Thank
you, Nancy, for inviting me to be on your blog today. My first book, Lessie-Brides
of New Hope, debuted in October, 2019. It is available as an ebook and
in print form from Amazon and Soul Mate Publishing. Set in Kansas in 1867, it is a sweet, western
historical brimming with hope, redemption, and a second chance at love. I’m
pleased to announce that Posey-Brides of New Hope Book Two will
be released July 22, 2020, and Grace-Brides of New Hope Book Three
will follow in Spring, 2021. Though they are part of a series, each can be read
as a standalone romance.
Book
Blurb
How
can a single unexpected kiss, a forced wedding, and a missing groom lead two strangers
to discover how love can heal their wounded hearts?
Having
to carve out a life on her own as a midwife, the last person Lessie MacKenzie
expected to see on her doorstep was her missing husband…the injured Yankee she
was forced to marry, who disappeared the next day, and whose kiss still
lingered on her lips.
Eli
MacKenzie wanted only one thing after the Civil War…to establish his medical
practice in New Hope, Kansas. His dream turned to despair when he discovered
someone sold his property. And that someone appeared to be the woman who
haunted his every dream the past two years…and now claimed to be his wife!
Brought
together by chance and united by their desire to forge a future, will a secret
from Lessie’s past threatens to destroy their new found love?
Excerpt
from Lessie-Brides of New Hope Book One
Grabbing Abner’s crudely drawn map
scrawled onto the back of his now useless deed, Eli wasted no time in getting
to the livery. Drew’s dream, now his dream was gone, but he’d gained a wife. A
wife who he couldn’t remember marrying. Picking up the reins, he released the
brake and made a clucking sound with his tongue
When Eli arrived at the second bend in the
road, the homestead in question came into vim,ew. It was the place
where he’d glimpsed the smiling woman and child waving at the train. The woman
paused at the top step, shielding her eyes with one hand.
There was something strangely familiar
about her sturdy frame and the halo of curling tendrils framing her oval face.
As he drove closer, Eli was hit full force with the sudden realization. She was
the woman who haunted his dreams and sustained his spirit through those
terrible days in a Confederate prison. And now, somehow, she was his wife!
He pulled the wagon to a stop in front of
the porch. The woman, with one hand resting between her throat and her heart
and her other
hand inside an apron pocket, stepped away from the house. She stared at him
with wide amber-colored eyes as though he was a specter from beyond the grave.
“Mrs.
MacKenzie, your husband is home.”
Buy Links
Born and raised in western
Massachusetts, Jo-Ann Roberts was fascinated by America’s Old West and always felt she was destined to travel on
a wagon train following the Oregon Trail. With her love of history and reading,
she began reading historical romance during high school and college. Victoria
Holt, Jude Deveraux, and Roseanne Bittner were among her favorites. Influenced
by her father, she fell in love with John Wayne, James Garner, and her all-time
favorite, James Stewart and grew up watching Wagon Train, Bonanza and Rawhide.
A firm believer in HEA with a healthy dose of realism, Jo-Ann
strives to give her readers a sweet historical romance while imparting carefully
researched historical facts, personalities, and experiences relative to the
time period. Her romances take her readers back to a simpler time to escape the
stress of modern life by living in a small town where families and friends help
one another find love and happiness. When she isn’t creating believable
plots and relatable heroes and heroines, Jo-Ann enjoys spending time with her husband, adult children,
and grandson. She also enjoys baking, quilting and eating way too much
chocolate.
After 38 years in public education in Connecticut and Maryland,
she’s now calls North Carolina home. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, Heart of Carolina
RWA, and the 2018 Winner (Historical Category) of NEORWA’s Cleveland Rocks
Romance Contest. Her debut romance, Lessie-Brides of New Hope Book One,
is a 2020 RONE Award Nominee. Connect with her here:
Your excerpt did it. I just ordered this book and look forward to a few hours of reading Jo-Ann Roberts, Lessie.
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