, be they 

writers, painters, 

illustrators, are in film or music, or 

whatever their art consists of. 

We need inspiration on different levels 

as we’re all different. As I 

write historical westerns, I find it fun to 

go to old west historical 

sites! Museums are also fun! These 

places give me great ideas 

and inspiration. Who knows how my 

stories would turn out if I 

didn’t travel to some of these places? So the next time you read 

a historical romance, think about where the author might have 

got her or his inspiration for their story from.

 

Until next time,

Kit

 

 

Look what our authors published in August!

 

Our authors have worked hard to bring you your next 

favorite stories. 

Here is what we published in August!

 

Miss Lystra: Sweet Historical Western Romance (The Brides of Fiddler's Gap Book 8)

by Kit Morgan

A rich heiress ~ A simple tailor ~ And one really strange will...

      Lystra Walcott grew up with a silver spoon. Her parents were wealthy, a part of Philadelphia's high society, and she enjoyed all that went with such a life. That is, until tragedy took her parents from her. Now Lystra is told by her parents' lawyers that her mother and father want her to become a mail-order bride if she's to inherit anything. That was the last thing she expected. Nor did she expect her father's lawyer to pick out an advertisement by a man looking for a bride. Before she knew it, she was on a train to Fiddler's Gap, Oregon to meet and marry her future husband. Unfortunately for him, she had no clue how to mend, sew, cook, clean or anything else domestic. That's what servants were for!
     Ives Merriweather played the oboe, worked in Baker City as a tailor three days a week, and enjoyed a simple life. That is, until his mail-order bride showed up. He wasn't expecting her, and he certainly wasn't expecting to marry the same day she stepped off the stage. He planned to court her for a couple of weeks like all the other grooms had their brides. But his had other ideas, and was much more than he bargained for. Can love blossom for two very different people? Or would a stipulation in a will treat them apart? Find out in this sweet romance full of love and laughter!

Release date: August 13, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3DL7R6D

Cowboy Law -A Texas Rangers - Sutton Brother’s Romance Book 2

By P. Creeden

Justice and vengeance intertwine for a Texas Ranger and an alluring beauty whose fates collide on the frontier, leading to trickery and tragedy before any shot at redemption.Their devotion is tested through gripping adventures and perilous twists of fate. More details to come.

Release date: August 15, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CRYMNKBH

 

Caleb’s New Bride (Mountain Men and Mail-Order Brides)

By P. Creeden

What happens when a mail-order bride shows up on the doorstep of a mountain man’s cabin? Who will suffer rejection? Who will gain redemption? These fated, possibly star-crossed lovers will soon find out!

Release date: August 29, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D6X81RCX

 

 Not all of our authors make their books available on pre-order. However, for those who do, those advance sales go a long way toward boosting their sales rankings. 

Here are future releases:

 

September Pre-orders:

 

A Sleigh Ride For Claire (Sleigh Ride)

By Jo-Ann Roberts

       He was the most stubborn and prideful man she’d ever met!
       She was a busybody who stuck her nose in his business at every turn!
      With Christmas on the horizon, Claire McAllister has far too much to do to entertain dreams of a husband and family. Even if she feels inclined to help Lincoln Wyse outwit his three mischievous young daughters, it's impossible to imagine the handsome widower seeing her as anything but a scolding schoolteacher.
      Even though the pretty schoolteacher never turned a favorable eye to him, Linc Wyse’s heart skipped a beat whenever she pinned him with her mesmerizing green eyes. Beautiful or not, Claire McAllister was a meddling spinster who placed judgments on him and his family.
      Yet, neither one can imagine how a magical Christmas Eve sleigh ride will open their eyes to love…or how the Lord will awaken their faith and hope.

Release Date: September 2, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/Sleigh-Ride-Claire-ebook/dp/B0CXHXVQQF

 

Hotfooting from Hawthorne: Pioneer Brides of Rattlesnake Ridge Book 15

By Marisa Masterson

A woman with trouble hot on her trail and a child at her side. A man who handles his Colt revolver like a shootist.
      Ginny Maxwell has one child left as she waits at a train depot in Hawthorne, Nevada. The others left one by one as the orphan train traveled farther west. She wanted to believe each had found homes where they would be clothed and fed. She could not hope for them to be loved. Growing up as a foundling, she knew adults rarely wasted affection on orphans.
      While she and the unclaimed orphan wait for the eastern bound train that would take them back to Chicago, their lives change with one slash of a shiny knife. A man stabs a lone woman waiting on the platform. At Ginny's gasp, he realizes she and the little boy have seen him.
      A frantic race to escape begins, and desperation sends them into the back of a tarp-covered wagon. Hiding there, she hears the whistle. They missed their train and are stuck with a killer on their trail.

Release date: September 9, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D49LQR1F

 

A Sleigh Ride For Grace (Sleigh Ride)

By Linda Carroll-Bradd

      Grace Darton believes family is more important than anything…even an attentive beau. Three years ago, she broke off a courtship to tend her ailing aunt and assume management of her boardinghouse. Although her life might lack romance, she and her younger sister, Kerrie, strive to provide a family atmosphere for their boarders. But is it really enough?
      Darach MacLean thought he had his future planned—he and his love, Grace, were to marry and move to Golden City for him to attend the Colorado School of Mines. But she stayed behind. As a new graduate, he returns to Spur Springs to either win her back or purge her from his life forever. His sweet Grace has become a successful businesswoman and is being wooed by the mayor. Can Darach find the way back into her heart or has he returned too late?

Release date: September 16, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D34RFGGM

 

A Sleigh Ride For Holly

By P. Creeden

     A nanny whose children have grown finds herself without prospects for another job. At twenty-five years old, spinster is the best description for her now. But will a letter and an invitation for a sleigh ride change her life?
    *More description coming soon*

Release Date: September 23, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D344YDTG

 

Wyatt's New Bride: Mountain Men & Mail-Order Brides

By Zina Abbott

Wyatt Holt gave up searching for gold in favor of becoming a Tuolumne County lumberjack to satisfy the demand for timber supports in the new quartz mines and lumber for the nearby towns. He is tired of living in tents or sharing a barracks-style bedroom in the Summersville boardinghouse. With more men bringing families to the area, he begins his search for a wife. Between being shot during a community meeting gone bad, the bride he sent for rejecting him for another, and uncertain if he will heal from his injuries well enough to resume his former occupation, Wyatt wonders if there is any hope for a loving wife and family in his future.

Release date: September 26, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CW19ZPG9

A Sleigh Ride For Georgia (Sleigh Ride)

By Kimberly Grist

      Abandoned as a child, Georgia knows first-hand the results of chasing rainbows, searching for the proverbial pot of gold. That same lure called her father to California, leaving her to grow up in a children’s home. Even though she knows that there is little value in depending on anyone but herself, buried in her heart is the dream of her own happily ever after – a husband and family. Desperate, she accepts the advice of her pastor and applies to a matchmaking agency. If only someone would look past her inadequacies and see her potential, she would devote herself to ensuring his happiness and love him with her whole heart. Unfortunately, she is out of time.
       “Who was it that said desperate times demand desperate measures? The Lord forgive me if I’m wrong, but the next letter I write, I’m omitting the fact that I limp.”

Release Date: September 30, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D32LX394

 

October Pre-orders:

 

Mail-Order Blacksmith: Honorable Husbands

P. Creeden

Honorable Husband Series.
Even independent women can need a helping hand now and then. More than muscles and rugged good looks, this bride needs a blacksmith and only the honorable need apply...but is that what they'll get?

Mail-Order Blacksmith
With the passing of her father in the war, Sadie Cahill finds herself running the town’s livery on her own. A falling out with her blacksmith leaves her in desperate need. But is she desperate enough to marry one?

Release date: October 10, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQ2K4DC4

 

Lily Lassoes the Lawman (Uncertain Sweethearts Book 3)

By Marisa Masterson

Return to Fox Creek with this latest addition to the Uncertain Sweethearts series!

     He followed a hunch and found a woman worth loving. Too bad she had walked on the wrong side of the law one time too many.
      Lily Calhoun loved two things in this world—her son and her café. She had a chance at a fresh start, a clean slate with a new name. Lillian Perkins was gone.
       She had loved poorly and lost. She would not risk her heart again. Or so she thought. Then he came to town.
       Travis Strickland had a tough time believing what his eyes told him. The beautiful café owner was Dirk Perkins’ widow. He could not credit this innocent-appearing woman as being someone who had traveled with a murderous gang of thieves.
      No matter what his mind argued, Travis knew the truth. Lily was the woman who had disappeared with a trunk filled with stolen gold. All too soon, he expected Perkins’ brother would find her and reclaim the gold.
      When Perkins appeared, he would be in Fox Creek to arrest him. He was a duly sworn United States marshal. Somehow, he would clear Lilly of any charges and pin the blame on the gang’s leader.
      What begins as a job for Travis quickly heats up into attraction and love. Can he save Lily and her son from the monster who is hot on her trail? Will her mistake as a fifteen-year-old shatter Lily’s chance at lasting love?

Release date: October 15, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D6RSTPD3

 

Lemon Cookies by Lisbeth: Old Timey Holiday Kitchen Book 32

By Zina Abbott

     Much to Elizabeth Jewell’s disappointment, she failed to capture Arnie’s affections. All along, his heart had belonged to her sister. The lemon cookies she prepared for Christmas dessert had been a flop. At least his cousin, Roy, had appreciated the trick she played. In spite of everyone else angry at her for trying to make her sister look bad in an attempt to get her way, thanks to Roy, she survived the Christmas debacle.
     Following Roy’s suggestion, she starts a business making and selling hand pies. First, though, she chooses to shed her reputation of “Little Betsy,” the immature younger Jewell daughter. She informs all that from now on, she is to be addressed as Lisbeth. Determined to become a businesswoman instead of a flighty female focused only on fashion and gossip, she soon finds herself enjoying greater respect and self-esteem. However, she often wonders—will she ever find a man who will love her?
     As the holidays approach, Lisbeth wonders if Roy, still working on a railroad crew, will be able to get off work long enough to join his family and hers for Christmas dinner. Hoping she will see him again, she plans to once more make her lemon cookies. After all, in exchange for him helping her out of the trouble she brought on herself the previous year, she promised that this year she would make a whole batch just for him.

Release date: October 15, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DF6446S6

 

An Outlaw for Christmas: Confederate Widows, Spinsters, and Proxy Brides

By P. Creeden

Southern grace meets Western grit, and love becomes the greatest gift of all.
Join these Southern Belles on a Christmas journey to bridge the North and the South. Pasts fade and futures ignite amidst prairie snowflakes under western skies. Before each love story can unfold, the bride and groom are wed by proxy—having never met. Wounded souls find redemption in the bitter winter winds, and love’s embrace is the gift that warms their hearts. Find tales of hope, healing, and holiday joy as these Southern Belles, left alone by the war’s harsh realities, navigate cultural differences to forge new lives wed to their western, Yankee grooms. Will every heart discover the true spirit of Christmas and defy expectations? Fall in love right along with every star-crossed couple when you immerse yourself in each of these sweet holiday romances today!
Release Date: October 16, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CZ1MSXF2

 

Gunnar's New Bride: Mountain Men and Mail-Order Brides

By Linda Carroll-Bradd

      Logging camp owner Gunnar Hallbjorn has spent the last two years focused on ensuring the business he inherited from his uncle continues succeeding. A recent visit from a newlywed cousin demonstrates how much a wife would add to his bachelor life. He imagines how coming home to a hot meal and pleasant conversation will be better than eating in the camp’s dining hall with two dozen bachelors. As he writes his ad for the matrimonial newspaper, he envisions a demure Scandinavian girl like he remembers from back home.
      Baker Blasa Eberhard struggles to keep a roof over her and her younger brother’s head due to their father’s gambling habit. Faced with an ultimatum from her father to either marry his business associate or someone else because he can only afford to support his son and himself, she enters into a correspondence to become a mail-order bride. Bank agents arrive to take possession of the house, because mortgage is in default. Blasa has no choice but to pawn her mother’s jewelry to buy train tickets to Colorado. How will Mister Hallbjorn react when she shows up on his doorstep? Will he still want to marry when she has her brother in tow?

Release Date: October 31, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D34TW77L

 

November Pre-orders:

 

Custard Pumpkin by Claire: Old Timey Holiday Kitchen Book 34

By Marisa Masterson

      Their joint cause allows them to drift apart. Can a mystery create a bond of love between them?
     For Claire's small German village, it is a black summer. Typhoid hits the townspeople and surrounding farms with a vengeance. With Claire's parents dead, she struggles to know how she will survive.
      When a call for volunteers goes through her part of Germany—a chance to settle in Michigan and Christianize the local tribe—she seizes the opportunity. She hopes to forge a new future--one filled with possibility rather than starvation.
     As a single woman, she must travel as the unpaid servant to the only other couple going from her village, the young preacher Hans Mueller and his wife. Unfortunately, Claire's prospects change radically when the man's wife perishes in the epidemic. The reverend offers marriage as a way for Claire to travel with him. Reluctant but determined, she agrees.
      She and her husband arrive in a new land carrying their old grief. Hans has not left behind his grief for the wife he so recently lost. He throws himself into the work of building the settlement for their community. Claire is at a loss on how to be a wife to a man who does not want one. Instead, she spends her time with women from the Chippewa tribe.
      Mischief and then outright vandalism threatens the settlement. Are the Chippewa—the people Claire views as friends—responsible? What can stop the sudden surge of hate that springs up in the missionary community founded to spread the love of Christ?
      Finally, Claire and Hans are united in a way not even marriage had brought about. They are determined to discover who wants to drive away the German immigrants, but at what cost? Perhaps one or both of their lives.
     Discover how custard pumpkin plays a role in not only bringing peace and forging a bond between the Chippewa and the settlement but also winning the heart of Claire’s groom. Sink into a comfy spot and enjoy this sweet historical romance today.

Release date: November 5, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCT43RHY

 

A Rancher for Christmas: Confederate Widows, Spinsters, and Proxy Brides

By Linda Carroll-Bradd

Dunn MacDoughall faces a dilemma more ornery than a stubborn bull. To meet the stipulations of his granddad’s will and receive the deed to his three-thousand-acre Montana ranch, he has to marry by his twenty-eighth birthday. With only four months until the deadline, he resorts to using the services of a matchmaker. He’s desperate enough to put no restrictions on the woman’s background and agrees to a proxy marriage—as long as she arrives before fall roundup.

Ex-cotton heiress, Angelina Beauregard can barely rub two nickels together as a seamstress in post-war Bossier Parish, Louisiana. The war stole her father, brothers, and fiancé, but Angelina is determined its aftermath won’t steal her future. She seeks a proxy marriage with a man far away from her Southern homeland so she can finally get rid of memories that haunt her. But when she arrives and discovers her groom is a Yankee, is Angelina’s heart big enough to accept their fundamental differences?

Release Date: November 20, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D1DYHV3B

 

 A Surprise for Christmas: Confederate Widows, Spinsters, and Proxy Brides

By Zina Abbott

     Analia Cantrill and what remained of her family fled the South as the Yankees approached South Carolina. They took refuge with her aunt’s family in Baltimore. Following her mother’s death, circumstances all but force Analia out. With nothing left to draw her back to the South, she decides to seek a husband in the West—hopefully one who will leave the difficulties of the War Between the States in the past and accept her situation.

     Jeffrey Holden struggles to overcome his hatred for the Southern rebels responsible for the death of his older brother. After corresponding with several women, some stopped writing after he admitted a war injury now required him to walk with a cane. Others he rejected because they were from the South. He decided upon Miss Cantrill from Baltimore. Even though Maryland still allowed slavery during the war years, it stayed with the Union. The woman’s uncle rose to the rank of captain in the Union Army. Surely, she was an acceptable choice.

   Analia feels a sense of unease when, in the same letter with her fare to join him, Jeffrey expresses his happiness over finding a nice Northern bride. She suspects, once he hears her speak and discovers who she brings with her, he will be in for a big surprise.

Release Date: November 27, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D1LVNY3L

 

December Pre-orders:

 

A Pony for Christmas: Western Christmas Magic

by P. Creeden

Will hope, love, and peace make its way to the western frontier this year and help someone in desperate need of the spirit of Christmas?

Little Susan Price has never spoken a word. Her father, Wayne Price, has never quite understood how to bring his child out of her shell, but has fully accepted her as she is. But at five years old, he’s worried how other children will respond to little Susie’s silence. Christmas is coming, and he really doesn’t even know what he might get her for a gift. Through it all, his stalwart mother has plans to help both his son and granddaughter. Perhaps finding a wife and mother might be the cure to all their ills.

Eleanor Hunter’s father runs the livery in Golden, Colorado and she’s always been one of his hardest workers. When a black pony comes to town with a man who is ready to shoot it, she stops him and buys the pony for a dollar. Now her father wants to know what she’s going to do with the feral thing. But the more time she spends with the pony, the more she realizes that he just needs confidence, love, and trust. And she’s happy to give him both. If only it were so easy to get the man who she’s been in love with for five years to trust her as well. But then his mother steps in.

Release date: December 1, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DFVP33DN

 

A Recluse for Christmas : Confederate Widows, Spinsters, and Proxy Brides

By Kimberly Grist

Join these Southern Belles on a Christmas journey to bridge the North and the South. Pasts fade and futures ignite amidst prairie snowflakes under western skies. Before each love story can unfold, the bride and groom are wed by proxy—having never met. Wounded souls find redemption in the bitter winter winds, and love’s embrace is the gift that warms their hearts. Find tales of hope, healing, and holiday joy as these Southern Belles, left alone by the war’s harsh realities, navigate cultural differences to forge new lives wed to their western, Yankee grooms. Will every heart discover the true spirit of Christmas and defy expectations? Fall in love right along with every star-crossed couple when you immerse yourself in each of these sweet holiday romances today!

Release date: December 23, 2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CZK49D8B