Mother's Day Sale on 2020 Lockets & Lace Books

The authors who wrote for the series,

Lockets & Lace

in 2020 are pleased to announce a special sale in time for

Mother’s Day

Now is a great time to pick up all the 2020 Lockets & Lace books for the low price of $.99 each. If you already own all of these books, consider purchasing a set for your friends and family for this special day.

The books are on sale from May 4 through May 8, although several authors might keep them on sale through Mother’s Day. 

Purchase your books early and enjoy!

Please click on each book title to find the full book description and purchase link.

Transforming Emma by Linda Carroll-Bradd

Her father pushes her to marry a man who handles meat distribution.

He can’t believe how much she’s changed and despairs she might now be unreachable.

 

Cassie’s Surprise by Patricia PacJac Carroll

A wagon train with unmarried daughters. Add two wranglers selling horses equals a six months trip across the continent full of surprises.

 

Bitter Honey by Caryl McAdoo

Young love, sweeter than honey, is separated by a natural disaster and turns bitter. Can lost love be found again or two wounded hearts knitted together?

 

Grace, Unimagined by Abagail Eldan

Their futures were bleak until grace entered the picture…

Grace, Unimagined.

 

 

Hannah’s Handkerchief by Zina Abbott

Was she too young to know who she should marry?

With his life constantly in danger, must he expect no commitment from the woman he loved?

 

Ginger Snap by Marisa Masterson

She’s trapped, living a lie for her family.

He didn’t count on a boarding house filled with crazy animals, train robbers, or a beautiful woman who disappears.

 

Willow’sWorth by Kimberly Grist

Can a matchmaking agency really help two independent people realize the opposing desires of their hearts?

GINGER SNAP by Marisa Masterson RELEASE DAY

She's trapped in a lie to provide for her family. 

How can God still love and bless her?

Ginger Snap is a story of a girl realizing her worth, both in the eyes of God and to the man who is drawn to her. 

I've always loved the play, As You Like It, by William Shakespeare. Borrowing the idea of a girl forced to dress as a boy, I created a heroine, Ginger, who is forced to pose as her dead brother. For the first time in a long while, she is comfortable and well-fed--all because she's lying.

When Ginger overhears the plans of thieves, she runs for her life. Just when she'd hoped to appear at a dance as a girl. She'd like the new lawyer in town, Theo, to see her as a woman. 

Will the lawyer be able to rescue her if she can't save herself? Can she trust the Lord to protect her even though she's broken a commandment?

Here's a short snippet:

With three cows to milk and two dozen hens, Ginger and Willard took milk, butter, and eggs into town twice a week. This allowed them to have luxuries such as sugar, something she’d rarely tasted at home in Tennessee.

At times, Ginger felt like an Israelite entering the land of milk and honey. With the plentiful food, she’d begun to round out. The bindings became a necessity now as her bosom developed. Ironically, she daily became more womanly even while Ginger pretended to be a man.

Things had never been better. So why did it eat at something deep inside of her?

Life, she was discovering, was funny that way. Her ma had taught her that liars and cheaters didn’t prosper, yet she and the others had never been better. And it was all because she was misrepresenting herself to the lawyer and the entire population of Kearney Junction each time she went into town.

Step Pappy, scamp that he was, had managed to set up a still soon after they arrived at the farm. He’d used the extra corn stored on one side of the small granary to cook up his mash. Since then, boys from town began visiting to drink and carouse after dark. It was another reason Wiley Snap was so jolly these days. He had a new bunch of young men to corrupt.

At home in the Hollow, she’d seldom went to town. Her family didn’t attend church, and she and her brother rarely attended school. Especially not after they were eight or nine. They could read enough and cipher some. It would get them by. At least, that’s what her father figured.

The family did own a large family bible, something Wiley Snap also sold in Camden. Ginger’s mother used it to further her children’s reading. Guy fidgeted and pleaded to go outside during those lessons.

Not Ginger. She read the scriptures faithfully. Verses she’d memorized came back to her lately. It was one more reason she knew that her deception was wrong. 

https://www.amazon.com/Ginger-Snap-Lockets-Lace-Book-ebook/dp/B083V63YVG

 

Release Day for HANNAH'S HANDKERCHIEF by Zina Abbott

Announcing the release of my latest Lockets and Lace book:

Hannah's Handkerchief 

by Zina Abbott

Book 24 in the series.

 

About Hannah's Handkerchief:

With her blonde hair and blue eyes, Hannah Atwell, a Kansas farmer’s daughter, knows she is pretty—and she enjoys pretty things. She spent her life striving to be the perfect, obedient daughter. She feels she is destined for something more than being a farmer’s wife living in a soddie.

While at a party held at Fort Riley, Kansas, to celebrate the end of the Civil War, Hannah begins to question if always doing what she is told is to her advantage. The special event, complete with dancing with handsome young officers and a chaste kissing fundraiser for the Sanitary Commission, opens Hannah’s eyes to possibilities for her life as surely as Lieutenant Jake Burdock captures her heart. She impulsively offers him her handkerchief as a token of her regard. Missed connections, parents who want her to marry locally and warn against the intentions of some Army officers, and dealing with those close to her who have suffered combat injuries conspire to drive her away from Jake. Only the letters they exchange seem to keep them connected.

Not long after the dance, Jake, who works under Captain Prescott, the quartermaster at Fort Riley, is assigned to duty at the frontier forts in western Kansas. There, many of the living quarters are more primitive than a Kansas soddie. Supplying the uniforms, supplies, horses and mules the soldiers need is challenging at best. In spite of the hardships involved, the Army is Jake’s chosen career. With his life constantly at risk, must he sacrifice his chance to share his life with the young woman who had won his heart? 

Excerpt:

          Hannah turned seventeen two months earlier. For her, this dance would be comparable to a cotillion, or a coming out social such as she had read took place among the aristocracy in Britain or even high society in this country. This event would mark her entry into womanhood and availability to be courted. Since moving to Salina, she knew of a few local girls who married at her age. Hannah had no one she wished to marry at this time, but she was open to the idea, if she could find the right man.

          However, her parents had let it be known they preferred she wait until she was a few years older to be courted. From comments made, she gathered they worried she would want to marry the first boy she felt attracted to, only to discover later, after it was too late, she did not really love him and had chosen poorly.

          Hannah smiled at the thought. It was already too late for her to insist on marrying the first young man who had caught her fancy. For several years now, she found boys fascinating. A few of them had sent her giddy with infatuation. As much as she sought to spend time with them, she had not wished to marry any.

          Hannah opened her carpetbag. She fingered the book but rejected it in favor of her latest embroidery project, a handkerchief she was doing in pink flowers and green stems and leaves. She had already rolled and hemmed the edges but had not yet crocheted a lacy border on it. She pulled out the smaller bag holding her project, her thread, and scissors, and forced herself to sit in the chair. Twisting to catch the light from the window, she continued the floral design on the third corner.

          Perhaps after tonight, Mama and Papa will stop saying I need to wait until I’m older before I’m ready to choose a husband. After all, I’ve tried to show how willing I am to listen to them by being as obedient as possible.

          As a thought struck, Hannah dropped her hands holding the project in her lap, causing her needle to prick her. She jerked her finger away and raised it to her lips to lick the drop of blood from her broken skin.

          What if the reason her parents did not think she was ready to make her own decisions was because she always tried to be obedient? What if they believed, because she seldom acted independently, especially when it came to going against their wishes, she did not know how to think for herself? What if they thought she was incapable of knowing her own mind—knowing what she truly wanted from life?

Hannah's Handkerchief is now available from Amazon. To find the book link,

Please CLICK HERE.

The following are my books in the Lockets and Lace series:

 

Prequel: The Bavarian Jeweler 

(Click on the book cover in the right sidebar to download your free copy)

Book 3: Otto's Offer

Book 19: Virginia's Vocation

Grace, Unimagined by Abagail Eldan RELEASE DAY

In a moment of tragedy, Grace Jansen's life changes 

in a way she never imagined. 

This is a story of finding hope and love 

even in our darkest moments.

Authors are often asked where their ideas for books come from. Most of the time I answer that they are in the very air around us, ready to be plucked and put into a book. In the case of Grace, Unimagined, I was channel surfing and came across a documentary on Ruth Bader Ginsburg that revealed her brother was chosen to attend college, and she was not. That became the seed, the inspiration for this story. 

Also, woven into this story is the conclusion of the Three Sisters Series that includes two other Lockets & Lace books, Melly, Unyielding and Joy, Unending, the story that began in Abby and Joshua.

Here's a short synopsis:

Grace Jensen longs to be a doctor, but her dream died long ago when her brother is sent instead. When her brother squanders his opportunity, the responsibility for her family's welfare comes to rest solely upon Grace's shoulders.

Ward is not sure of his true name after he was struck with an ax at a young age. Many cannot bear to see his devastating scar, and he walks alone. He never imagines what awaits when he arrives in River City, Texas.

Grace, Unimagined.

And here's an excerpt:

From the road came a sound of hooves and the creak of a wagon. Grace's horse neighed as the wagon came toward them, and the moon clearly defined two men sat on the seat. She straightened and strained to see if it was Mr. Taron. It was not.

As the wagon drew nearer and swerved around to the side of the house where she stood, her brother’s features grew clearer. Even without the light of the moon, she would have recognized him by the reek of whiskey as the wagon came to a stop.

He jumped down, stumbled before he righted himself, and then raked his fingers through his disheveled, thick, dark hair. The other man set the brake, looped the lines, and quickly climbed down.

He was a stranger and, although he acknowledged her presence with a nod, rudely did not remove his hat. “Miss, we wish to speak to Mrs. Babbitt. It’s urgent,” he said. His gaze did not tarry on her long but went back to the wagon as if he guarded it.

“Mrs. Babbitt? Dr. Robbie, you mean?” His words made fear catch in her throat. She swallowed hard. “Is it about her husband?”

“Go get her, Sis,” her brother said, his words clearly enunciated despite his drunken state. His eyes were serious and held something more, were haunted, if she had not known better.

She swallowed hard, shook her head, and tossed her brother the horse’s reins, and hurried to the side of the wagon. A lantern hung on the back, and the stranger, without speaking, unhooked it and held it so light flooded the wagon bed. Her fingers tightened on the wagon’s side as she recognized Mr. Taron.

Without thought, she clambered into the back and felt for Mr. Babbitt’s pulse, finding none. She lowered her head to listen for a breath, to look for the rise and fall of his chest, no matter how slight, but he was still, and all was silent eerily so.

Then a wolf or large dog howled in the distance. She raised her head to listen, and a sadness intermingled with longing, a longing for something she could not name, could not delineate.

She sat back on her heels. “He’s dead,” she pronounced, dispassionately.

“Are you sure?” her brother asked. He’d come around to stand next to the strange man.

Her brother was slim and tall, over six feet, but the stranger was taller by a good two inches and his shoulders broader. Everything came into sharp focus, the gray wagon, her brother’s forlorn face, the stranger whose hat obscured his face, the horse whose reins her brother still held, and the velvet darkness stretching beyond into infinity. The cool breeze stung her face with a million tiny needles.

She refocused on her brother, looked down at the body that had once held the life of Mr. Taron, and nodded. “I’ve been working for Dr. Robbie long enough to recognize death.”Without speaking, the stranger came to the back of the wagon and raised a hand to help her down. She took it, glad of it, happy to feel the warm grasp, to be brought back from the brink, from the precipice between death and life, and hovered on the edge of the wagon, reorienting herself. She glanced down, to thank the man, when the words caught in her throat. With his free hand, he’d raised the lantern and his face was tilted to her, illuminated, ghostly and pale, with eyes that were neither blue nor green, but a vivid turquoise, as luminous and bright as her mother’s best silk dress bought before her father’s death, an unworldly color, rare and haunting. 

Released today! ~ Abagail

Release Day for Transforming Emma, Book 20 of Lockets & Lace series

Raised a tomboy on a central Texas ranch, Emmaleigh Wallache returns from a year’s visit during which her Bostonian aunt introduced her to a life of culture—fulfilling her late mother’s wish. Her father’s secret goal is to marry her off to the son of a meat packer to guarantee his ranch’s success. Although happy for her time spent in society, Emmaleigh struggles to discover where she truly belongs.

Foreman Brett Haynes, who has waited until Emma turned eighteen so he can reveal his caring feelings, can’t believe the changes a year made. Gone is the spunky girl who raced him through fields or swung from ropes over the swimming hole. He has nothing in common with this sophisticated young woman and despairs she is unreachable. Can he remind her of life’s simpler moments and win over the heart he has always thought of as belonging to him?

I had such fun writing these characters who rediscovered each other after being apart and maturing from their youthful infatuation.

Excerpt:

The faint, but steady, rhythm of galloping horses grew louder in the early afternoon air. A flash of color showed in a copse of mesquite trees and then disappeared into a small gully. Seconds later, six horses emerged, followed by a red coach painted with yellow accents of the Bain and Company line. Near Spengler’s blacksmith shop at the edge of town, the team slowed to a trot then eased to a walk.

He sucked in a deep breath. Brett brushed a hand over his shirt and dusted the top of his boots against the backs of his pantlegs. So many months had passed—eighteen in total. The image of a teary-eyed Emma, seated at her father’s side, waving goodbye from the buggy passed through Brett’s mind. He’d ridden as far as the wooden arch marking the southern entrance to the ranch and watched with stinging eyes as Kurt Wallache drove his only daughter into town…and out of his life. The boss’s explanation of satisfying his late wife’s wish for Emma to receive special cultural training had never made much sense. What in blue blazes did a Texas ranch wife need to know about big city culture?

Water splashed as the wheels rolled through puddles of snowmelt. “Whoa there.” The stocky driver pulled back on the reins a couple of rods down the street. The chains on the whippletree clanked.

The horses stopped parallel to the square loading platform that jutted four feet into the street. Steam puffed from their nostrils like from a boiling tea kettle, making an erratic huffing melody.

More excited than he wanted to admit, Brett tugged on the front of his long coat just to keep his hands busy. What he wished he could do was storm the stagecoach and yank open the door so he didn’t have to wait another moment to see Emma’s beautiful face. But he didn’t want to scare her with his brashness. Instead, he leaned a shoulder against the stage office wall and watched as the driver hopped down and took his time checking the harness and double-trees before moving to the coach door.

The lean shotgun rider alighted and moved to the back to unbuckle the straps holding the luggage.

On this cool day, all the leather window flaps were lowered to keep the inside as warm as possible.

First to climb out were a couple of familiar ranchers, Misters Pallaton and Fremont, with whom he had a nodding acquaintance. An action he made in deference to his position as foreman of a prominent nearby ranch. The next two passengers were chatty women with upswept hairdos and hats with doo-dads and gee-gaws that looked like they were ready for a fancy-dress ball.

The driver held the elbow of an elderly woman who set down a cane into the wooden step before disembarking.

Then no one else emerged.

Where was Emma? He pushed off from the wall, strode to the coach, and stuck his head inside. Empty. He eased to a stand, disappointment slumping his shoulders. Had she missed this morning’s stage in San Antonio?

~o0o~

Aunt Nadine often commented how Emmaleigh matured during her time spent in Boston—a three-month visit that kept being extended until a year and a half passed since she left her hometown. So, maybe Emmaleigh understood how Brett overlooked her. After walking right by the man who’d taught her to ride and rope and seeing him not give as much as a double take, Emmaleigh positioned herself near the stagecoach office door. Waiting for Brett to recognize her, she resisted glancing at her reflection in the office window.

For years, they’d been best friends and spent hours together daily. True, though, she’d left Texas dressing and acting like a tomboy. But upon arriving at Aunt Nadine’s, she’d been admonished about the inappropriateness of her split skirts, chambray blouses, and square-toed boots. Aunt Nadine went into a tizzy about the inadequateness of her brother’s handling of his only daughter.

Even before tea was served, the maid provided warm water to refresh herself then helped Emmaleigh into an acceptable dress and touched up her hairdo. She whisked away the offensive clothes, stating the mistress ordered them be saved for the church’s poor box.

Although she’d fought the new clothing styles at first, Emmaleigh gradually came around to her aunt’s way of thinking. Young women of good breeding and means needed to dress the part. Emmaleigh had grown used to fabrics of finer weaves and intricate dress styles designed to accent her recently acquired curves. Granted, her wardrobe was more sophisticated, but had she really changed that much?

As he passed, she’d noted he now wore his thick hair longer and his skin glowed tan from spending time outdoors. Growing older broadened his shoulders and sharpened his features, but Brett Haynes was still the most handsome man she’d ever met. His ever-present red kerchief hung around his neck.

Seeing Brett inspecting the empty coach prompted her to give up on being recognized. She gave her braided bun a pat before smoothing a hand over her burgundy velveteen knee-length coat with mother-of-pearl buttons. The modiste Aunt Nadine hired assured Emmaleigh the color complimented her fair complexion. Squaring her shoulders, she glided to the center of the platform and tucked her hands into a rabbit fur muff.

Brett turned and scanned the platform and boardwalk, his gaze finally settling on the lone waiting person. First, his brown eyes popped wide and then, his jaw dropped an inch or so.

His surprise looked as comical as Lord Dundreary in “Our American Cousin” which she’d seen at the Globe Theater last month.

“Emma?” After thumbing back the brim of a broad-brimmed, ranch hat, he tromped closer and leaned down to squint at her face. “What in tarnation have you done to yourself? Is that rouge painted on your cheeks?” He crossed his arms and shook his head. “If your father sees that, he will turn you over his knee.”

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Amazon buy link