BITTER HONEY Debut Day

Hello dear readers!

I'm excited that my FIFTIETH book launches today! BITTER HONEY, Book 22 in the Lockets and Lace Collection! This is my third year running being apart of this series written by the regular bloggers of the Sweet Americana Sweethearts! Which makes it quite special to me and I hop, to you!

In 2018, I released SILENT HARMONY, Book 2 and in 2019, UNIQUELY COMMON, Book 12, debuted. It was in that one--Uniquely Common--that m readers first met Samantha Adams, my heroine in Bitter Honey.

She was thirteen then, but five years have passed and now it's 1856. Her family has settled in Napa Valley and built their home, planting acres and acres in grapevines--stock her father brought from the Merceir Vineyards just out of New Orleans and also had shipped from France and Italy where he'd traved as a wine merchant, buying and selling.

After a grueling journey on the Oregon / California Trail, on arrival in Napa, she fully expected to have a stack of letters waiting in general delivery for her from young Silas Mercier. It had been love at first sight when they'd met on her way to Saint Joseph, Missouri from her New York home. That's when UNIQUELY COMMON ends, in Saint Jo when they're waiting on the spring prairie grasses to grow enough to support the stock.

Silas had promised to write, and so had she. But even though she'd been mailing him letters all along the way, declaring her young love, when she finally got to Napa after the two thousand mile trip, he broke her young heart. No letters waited. That's when the other title she's in, REMI ends. REMI is a Prairie Roses Collection story and tells the tale of just what a nightmare traveling that far by covered wagon was for those with dreams of settling the west.

Samantha never truly got over Silas or forgave him for his broken promises, but she's learned to live with it and has worked hard with her family and loves her new home in California with her new mother and little brother. She has no desire to leave and only wants to marry and start having babies of her own. She's eighteen now and ready for that.

Meanwhile back in New Orleans, while she traveled in the wagon train, young Silas's world falls apart. A fluke tornado tragically destroyed his home and most of the vineyard. That's where BITTER HONEY opens, and there's a whole second tale of what he's gone through during those five years. An old man, a neighbor who actually had loved his mother shows up and helps the sixteen-year-old.

Then one day, a miracle happens, and I'm going to leave it there . . . All the rest you discover in the first pages of BITTER HONEY, and I figure you'll want to read it straight through once you start it.

Here's an excerpt you might enjoy.
Finally, just he and she. Together. Bless the Lord.
“How have you been, Sam? Uh, they said in town that you weren’t married. Are you engaged?”
“No.” She giggled, but not a little girl’s giggle, more grown up and mature sounding. She gestured toward a chair. “You don’t beat around the bush, do you, Silas Mercier?”
“No need. I’ve loved you from the moment you stepped out of that carriage with your father five years ago.” He eased down then pointed to the box she held. “Got proof you loved me once. Has not hearing from me changed your heart?”
Without even a thought, she shook her head, just enough to barely move the curls covering her shoulders.
Her hair had been the first thing about her he loved, then her eyes and their sparkle like they had stars in them. Then she’d smiled . . . a lot like she was smiling right then.
That’s when he knew she was the one.

A Review: Another Great Read by Caryl McAdoo

Bitter Honey by Caryl McAdoo grabs the reader by the throat.  Caryl’s skill as a writer keeps us scrolling to the next chapter. What a compelling story of trouble and heartache that culminates in a very satisfactory ending! This reviewer truly enjoyed reading this book. 

  — Cass Wessel, avid Pennsylvania reader  

                                                              

Bio : Award-winning Author Caryl McAdoo prays her story brings God glory! And her best-selling novels are blessed with a lion’s share of 5-Star ratings! With forty-four-and-counting titles, she loves writing as well as singing the new songs the Lord gives her—listen to a few at YouTube. She and husband Ron share four children and eighteen grandsugars. The McAdoos live in the woods south of Clarksville, seat of Red River County, in far Northeast Texas, waiting expectantly for God to open the next door. 

Links :  Amazon - BookBub - Website - Newsletter - Readers’ Group -
YouTube (Hear Caryl sing her New Songs!) - Facebook

     

Part Two - Compound fractures and Anesthesia

Thank you to the Melnick Medical Museum for image

Part Two – Compound fractures and Anesthesia

In Part One, I introduced Doctor Joseph Lister who pioneered the use of carbolic acid for a cleaner surgical suite. Prior to his discoveries and techniques, most compound fractures—a fracture with an open wound at or near the fracture; any protruding bone qualifies—ended with amputation. 

When a doctor tried to save a limb, such a high percentage of such patients died from infections that would set in, he usually elected to cut it off instead of saving it—an excruciatingly painful procedure, but over quick enough.  

The use of inhalants to sedate a patient wasn’t an option before the 1840s. Before that, a patient might be given alcohol to dull the senses, but men had to literally hold the patient down for a doctor to operate.  

The highly flammable liquid ether, colorless and pleasant-smelling, can be vaporized into a gas that numbs pain but leaves patients conscious.

Although Georgia physician Crawford Williamson Long is credited with first using the drug to sedate his surgical patient while he removed a tumor from the man’s neck in 1842, he didn’t publish the successful results of his experiments until ’48. 

By that time, Boston dentist William T. G. Morton had gained fame for the first public demonstration of the use of ether in surgery. 

Interesting side note on anesthesia—The famous author Oliver Wendell Holmes, after witnessing Morton’s ether demo, called the process of putting a patient to an unconscious state to avoid pain of surgery “anesthesia” from the Greek word “anaisthesis”, meaning insensibility or the lack of sensation.    

So the news of the new use of ether spread—all the way to Scotland where an obstetrician, Sir James Young Simpson experimented with it to reduce the pain of labor. 

Chloroform is created by chlorination of methane gas and, like ether, is also a colorless, pleasant-smelling liquid. It works quicker with a narcotic-like effect on the central nervous system. 

Simpson tried it in place of the ether, continuing against the protests of other obstetricians and clergy. However, the method of administering it needed more skill as several times early on, it resulted in death. 

His research helped popularise its use around the world over ether, and by 1853, as physician to Queen Victoria, Simpson administrated chloroform to her during the birth of her eighth child.  

Though in the beginning ether proved safer than chloroform, once the proper dosages for the latter were mastered, it became the anesthetic of choice. Neither are used today as so many newer and more effective inhalants have been developed. 

In 1877, Doctor Joseph Lister (from Part One) operated on a fractured patella (kneecap) and wired the two bone fragments together with silver wire. If not for anesthesia (chloroform and ether) and his practice of antiseptic surgery, such an operation would have been considered torture. 

And the patient most likely would die a horrible death. But the surgery was a success! 

This and other such successful operations expanded the field of “open reduction*” (what they called treating a compound fracture) and it became commonplace instead of a rarity.     

*Wikipedia’s definition of “open reduction” – Reduction is a surgical procedure to repair a fracture or dislocation to the correct alignment. “Open reduction” is where the fracture fragments are exposed surgically by dissecting the tissues. And “Closed reduction” is the manipulation of the bone fragments without surgical exposure of the fragments.

I have been having so much fun researching medical practices and advancements in equipment for my upcoming (June 9, 2020) book A Bride for Jacob in the Nursing the Hearts collection series and was sure you'd find it as interesting! 

My next release is Bitter Honey, book 22 of the awesome, ongoing Lockets and Lace Collection series and my third contribution in as many years. Its heroine Samantha Adams was first introduced in UNIQUELY COMMON and then she also appeared in REMI. Now it's her turn for her own story.

It’s personally a milestone for me! My fiftieth title to be published! Ten traditionally and now forty as an independent since the fall of 2014!

Jacket Copy: With God, all things are possible.

But can lost love be found again or two wounded hearts knitted together? Young love, sweeter than honey, is separated by a natural disaster and turns bitter. After five years, a miracle reunites Samantha Adams and Silas Mercier, but it seems it’s too late. Will love prevail?

All 2020 Lockets and Lace Titles

20. Transforming Emma by Linda Carroll-Bradd

21. Cassie’s Surprise by Patricia PACJAC Carroll

22. Bitter Honey by Caryl McAdoo

23. Grace Uninmagined by Abagail Eldan

24. Ginger Snap by Marisa Masterson

25. Hannah’s Handkerchief by Zina Abbott

26. Willow’s Worth by Kimberly Grist

I’d like to invite y’all to a multi-author “March Book Launches Celebration” on Tuesday the 31st at this Facebook group--- Christian & Sweet-n-Clean Book Launches.  We’ll have lots of fun, games and giveaways! 

And save another date! April 6th the Lockets & Lace Launch Celebration at the Sweet Americana Book Club!  

BLESSINGS Y'ALL!

Bio: Praying her story gives God glory, hybrid author Caryl McAdoo writes in several genres, including Biblical fiction, contemporary Christian romance, young adults and mid-grade, and her most popular historical Christian romance----her family saga series are readers' favorites. Caryl's next book launching in March will be her fiftieth title published.

She and Ron, husband of fifty-plus years share four children and eighteen grandsugars, life's biggest blessings according to Caryl. The McAdoos live in the woods south of Clarksville, seat of Red River County, in the far northeast corner of Texas with five dogs and a plethora of barn cats.

Caryl loves hearing from readers! Contact her through any of these (following, subscribing, and liking):  Website   Amazon   BookBub   Facebook   

I'm Caryl McAdoo and I'm very pleased to welcome Christian author Jodie Wolfe to Sweet Americana Sweethearts with her new historical romance TAMING JULIA! (click title to buy at Amazon)
Here's the back cover copy to give you a good idea of the story:

In 1875, Kansas bachelor Drew Montgomery's sole desire is to serve God, but his congregation's ultimatum that he marry or leave, forces him to advertise for a wife by proxy.

Jules Walker strides into Drew's life wearing breeches and toting a gun and saddle---more cowboy than bride. After years on the trail, she's not exactly wife material, but she longs for home and family and will do anything to ensure Drew never discovers what she really is.

Sounds interesting, doesn't it? Here's a short excerpt to get a good sample of the author's voice:

Matrimony News, February 6, 1875 edition

Minister bachelor aged 27, height 5 feet 10 inches seeks genteel, honest and first-rate homemaker with a desire to serve God. Must be willing to marry by proxy and arrive in Burrton Springs, Kansas by May 1.
~*~

Burrton Springs, Kansas, Saturday, May 1, 1875

Dear Lord, please don’t let that creature be my new wife. Drew Montgomery swiped the sweat trickling a path down his neck and shoved the new hat back on his head. He squinted, taking in the lone passenger stepping from the stagecoach. At least, he thought it was a woman. He shielded his eyes from the sun, taking in the britches.

Britches? A gun belt strapped to a slim waist. He gulped. A rifle rested on her shoulder, and she wore a Stetson situated low on her brow. The figure shifted sideways, and Drew groaned, fearing his proxy mail-order bride had arrived by the look of all the curves. He squared his shoulders and crossed the street.

"Are you Montgomery?" Her coffee-brown gaze seared through him.

He snapped his gaping mouth shut and nodded. "Y-yes."

"Name’s Jules Walker." She shoved her hand into his and shook it so hard his teeth clattered. "I reckon, Jules Montgomery since we’re hitched." She waved a slip of paper in his face. "Got the paper here to prove it. So are you my husband or not?"

Drew caught a whiff of dirt. He coughed and cleared his throat.

She peered at him as if he were a chicken with one leg.

"I’m Drew." He managed to choke the words out. "Isn’t your name Julia?"

She scrunched her face, pushed her Stetson from her head, and allowed it to dangle from the string around her neck. Her brown hair scattered in disarray, slipping from a shoulder-length braid. "I can’t remember the last time I’ve been called Julia. Like I said, name’s Jules."

"But..." Drew let the word hang between them. No matter. "Where’re your things?"

"Got my knapsack and that there." She pointed to the top of the stagecoach. He expected to see a trunk, but a saddle rested there instead. What kind of woman brought a saddle into a marriage? What kind of woman showed up dressed like a man? No. No. Something was terribly wrong.

Here are a few more purchase links for Taming Julia:
https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Julia-Jodie-Wolfe-ebook/dp/B083L8MDD5
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/taming-julia-jodie-wolfe/1136004491?ean=9781522302711
https://pelicanbookgroup.com/ec/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=37_46&sort=&filter_id=671&alpha_filter_id=0
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Jodie_Wolfe_Taming_Julia?id=FH7IDwAAQBAJ

Now let's find out a bit more about Jodie Wolfe!
This author creates novels where hope and quirky meet. A member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), Romance Writers of America (RWA), and COMPEL Training, she's been a semi-finalist and finalist in various writing contests.

A former columnist for Home School Enrichment magazine, her articles can be found online at: Crosswalk, Christian Devotions, and Heirloom Audio. She's a contributor and co-founder of Stitches Thru Time blog. When not writing, she enjoys spending time with her husband in Pennsylvania, reading, walking, and being a Grammie. Learn more at www.jodiewolfe.com.

So you can make contact with her, here are social links for Jodie! Click on through and "Like", "Follow", and "Subscribe" where indicated! You'll be glad you did!
Website   Facebook   Twitter   Pinterest   Goodreads   Amazon Author Page

And a personal note from Jodie!
I thoroughly enjoyed researching the era (19th Century) and the whole mail-order bride possibility. How could a woman answer an advertisement, choosing to leave all she'd known in order to take a chance on love and find a new path in life?

How did she choose to leave the familiar and step into the unknown with someone she'd never met?

The more I studied stories and clippings from the past, the more my mind kept spinning with ideas. What would happen if a pastor was dictated by his congregation that if he wanted to keep his job, he had to find a wife by a certain time?

What if the wife he advertised for was completely different than what he expected? How would he handle it? That nugget of an idea is what spurred the inspiration for Taming Julia.

Thank you, Jodie, for joining us today! I pray your new story will be blessed! And you, too! Readers, get your copy of TAMING JULIA today and y'all will be blessed as well!
Thank you for visiting Sweet Americana Sweethearts! We LOVE our readers! Y'all leave Jodie an encouraging comment!

Old Time Medical Advancements - Part One - Cleanliness Practices and Stethoscopes

Thanks to Melnick Medical Museum for the surgical room image

Part One - Cleanliness Practices and Stethoscopes

The eighteen hundreds saw many advances in the healing arts.

One practice that has affected so many generations since came from England. Influenced by the Frenchman Louis Pasteur’s work, Doctor Joseph Lister began looking for a means to sterilize wounds. A common belief of the time was that exposure to ‘bad air’ caused infections in wounds. 

Dr. Lister didn’t believe that. After seeing that fields irrigated with sewage waste then sprayed with phenol (also known as carbolic acid) had no ill effect on the livestock that grazed it later, he began experimenting with the solution.

In August 1865, the doctor applied a piece of lint dipped in carbolic acid solution onto the wound of a boy who had a compound fracture at Glasgow Infirmary. No infection developed, and the child recovered. Lister advanced the movement toward modern surgical cleanliness practices by publishing six articles from March to July in 1867 in The Lancet, a weekly peer-reviewed medical journal still in publication today.

In addition to cleaning wounds, he pioneered sterilizing instruments and having assistants spray carbolic acid over the operating room. He instituted that surgeons wash their hands before and after performing any procedure, always wearing new gloves for each operation.

Modesty brought about a tool that no doctor nurse or paramedic is ever without today.

In 1816 French doctor, Rene Laennec at the Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital in Paris invented the stethoscope. Uncomfortable with putting his ear on the chests of the female patients in order to heart their heartbeat----the practice of the day----he used a rolled up a piece of paper instead. 

Like an old ear trumpet used by the hard of hearing in those days, the paper turned into a wooden tube Dr. Laennec called a stethoscope. (Stetho + scope “chest-scope”)

Several advances by other doctors of his invention came over the years, including a single flexible tube attached to better earpieces, standard by mid-century.

Then in 1852, George Philip Cammann perfected the design that uses two tubes that fit in both ears that is now the modern standard.

I've been having so much fun researching medical practices and advancements in equipment for my upcoming book A Bride for Jacob in the Nursing the Hearts collection series and was sure you'd find it as interesting! 

My next release is Bitter Honey, book 22 of the awesome, ongoing Lockets and Lace Collection series and my third contribution in as many years! Don't miss the Lockets and Lace COVER REVEAL CELEBRATION on February 24th at our Facebook group, the Sweet Americana Book Club!  

BLESSINGS Y'ALL!

Bio: Praying her story gives God glory, hybrid author Caryl McAdoo writes in several genres, including Biblical fiction, contemporary Christian romance, young adults and mid-grade, and her most popular historical Christian romance----her family saga series are readers' favorites. Caryl's next book launching in March will be her fiftieth title published.

She and Ron, husband of fifty-plus years share four children and eighteen grandsugars, life's biggest blessings according to Caryl. The McAdoos live in the woods south of Clarksville, seat of Red River County, in the far northeast corner of Texas with five dogs and a plethora of barn cats.

Caryl loves hearing from readers! Contact her through any of these (following, subscribing, and liking):  website   Amazon   BookBub   Facebook   

American Travel in the Nineteenth Century - Part 1: Wagons

From the earliest of times, mankind has had a wanderlust, a need to see what’s over the next hill or if the next valley might be greener than the one they’re in. But those men—and the few women—who have traveled over great distances always proved few and far between before the development of travel.

Before the Nineteenth Century in the United States, most folks spent their entire lives within twenty miles of where they were born--the distance a wagon could travel in a day with dry weather conditions and rested draft animals. A horse and rider could do twice that in a hard day, but only a fool or desperate man would push his mount that hard too many days in a row.

Roads posed the biggest problem, usually nothing more than raw cleared, traffic-packed. They soon became rutted and easily washed out in hard rains. But in the first twenty years of the 1800s, men in the New England area built thirty-seven hundred miles of toll roads. And little by little, with the additions of good base and top gravel or bricks, country and town roads improved as well.

Every family, with the possible exception of those who lived right ‘in’ town, had a wagon to get around. They'd ride into town for supplies, go visiting a neighbor, or take the family to church on Sundays. Harnessed horses or mules usually pulled those wagons along. The better the roads got, the faster they could get from one place to another.

As more and more people came to America from all over the world, many wanted to move further out from the crowded New England states, out where they could buy land cheaper, settle on it and farm it. Or if they went far enough, they might get a grant and claim a piece of it for their own. Many of the territories and places like the Republic of Texas offered free land to attract the pioneers.

To travel those long distances to new territories, wagons needed to be bigger and have shelter from the elements, so metal frames were attached, and thick canvases pulled over them. The 'cover' protected not just the travelers, but all their supplies—food, water, furniture, and tools—necessary for the journey then setting up new homes once they arrived.

The wooden wagons were typically four feet wide, ten feet long, and its canvas gave the travels seven to eight feet in height. Some might be as wide as six feet and as long as fifteen feet. Not very much room to store all the provisions pioneers would even need for the trip, much less once they arrived at their destination.

They’re romantically referred to as prairie schooners.

Once the traveler acquired a wagon, he needed something to pull it. Horses had been used mostly on the farm, and they were fast, but required extra grain. That grain would take up too much valuable space in the wagon. Plus, they weren’t as sturdy as mules who could travel twice the distance in a day—twenty miles.

Mules though were often obstinate and would bolt at times, but for the treacherous climbs proved more surefooted. Mules did need some grain—not as much as their equine cousins though, and Indians didn’t steal them as often as horses. And they could take the heat better than the third option to pull the wagon . . . a team of oxen.

Now oxen were strong and sturdy and could subsist longer on poorer grasses. They were slower at fifteen miles a day, but almost never ran off or got stolen by natives. The favorite of most emigrants, oxen pulled one-half to three-quarters of the wagons going west during the mid-1800s!

As for cost, mules brought the highest price, then horses, and the oxen were cheapest at twenty-five to sixty-five dollars per yoke (two animals).

A prudent man would do his best to have seven yoke to pull his wagon, starting out from Missouri traveling the Oregon or California Trail.

Why? Because many would die on the way. Those would be eaten. But a wise man would have enough animals to get him all the way, over two thousand miles of rugged terrain, across rivers, and over mountains. The sojourner who traveled so far in a covered wagon embodies the essence of the American spirit.

I rode the Oregon Trail last year and blogged about my journey. If you like covered wagons, you might enjoy those. Here's the first: Carylin' On the Oregon Trail Day One  To read more, search for that same title (without the 'Day One').

BLESSINGS!

GIVEAWAY: As a special gift for my readers today, I’ve arranged for my Prairie Roses Collection story REMI to be free at Amazon. It’s a wonderful story of romance, hardships, and tragedy along the Oregon / California Trail in 1851. I hope you enjoy it and will share the link with your friends!

Caught between a wagon train and the deep blue sea, Agnes Remington Dalrumple--Remi for short--chooses the overland journey west over crossing the Atlantic with her mother and step-father. Though she’s never been on her own, she decides to go to California and try to find the father she’s never known.

Thwarted at every turn, almost every effort is dashed until a widower’s thirteen-year-old daughter intervenes on her behalf. How can the headstrong woman place herself under the responsibility of the young girl’s father, a perfect stranger? But if she doesn’t, her journey ends right there in Saint Joseph, Missouri. On the Oregon/California Trail, will her pride and independence deter her from the destiny God has prepared?

Asher Adams, a widower with two daughters and a desire to start anew has sold everything he owns and is headed to California with his recently wed sister and her husband. She and his girls conspire every step of the way, hoping he will find someone to be a companion and friend. Remi fits the bill as far as all the women in his life are concerned, but is it too soon?

REMI--while both are stand-alone books, continues the story of UNIQUELY COMMON with the same characters but different hero and heroine. Readers will enjoy reading both!

Bio: Award-winning author Caryl McAdoo prays her story gives God glory! Her best-selling novels are blessed with a lion’s share of 5-Star ratings! Her forty-nine titles surely do just that as Caryl’s faith and trust in God shine through her characters who readers love.

She enjoys writing as well as singing the new songs the Lord gives her—listen to a few at YouTube. With husband Ron, she produced four children who’ve given her eighteen grandsugars. The McAdoos live in the woods south of Clarksville, seat of Red River County, in far Northeast Texas, waiting expectantly for God to open the next door. 

FRONTIER COMMERCE: The TRADING POSTS

When I think of a trading post, I think of the American west, nineteenth century, but in fact there were many that cropped up in the Northeast eighteenth century as pilgrims came over the ocean to the “New World.”

They served the communities as entrepreneurs with enough money to stock all sorts of goods needed by the growing population.

Trade bridged the cultures between the native tribal nations and ever-moving westward settlers on the frontier. The trading posts became cultural centers where neighbors might come from a sixty-mile radius by horse-drawn wagon.

They’d average twenty miles a day if the wagons were light, the terrain was good, and they didn’t plan on doing it more than two or three days in a row.

Travel alone might take a week there and back, so customers were treated well with many trading post owners offering a place to stay the night and sometimes, even supper and breakfast as well.

When a pioneer traveled to the trading post, they usually stayed a while, catching up on all the news and politics of the day.

Much like our modern-day Sam’s or Walmart, wares such as peaches or tobacco were often offered as samples to boost sales.

Trading post often sprung up along rivers or on creeks. The creaking floorboards were plenty scuffed, and the shelves filled to the brim with dishes—plain and fancy, sewing notions, toys, clothes, and shoes and boots.

Horse collars, frying pans, and oil lamps might be hung from the ceiling to make use of every single bit of room under roof. Jewelry, candies, and artwork might be in a glass-front counter piled high on top with bolts of fabric, skeins of wool, and blankets or quilts.

Burlap bags of seeds and feed with bales of cotton to be spun lined the wide porches between benches and tables where visitors gathered to take a load off and maybe play a game or two. If the trader didn’t have what a customer needed, he’d get it.

A lot of these goods were “traded” for something besides government-issued coins—thus the name “trading post.” Barter was a well-used method of getting what you didn’t have with something you did.

Farmers brought in seeds from their crops and the produce of their fields, corn, potatoes, .

Some proprietors—the better, longer-lasting ones—were filled with integrity and well-trusted, others were not, just as we have today.

The latter didn’t usually make a go of it in a community. One excellent trading post owner in one of my stories I particularly remember—a heart-stopping scene in HEARTS STOLEN (book two in the Texas Romance Family Saga).

It takes place in Mt. Pleasant, Texas at the Titus Trading Post and involves two well-known heroes, Texas Rangers Levi Baylor and his sidekick, Wallace Rusk.

Here’s a short excerpt:

Levi stopped at the trading post’s front porch and glanced down the street while Wallace strolled on toward the diner. Rose and Laura hadn’t started back yet. He had a bit of time to see if Titus had any news.

He turned to go inside, then froze at the sight he witnessed through the store’s big front window. He cupped his hand over his mouth and whistled two low notes.

Wallace stopped, spun, and pulled his pistol. Levi drew his own and busted through the front door.

Nick Ward had that Arkansas toothpick of his held to some lady’s throat. Andrew Titus was pulling gold coins from behind his display cabinet and stacking them on the counter.

Levi pointed his pistol at Ward. “Drop the knife, Nick.”

“Hey, what do you know? It’s the boy ranger.” He turned the lady toward him. “You ain’t going to shoot. You’d kill her. Then I’d cut you into little pieces.”

Levi stepped closer. The lady pled with her eyes. Obvious terror kept her from speaking. “Do as I say, Nick, or you’re a dead man.”

Ward extended his left hand, exposing a small revolver, and smiled his wicked grin. “Looks like we got ourselves a Mexican standoff, Baylor.”

“I don’t think so.”

Ward’s mouth opened, but before a word passed his lips, his head jerked skyward. He dropped both knife and gun. The lady skedaddled. Wallace walked around from behind him.

OH, and as a bit of early bird knowledge, HEARTS STOLEN will be on sale for 99c (regularly $4.99) beginning THIS COMING Sunday and will be on sale seven days! If you haven’t read this one, it’s one you won’t want to miss! Of my forty-seven titles, one of my top three favorites!

GIVEAWAY: I'll choose one of the commenters to send a GIFT COPY of HEARTS STOLEN!

BIO : Award-winning Author Caryl McAdoo prays her story brings God glory! And her best-selling novels are blessed with a lion’s share of 5-Star ratings! With forty-four-and-counting titles, she loves writing as well as singing the new songs the Lord gives her—listen to a few at YouTube. She and husband Ron share four children and eighteen grandsugars. The McAdoos live in the woods south of Clarksville, seat of Red River County, in far Northeast Texas, waiting expectantly for God to open the next door. 

LINKS :  Amazon -  BookBub - Website - Newsletter - Influencers’ Group - YouTube: (Hear Caryl sing her New Songs!) - Facebook - Twitter

September Special for Some Lockets & Lace Books

Many of the authors who wrote for the series, 

Lockets & Lace 

in 2019 have joined together to provide you this reduced price special.

These books will be on sale from at least September 16th through September 20th, although a few may stay on sale longer. 

If you have not yet read all the 2019 Lockets & Lace books, now is an excellent time to purchase them at this special price. Already read and loved these Lockets & Lace books? 

Now is a great time to buy them as a gift for someone special to you who also loves to read American historical romance.

Click on the book titles below to be directed to the story description and

purchase link:

Sandra's Journey ~ Patricia PacJac Carroll

Joy, Unending ~ Abagail Eldan

Uniquely Common ~ Caryl McAdoo

Taming a Scandal ~ Linda Carroll-Bradd

The Outlaw's Letter ~ Angela Raines

A Promised Land ~ Kimberly Grist

Driving Lillian ~ Sophie Dawson

A Promise of Home - P. Creeden 

Virginia's Vocation ~ Zina Abbott

PLEASE CLICK HERE

to find our Lockets & Lace page.

Sign up to be notified of when the Lockets & Lace books for 2020 will be available.

Also, PLEASE CLICK HERE

to join the 

Sweet Americana Book Club 

group on Facebook. We post a lot of good stuff there, too. 

Carylin' on the Oregon / California Trail - Day Six

Caryling on the Oregon Trail

DAY 6

Though we were gone many more days, this is the last day I'll be sharing here on our incredible, awesome research journey on the Oregon / California Trail. On this day we broke off from the Oregon Trail and went south on the California Trail for the rest of our trip.

Near Fort Hall was where the wagon trains had a parting of the ways, some going north if  Oregon was their destination or south for the wagons going on to California.

We woke up in Pocatello, Idaho, where the actual Fort Hall is now on the Shoshone-Bannock Indian Reservation about thirty miles away and is inaccessible general public without special permits.

But a replica was built in the city in the in 1960s. We visited the public museum there. Once we left, we got to Nevada very quickly.

I finally got to see the actual tracks of the wagons near Wells, Nevada. There'd been lots of places where you could see them before, but since we took our trip in December, our choices were more limited.

We had to drive a ways out of Wells, Nevada, but what a thrilling sight! The double tracks worn into the packed earth almost two hundred years ago by wagon trains passing through.

It looks like an old farm road you might see here in Red River County where I live in a Texas farming community---well, minus the mountains on the horizon. You can see the "California Trail" marker bottom center to verify this is the real deal.

This was one of my favorite places of all the sights we’d seen!

We followed the Snake River, just as the wagon trains did. A part of the actual trail is beneath the highway we rode on.

Soon we got to Massacre Rock, so-called because of the narrow passage between the rocks, only wide enough for one wagon at a time.

The gap was called the Devil’s Gate or Gate of Death. It’s a State Park now.

A little farther on the highway, we stopped at Register Rock.

This place was a wonderful place for the wagons to stop and spend a day or two of rest as it proved to be a prime camping area.


Sojourners carved their names and dates on rocks in this park as so many had on Independence Rock, but here you could get up close.

Though the biggest rocks are behind a chain-link fence and covered with a tabernacle type roof to preserve it, protecting it from modern-day people who would carve their names.

I wondered if those who carved their names so long ago had thought that an author doing research for a book about traveling on the Oregon / California Trail might come by one day and take a photo of their name almost two centuries after they’d done the deed.

With her phone, no less!

By now the settlers had traveled about twelve hundred miles of their two thousand mile journey and the hardest part still lay ahead of them.

I would have hated knowing I couldn’t change my mind and go back where I had come from.
The only option was to go forward.

This is where they entered the ‘Great Basin’, following the Humbolt River that eventually just disappears into the ground. Its water turned very alkaline.

Then they faced the Forty-Mile Desert. The extreme heat was tough on the people but especially on the oxen as they’ve been working hard for many months.

To avoid it, they rested during the day and only traveled at night, pushing to get across the waterless desert in as little time as possible.

To lighten the load, after carrying their possessions all that way, they started emptying the wagons, leaving furniture and precious items behind on the trail along the way.

They thought that was surely the worst of it.

But the weary travelers got through that dreadful place, the Sierra Nevada Mountains stood in front of them.

The Shoshone tribe helped the settlers find water and food once across the desert.

As we drove, I couldn’t imagine how the wagons would have climbed those mountains.

At one of the hardest, highest spots, they took the wheels off the wagons and used great logs to roll the wagons up, oxen pulling from the top, men pushing from below, until each wagon got over the steep climb.

In my Prairie Roses Collection Collection contribution titled REMI! This is the place where they celebrate, looking down over the beautiful California valley on the west side of the mountain.

My characters, Asher and Remi plan on settling in the Napa Valley. They carried grape stock to plant a vineyard there. This is a story you won’t want to miss!

And you meet Remi toward the end of my Lockets and Lace Collection (all Sweet Americana Sweetheart bloggers) title UNIQUELY COMMON.  So read UNIQUELY COMMON first, then REMI! And enjoy! 

Bio: Award-winning Author Caryl McAdoo prays her story brings God glory! And her best-selling novels are blessed with a lion’s share of 5-Star ratings! With forty-three-and-counting titles, she loves writing as well as singing the new songs the Lord gives her—listen to a few at YouTube. She and husband Ron share four children and eighteen grandsugars. The McAdoos live in the woods south of Clarksville, seat of Red River County, in far Northeast Texas, waiting expectantly for God to open the next door. 

Contact Caryl: Amazon  Website  Facebook  BookBub  Newsletter  Influencers Group
   

 

Carylin' on the Oregon Trail - Day Five

After such a grand Day Four and Independence Rock, we awoke in Rock Springs on Thursday, December 20th, had an awesome breakfast and hit the road . . . or the Oregon Trail. The landscape turned from rocks everywhere to a few trees here and there. In the 1850s when wagon trains traveled our direction, fires for cooking were important.

More trees meant more wood to gather for cook fires.

Fort Bridger was our first stop that morning in Unita County, the southern-western-most corner in Wyoming.

I introduced Jim Bridger in the last installment as the guide for the U.S. Army when they were searching for the best way through the territory for the wagon trains.

He is honored there with a full statue.

Mister Bridger established a trading post on the Black Fork of the Green River in 1842, and the Army, a military post in 1858 during the Utah War, also known as the Utah Expedition, Buchanan's Blunder, the Utah Campaign, ot the Mormon War or Rebellion.

It basically was a non-bloody confrontation of the soldiers President Buchanan sent to Utah to negotiate and the Mormons who suspected they were to be slaughtered, having been persecuted before in other areas.

It became a vital re-supply point for the settlers heading west. Fort Bridger served the area until 1890 when it closed.

At that time William Clayton was named sutler, a civilian merchant who sold provisions. 

About twenty minutes (for us----more like two days for the settlers) out of Ft. Bridger, the landscape changed again to abundant scrubby evergreens that would have been used for fuel to save the gathered wood.

From there, we traveled north toward Ft. Hall.

It was a boring stretch for sightseeing. On the way though, we stopped in Montiplier, Idaho where there's a wonderful Oregon/California Trail museum.

Bear Lake there served as a resting place for the wagon train sojourners with lush meadows and water aplenty.

No doubt they had their fill of fish for supper, for which I'm sure they were profoundly grateful.

It is estimated that conservatively, twenty thousand souls died on the Oregon/California Trail; illness was the most common cause, accidents next. Smallpox, influenza, measles, mumps, tuberculosis claimed many lives, but cholera was the worst.

Being run over by a wagon was the number one cause of accidental deaths with accidental gunshot wounds coming in second. The deceased were often buried directly under the trail so the dirt would be hard packed, protecting the body from scavengers.

Imagine a wife losing her husband or worse, losing a child on the trail.

In UNIQUELY COMMON and REMI, the two books released in April and May, they had to quarantine the wagons once for measles, and two minor characters died from them. Another man was killed in an accident. It proved a hard, merciless journey.

The two titles have different heroes and heroines, but the same group of folks, you'll enjoy spending more time with! Each is a stand-alone, but UNIQUELY COMMON, a Lockets and Lace Collection story, could be read first to keep the stories in order. I hope you can tell how much the trip we made on the Oregon / California Trail enriches Remi's story.

BLESSINGS!