Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
The Love Inspired (imprint) by Harlequin used to compete with the novellas I loved reading with my Mum which were Heartsong Presents. This publisher has a long history – including how Harlequin at one point in time merged Heartsong into their imprint line until they were bought out and the line was dissolved. Sadly, to this day we miss those four novellas a month by the authors of Heartsong Presents – (as this was a mail-order book service) which is why we’ve been starting to gather interest in Love Inspired authors. Some of the authors from Heartsong Presents are Love Inspired authors now (or were all along if they wrote for both publishers) – when I saw this series coming up on the calendar from Prism Book Tours, I knew I wanted to take part in it – as one thing Mum and I love are ‘series’ of INSPY novels.
This particular Historical series matches my own personal interests in Frontier Americana stories – where you have the frontier itself, the bustling of the wilds of America still being settled and tamed against the backdrop of mail-order brides, frontier families who are ranching for the first and seeing how cities are being developed. This is is an interesting time in American history – where those who were daring to carve out their own lifestyles went West, to claim not only land but a stake in their future.
I, personally, love curling into these kinds of stories and am delighted today, I can share with you a new author and a new series I’ve just discovered myself. I am hoping this will be one of the Love Inspired authors I will be reading in 2018 as I need to start from the beginning with The Bride Ship, as I have a penchant for reading series in order! In lieu of this, sometimes, I read the first novel and the last released – especially in cases where the whole series is hard to find.
This is part of my series of focus on Christmas Romances + Holiday Romances this year on #JLASblog! You’ll happily find reviews, guest author features (ie. interviews & guest posts) as well as this Spotlight w/ Extract and Notes part of my celebrations of the holiday season. I’ll be reading more Christmas Romances as we move towards Christmas week – whilst continuing my readings in Non-Fiction and Science Fiction respectively. There is a lot to make you smile right now on Jorie Loves A Story! Especially as it’s the first year where I could coordinate to focus on why I love reading these kinds of stories during one of my most favourite Seasons of the year!
You’ll find an Extract from the novel below and my notes on behalf of what is being disclosed inside it. I look forward to your comments regarding this novel – especially if you’ve been following the series, kindly let me know your own takeaway thoughts and what you love about how the series has been developed thus far along into it’s seventh installment! Grab a cuppa & enjoy!
A Family Made at Christmas
After taking guardianship of his late friend’s siblings and baby daughter, minister Levi Wallin hopes to atone for his troubled past on the gold fields. But it won’t be easy to convince the children’s wary elder sister to trust him. The more he learns about her, though, the more he believes Callie Murphy’s prickly manner masks a vulnerable heart…one he’s starting to wish he was worthy of.
Every man in Callie’s life chose chasing gold over responsibilities. Levi—and the large, loving Wallin family—might just be different. But she can tell he’s hiding something from her, and she refuses to risk her heart with secrets between them. Even as they grow closer, will their pasts keep them from claiming this unexpected new beginning?
Converse via: #Historical + #Romance or #HistRom & #FrontierRomance
Published by: Love Inspired (@hLoveInspiredBks) | imprint of Harlequin
There are six previous novels linked within the Frontier Bachelor’s series which are as follows:
There is an 8th novel in the series upcoming Spring 2018: Frontier Matchmaker Bride!
Read more about each of these stories via the Author’s Series Page!
Here is the Extract from the novel I was given to share with you, today!
“Are you sure?” he’d asked the two grizzled miners who’d stopped by Wallin Landing with the news and to bring him Adam’s belongings and the note to the Murphys.
They’d hung their heads, avoided his gaze.
“Surer than we wish we was,” one of the old timers gritted out. “He caught pneumonia and couldn’t fight it off. All that’s left of Adam Murphy now is a pile of regrets.”
Levi knew something about regrets.
He kept his hand on Callie’s arm now, ready to catch her if she fainted. She didn’t so much as sway. Her eyes, a mixture of blue and gray that reminded him of the swirling waters of Puget Sound, narrowed on him.
“Prove it.”
She spat out the words, as if he’d lie about anything so important. How ironic. He’d lied enough over the years, to escape punishment, to win something he’d wanted, to make himself appear more important. Now he was telling the truth, and she didn’t believe him.
“My horse is tied out front,” he said. “I have Adam’s letter in my saddlebag. Come with me, and I’ll give it to you.”
Her jaw worked as if she fought hard words. “I’m not going anywhere with you. And I don’t trust you out of my sight.”
This extract is being used with the permission of the author and was provided by Prism Book Tours.
According to the Author’s Note (on the blog tour page, linked below – click on the tour banner!) this series is set in the Pacific Northwest during Seattle’s Frontier days – a region of the United States I happen to love reading and happily have visited. I love non-conventional families (either through Adoption or circumstance; sometimes both!), mail-order brides & marriages of convenience as there is always something ‘more to the story’ behind what is happening in haste! In this vein, Ms Scott has written a redemptive story set during Christmas, where one man is down on his luck (in both life and spirit) and is given a chance at renewal through the guardianship of his friends’ siblings and child.
Enter into the fray, the friends’ sister and you have a potboiler ready to happen – where hearts not only collide but lives are jolted together unexpectedly! To me, that makes wicked good drama! I also like how this series keeps evolving forward – just by the titles of the stories, you can gather a sense of what is happening per each character’s focused story-line. I am unsure if the whole series is still available to purchase (new) but it’s definitely one I intend to seek out (either second-hand or through my ILL (inter-library loan) services. I’d love to seek this out from the very beginning and let the series ‘build’ in front of my eyes and heart.
Heroines with trust issues are some of my favourite to read, as they don’t expect to fall in love with a bloke who is not only more trusting but genuine. Then, there is generally a life shift where things re-arrange themselves to give them a chance to believe once again in true happiness. I look forward one day to seeing how Callie finds her strength to trust her heart and to take a leap of faith with Levi!
About Regina Scott
Regina Scott started writing novels in the third grade. Thankfully for literature as we know it, she didn't actually sell her first novel until she had learned a bit more about writing such as vocabulary, sentence structure, and plot. After numerous short stories and articles in magazines and trade journals, she got serious about her novel writing. The Unflappable Miss Fairchild was her first novel to be published (March 1998).
Besides her novels, Regina Scott has had published three Regency novellas ("The June Bride Conspiracy" in His Blushing Bride, "Sweeter Than Candy" in A Match for Mother, and "A Place by the Fire" in Mistletoe Kittens).
Two of her novels, A Dangerous Dalliance and The Twelve Days of Christmas, have been translated into German. A Dangerous Dalliance and The Incomparable Miss Compton have been translated into Italian. Starstruck and Perfection have been translated into Dutch.
Regina Scott and her husband are the parents of two sons. They reside in the Tri-Cities of southeast Washington State and are members of the Church of the Nazarene. Born in 1959 and raised in the Seattle area, Regina Scott is a graduate of the University of Washington. She comes by her writing talent naturally--both her parents are excellent writers in their vocations as teacher and electrical technician. Her mother envisioned the plot for "Sweeter Than Candy," the novella which was written as a tribute to her.
Regina Scott is a devout Christian and a decent fencer; owns a historical, fantasy, and science fiction costume collection that currently takes up over a third of her large closet; and has been known to impersonate an independent consultant specializing in risk communication.
This blog tour is courtesy of: Prism Book Tours
Click through via the badge to find out what else awaits you!
Similar to blog tours where I feature book reviews, as I choose to highlight an author via a Guest Post, Q&A, Interview, etc., I do not receive compensation for featuring supplemental content on my blog. I provide the questions for interviews and topics for the guest posts; wherein I receive the responses back from publicists and authors directly. I am naturally curious about the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of stories and the writers who pen them; I have a heap of joy bringing this content to my readers.
{SOURCES: Cover art of “The Bride Ship”, “Would-Be Wilderness Bride”, “Frontier Engagement”, “Instant Frontier Family”, A Convenient Christmas Wedding”, “Mail-Order Marriage Promise” and “His Frontier Christmas Family”, book synopsises, author biography, author photograph of Regina Scott, Extract for “His Frontier Christmas Family” and the Prism Book Tours badge were all provided by Prism Book Tours and used with permission. Post dividers & My Thoughts badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets embedded by codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Stories in the Spotlight and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2017.
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