Title: Letters and Lies
Author: Colleen L Donnelly
Genre: Historical Romance
Book Blurb:
Louise Archer boards a westbound train in St. Louis to find the Kansas homesteader who wooed and proposed to her by correspondence, then jilted her by telegram—Don’t come, I can’t marry you. Giving a false name to hide her humiliation, her lie backfires when a marshal interferes and offers her his seat.
Marshal Everett McCloud intends to verify the woman coming to marry his homesteading friend is suitable. At the St. Louis train station, his plan detours when he offers his seat to a captivating woman whose name thankfully isn’t Louise Archer.
Everett’s plans thwart hers, until he begins to resemble the man she came west to find, and she the woman meant to marry his friend.
Excerpt:
“He wrote and changed your plans? Why didn’t you tell me? You know I love hearing his letters.”
Everyone loved hearing his letters. Or at least they’d pretended to. I glanced at my friends again, noting especially the one who’d first suggested I correspond with her husband’s homesteading friend in Kansas who was ready to look for a wife. She dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief while she flicked the fingers of her other hand in a weak wave. I dredged my soul in search of a smile, though the man she’d introduced me to truly had penned everything I’d ever wanted in a husband, months of letters which convinced Mama that Jim was my open door. Letters I’d foolishly carted from family to friend to blather every word like a desperate spinster. Drat.
“He didn’t send his change of plans in a letter, Mama.” I squeezed her forearm. “He sent them in a telegram.” The only six words I would never share.
“Oh. Well, that’s nice. I imagine your Jim has a surprise for you and didn’t have time to send a letter before you left for Crooked Creek. How thoughtful to wire you instead.”
Thoughtful…I felt poisoned, and Mama would too if she ever found out Jim had shut my open door. Which she wouldn’t, since as soon as I got out there and found him, I’d wedge it back open again.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2yNFGNv
iTunes: https://apple.co/2YinxBY
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/3bmGatt
Bookbub: http://bit.ly/3pBNDtZ
What makes your featured book a must-read?
The need to smile or laugh at someone’s relatable antics are the best reasons to relax with this story.
Giveaway –
Enter to win a $15 Amazon gift card:
Open Internationally.
Runs March 25 – March 30, 2025.
Winner will be drawn on March 31, 2025.
Author Biography:
Colleen L Donnelly put her science education to use for years and then put it behind her to pursue other passions. Her first love is writing and her second is hunting—hunting for that next good story, hunting for shed antlers or mushrooms in the woods, hunting for the next good author to read. An avid believer in work hard/play hard, Colleen splits her time between indoors and out, always busy at something.
Social Media Links:
Website: http://www.colleenldonnelly.com/
Goodreads: http://www.Goodreads.com/colleenldonnelly
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colleenldonnelly/
Amazon: http://amzn.to/37vcnO4
Twitter: https://x.com/ColleenLDonnell/