#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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NEW RELEASE: LAUREL: BRIDE OF ARKANSAS, AMERICAN MAIL-ORDER BRIDES SERIES

Mail Order Brides is a very popular subject for romance novels these days. If you're a fan and can't find a story to read, then you're not looking very hard. Surprisingly, many readers don't know that mail order brides are grounded in history and fact.



Men on the Western frontier found their success in many different enterprises but lacked the company of a wife and family. With very few to no women in the remote areas of the West the ways to get those women to them was challenging. The best way was to advertise.

Either a woman would list herself in a catalog and was selected by a man for marriage or a man would do the reverse. The Brides came from well developed areas in the East to marry and were single, widows, divorcees, or runaways.Women agreed to marry men they didn't know to escape their present life, to gain financial security, or to seek adventure.

It's interesting to learn that a woman by the name of Eliza Farnham started the Mail Order Bride movement around the time of the California Gold Rush. She was shocked by the way the men lived their lives and horrified by their living conditions. Eliza developed a process to bring women out West for these men. The women applied by way of an application so Eliza could ensure only the best and most lady like applicants would be selected. Sadly, Eliza failed in her attempt as only three women came.

In 1864, Asa Mercer succeeded where Eliza failed. He brought hundreds of women to Seattle and they even paid for the privilege mostly because of the War. The imbalance of the women in the East and South to the men in the West spiked the interest of both genders.

Enter a groundbreaking idea by Kirsten Osbourne, that became a project, and finally publishing history. 50 Brides, 50 States, 50 Days in a row, the American Mail-Order Brides series tells the stories of 50 women all losing their jobs to a tragedy and how they try to make their way in their new world.




This 1500 word prequel is what ties together the ground-breaking American Mail Order Brides books. The project includes fifty mail order bride books, one for each state, which will be released one per day from November 19th, 2015-January 7th, 2016.
Roberta, Manager of a garment factory in Lawrence, Massachusetts, finds a very large discrepancy between the amount of money on hand and the amount her books say she should have on hand. When she calls in the owner to talk to him about it, she knows immediately the discrepancy is caused by him. After the factory burnes to the ground a short time later, she feels responsible for the women who are now jobless. Can she find a solution that won't leave all the women unemployed?







My contribution to this wonderful project is my new release, LAUREL: BRIDE OF ARKANSAS, American Mail-Order Brides, #25

Laurel Weidner desires a life of her own away from Philadelphia society and a dull, boring marriage. She is sent to live with her aunt in Lawrence, Massachusetts. When her Aunt dies in a tornado, she gets a job at the Brown Textile Mill to avoid going back home. Two months later the mill burns down, and her father threatens to bring her back to Philadelphia.

When the mill and her livelihood perish with the fire, she has no other choice but to answer an ad in the Grooms’ Gazette and become a Mail Order Bride. Will she find peace and long lasting love in the arms of a stranger?

Griffin Benning needs a mother for his children. When his wife died, he lost his two children to his in-laws who claimed to have a better environment for raising his children. He misses his family and is coerced into advertising in the Grooms’ Gazette for a wife to raise his children and work the farm in order to get them back.

Will his ad for a Mail Order Bride provide what he needs? Can he find love and happiness with a stranger? Can these two strangers find a common ground to reach their goals along with a happy-ever-after?

Prequel:The Beginning 

Laurel:Bride of Arkansas

Thanks for visiting and Merry Christmas to you all!

Carra

Amazon Author Page 

Carra Copelin Website, Carra's Blog , Carra's FB page , Carra's Twitter Page

COMING OR GOING?

By Caroline Clemmons

Today, I'm late getting this post up. I'm in a tizzy and don't know if I'm coming or going. Honestly, things will be progressing along well and...ZAP!....life happens. All because I'm trying to accomplish too much in too short a time and think I have everything under control, only to learn--whoa--I SO don't.

I have several deadlines looming. Here I was writing away toward achieving them when life sneaked in and slapped me upside the head and suddenly I'm pulling out my hair. You've had times like that, I'm sure. We all do, which is why we call it LIFE.

Not that you're probably interested, but the reason for my dither is our eldest daughter broke her leg badly and has been in the hospital a week and rehab in the same hospital two weeks. Being the sort of overprotective parents we are, Hero and I spent a good deal of time going back and forth to stay with her in the hospital which is two hours away. Friday, she will come to stay with us until she can walk safely on her own, which should be about three months. Yes, she's an independent grown woman, but she's still our kid to us.

I hope you attended the Sooper Sekrit Facebook Party on Sunday evening. Truthfully, that was the most fun of any online party of which I've been a part. I'm so grateful to Kween Kirsten Osbourne for inviting me to be a part of this amazing record-setting endeavor. Forty-five authors are writing books in the American Mail-Order Bride Series for the fifty states and territories in 1890. Several authors have two books, which accounts for the difference in the numbers.

The American Mail-Order Bride Series books begin releasing one a day on November 19th, but you can pre-order them now. My book is number 42 on December 30th and is PATIENCE: BRIDE OF WASHINGTON. Here's the cover designed by Erin Dameron Hill:

What do I know about Washington state? Not much. My husband was visiting right after Mount St. Helens erupted several decades ago. I think we have a jar of the ashes somewhere.  I have three nieces living there in addition to their parents (my sister in law and brother in law). My good friend Jacquie Rogers lives there. So, I do have resources for assistance. Then there's always the writer's friend, Google. ☺

Usually, I try to write Texas settings because I live here and have traveled over most of the state. But, writers have to stretch ourselves a little to keep growing in our craft. You may remember that THE SURPRISE BRIDES: JAMIE was set in Colorado. At least I've traveled in Colorado several times. By the way, I still need a sweater or blanket when I think about a particular scene in that book. ☺

Fortunately, this book, PATIENCE: BRIDE OF WASHINGTON, takes place in spring, so the weather is great. In fact, Patience arrives in Destiny, Washington when the apple trees are in blossom. If you like big band swing music as I do, you may have heard the song "I'll Be With You In Apple Blossom Time". I am reminded of that tune when I think of this book.

Another help for me is the fact that Hero and I used to own an orchard of several hundred trees peach trees, four plum trees, sixteen Delicious apple trees, one Granny Smith apple tree, one crabapple tree, a pecan tree, and some grape vines. Writing about orchards is a lot more fun than owning one. Trust me!

Anyway, please think about pre-ordering PATIENCE: BRIDE OF WASHINGTON, American Mail-Order Brides 42. Don't you love those pre-orders? I forget about ordering the book but then open my Kindle and, Voila!, there it is waiting for me. Technology actually can be our friend at times.

Here's the link:  http://amzn.com/B017HLR6CE