Jessie - Bride of South Carolina is part of
an unprecedented event as forty-five authors come together to bring you a new
series of epic proportions. On 50 consecutive days beginning November 19,
2015, a romance will be published featuring a mail order bride, one set in each
of the 50 states. The books will be released in the order the states were admitted
to the union. The stories all take place in 1890, when a factory fire in the
East burns to the ground, leaving these women unemployed. Share the experiences
of these women as they seek love and new lives across the United States.
~Blurb~
Tired of living under her father's iron thumb of control Jessie Wilcox decides to do the unthinkable: run away to Montana as a mail-order bride. The only obstacle in her way: the one hundred miles between her home in Williamsburg County and the train depot in Charleston.
Joel Cunningham is in utter disbelief when the girl he once loved beyond reason is on his front porch asking him to disobey her father's wishes and drive her to Charleston. Logic and reason scream no; his lips, however, say yes.
Will the one hundred miles ahead of them be enough to overcome the five years of painful regrets or will Jessie follow her dream for a new life in Montana?
~Excerpt~
Jessica
Wilcox smoothed her hands over her full, pale blue skirts, inclined her chin,
took a deep breath, and walked ramrod straight up the familiar, rotting steps
that led to the porch of Joel Cunningham’s farmhouse.
How
many times she’d
climbed these six creaky steps as a girl, she’d never know.
But
she prayed this would be the last.
With
another deep inhalation, she balled her right hand into a fist and gave the
door a hearty BANG! BANG! BANG! that might give the inhabitant the
impression that she was a big burly man of six feet and two hundred pounds
rather than a petite woman of five-foot-one and not an ounce over one hundred
pounds—soaking wet.
Biting her lip, she glanced at the watch pinned on her bodice. He was taking
too long. She made another fist and hit the door with another swift BANG!
The
door swung open before she could hit it again.
“What the—” Joel’s
words broke off, his lips forming a straight line. “I should have known it
was you.”
Jessie
moistened her lips. “Wh-what
do you know?”
“That you’re
the most impatient woman ever born.” He gave his head a rueful shake. “You can’t
even wait three seconds for a man to answer the door.”
At
that, Jessie smiled. “Well,
the good Lord doesn’t
want us to be like the sloth.”
He
folded his arms across his broad chest, drawing her gaze to where the top three
buttons of his faded white shirt were undone and offering her an unhindered
view of the top of his tanned, hair-roughened chest.
She
jerked her gaze away. As long as he just thought she was impatient, that was
fine. She cleared her throat. “I have a proposition for you.”
He
cocked his head to the side and let his blue eyes do a slow sweep of her form,
then twisted his lips. “Not
interested.”
“Good, because I’m not interested in such a relationship with you, either.” She flashed him her
best smile. “And I didn’t even have to clap
eyes on you longer than half-a-second to determine it.”
Reaching
for the door, Joel shrugged. “Very well.”
“No, wait,” Jessie burst out, throwing both of her open palms against the
door to keep him from closing it on her. “You haven’t
heard my proposition.”
“I don’t
need to. We’ve
already both decided we don’t satisfy the other.”
Jessie
flushed. “Must you always
be so forward?”
“No. Not always. Just when I think it serves me best.”
Doing
her best not to roll her eyes heavenward in irritation, she said, “Perhaps you ought to
save your clever wit for a female it might work on.”
“So you think I’m clever and witty, eh?” he drawled.
Jessie
sighed. That hadn’t
been what she meant, but maybe if he thought she was complimenting him he might
be more willing to help her… “Perhaps.” She pushed her auburn
hair away from her green eyes. “I need a favor.”
To learn more about Jessie and Joel pick up your copy HERE
~Author Bio~
USA Today bestselling author and writer of ten bestselling, unusually unusual historical romances that have been known to include scarred heroes, feisty heroines, marriage-producing scandals, far too much scheming, naughty literature and always a sweet happily-ever-after that when combined will hopefully make you laugh! When not escaping to another world via reading or writing a book, she spends her time chasing two young boys around the house, being hunted by wild animals, or sitting on the swing in the backyard where she has to use her arms as shields to deflect projectiles AKA: balls, water balloons, sticks, pinecones, and anything else one of them picks up to hurl at his brother who just happens to be hiding behind her.
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