#NewRelease MERCY: BRIDE OF IDAHO by @JacquieRogers #mailorderbride

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With Mercy and Patience...
by Jacquie Rogers

2016 is here and let me tell you, 2015 went out with a bang.  Mercy: Bride of Idaho debuted #1 on the Amazon Hot New Releases for Victorian Romance.  Awesome!

Mercy: Bride of Idaho

This book was an interesting journey for me.  In fact, I actually was on a journey--a book tour starting in Deadwood, South Dakota, and ending in Owyhee County, Idaho.  The phone rang (actually played the William Tell Overature) and it was Caroline Clemmons.  She told me Kirsten Osbourne had cooked up this crazy plan to have mail-order brides from all the states in the Union in 1890, a book to be released each day in order of admission.  

Patience:
Bride of Washington

Seemed like an ambitious undertaking to me.  My publishing schedule was full but this seemed like a fun opportunity and after all, I do enjoy mail-order bride stories.  Caroline and I had already written a duet, Mail Order Tangle (she wrote the first book, Mail Order Promise and I wrote the second, Mail Order Ruckus).  After a bit of discussion, we decided our brides would be sisters again, although this time Caroline's was the older one.  She wrote Patience: Bride of Washington, which has been burning up the charts, too.  It's an awesome book, so be sure to get it if you haven't already.

As she suggested, I linked my book to  my Hearts of Owyhee series.  The heroine (Jake O'Keefe) in the fourth book, Much Ado About Mavericks, is a strong player in Mercy: Bride of Idaho, and the book is set in Henderson Flats on a fictional ranch, the Circle ID.  This ranch would've been about six miles from Jake's ranch, and three miles from the farm where I grew up, so I know the area--the smell, the feel, the people, the climate, very well.

Another advantage is that Mercy's personality (and hair) is based on my daughter.  She's an eternal optimist and can find sunshine in the darkest of times.  I actually toned down the fictional Mercy a bit because I didn't think readers would find the real deal plausible.  I have to say, it was a joy to see this character bloom on the page.

But I didn't know much about 1890 in general.  The latest of my books is set in 1885, so I had quite a bit of research to do.  Here are a few tidbits;

Mercy and Patience are from Lawrence, Massachusetts.  Believe me, relocating to Owyhee County would've been a culture shock for Mercy.  But she'd have gotten off the train at Nampa, Idaho, and the depot was brand new.

Train Depot in Nampa, Idaho

Mercy and Patience think they'll be able to visit back and forth since Washington abuts Idaho.  So once they get to Idaho, the vastness of the land is a bit overwhelming.  The entire state of Massachusetts is only 10,555 square miles.  Owyhee County alone is nearly that size.

And here's a little about the book:

MERCY, BRIDE OF IDAHO 

American Mail-Order Brides #43 

One woman bent on saving her family. One rancher determined to save his own heart. Is her love enough to save them all? 

Mercy Eaton has come to Idaho to marry the man of her father’s choosing in order to help her family make ends meet back home. She just knows it’ll all work out. That's what she's told her sister and her traveling companions all the way from Massachusetts to Owyhee County, Idaho. Then she meets her groom. He's seventy years old. She nearly faints. 

Quill Roderick has no intention of marrying. Ever. As far as he’s seen, women leave—first his mother, then his great-aunt, then his first flame. Quill sees no reason to open his heart again, especially to some mail-order bride his crazy old uncle brought for him. But Mercy tempts him like no other with her unruly long red hair, sunshine smile, and the most alluring eyes he's ever seen. Can he keep his heart barricaded from this dangerous fireball, or are her kisses the master key needed to unlock his heart to a whole new world... Love. 

The book is available to read for free if you're subscribed to Kindle Unlimited!

Hearts of Owyhee series

Hearts of Owyhee

Much Ado About Madams

Much Ado About Marshals

Much Ado About Miners

Much Ado About Mavericks

Much Ado About Mustangs

Amazon Author Page

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