Today it's my great pleasure to welcome friend and fellow author, Caroline Clemmons, to Romance Sweet Reads. Her latest book, Mail Order ~ Gloria is the newest release in the An Imposter for Christmas Series of sweet, western historcal romances.
A distrustful rancher with a secret…
And a boy in need of a family.
Orphaned at an early age and sent to live with her relatives, Gloria Tabor is fed up with the treatment she receives from her aunt, uncle, and spiteful cousin. In a moment of desperation, she leaves her only relatives’ home. With her small savings, where is she to go? The question is sobering, but she is determined she will not return to her kin’s home.
While deliberating her lack of choice, she overhears a young man comforting a sobbing woman she recognizes as a friend from school. After a few minutes of conversation with them, the friend offers Gloria the chance to escape town to a ranch in Texas as a mail order bride. In exchange, Gloria must promise not to divulge her real identity until the couple has eloped and had a honeymoon. Elated at the opportunity, Gloria agrees. She vows she will never let herself be told what to do or think again.
On the way to her prospective groom, Gloria rescues a ten-year-old boy from a policeman who wants to take the boy to the local orphanage. Heart filled with sympathy for the homeless child, she intercedes. Later, she wonders how her prospective groom will react to her bringing an unexpected child with her.
Texas rancher Dwight Price is a stickler for honesty. Once someone has lost his confidence, he won’t fully trust the person again. He strives to live up to his beliefs. On the one hand, he isn’t certain he wants to wed the daughter of his father’s oldest friend. On the other hand, he looks forward to a life of quiet harmony with his mail order bride.
Near Christmas, Gloria gets a telegram releasing her from her promise. Dwight wants to know who sent the wire and why. Her explanation destroys the faith he had in her—and then his own secret crops up.
Can these two overcome the damage to their relationship or will each be alone again?
Get your copy of Mail Order ~ Gloria from Kindle Unlimited
As Tommy and Mike ran past them, Tommy said, “I’m gonna show Mike my room.”
Dwight called, “Mike, pick your room.”
Mike stopped and turned to stare. “You mean I get my own room?”
Dwight laughed. “Sure. Did you think we’d make you sleep hanging from the rafters?”
“Now you do. If I were you, I’d choose one next to Tommy’s or across the hall. Doesn’t matter to me which, so suit yourself. But you boys don’t run in the house.”
Tommy grabbed Mike’s arm. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
The two boys walked so fast they almost ran.
“Thank you for making Mike feel welcome. I’m sure he’s had a rough life.”
“No doubt. Guess I’m a little surprised you rescued him. Doesn’t sound like the person from your letters or what Papa’s told me about your life.”
She stopped and stared into his eyes. “That’s not a nice thing to say. Do you believe me to be shallow and selfish?”
He took a step back and raised his hands at his side. “I don’t mean anything bad. Usually if someone has had a lot of… well, advantages, they don’t sympathize as much with those less fortunate. I mean, giving money to a cause is fine, but acting toward an individual is entirely different.” He grimaced. “Your face is all clouded up, so I’ve said that badly.”
She took a deep breath while she counted to ten. “I think I understand your meaning, but don’t judge everyone comfortably well-off by the same standard. I care a great deal about orphans and the homeless and those less fortunate.” He might have intended that for Juliet, but he used poor judgment. Even if she wasn’t the real Juliet, she wanted to give him a stern lecture.
“Look, forgive me for the way I expressed myself. I didn’t mean what I said as an insult.”
She crossed her arms under her chest. “Oooh, I hope you never intend to insult me. That would be excruciating.”
“As Papa often reminds me, when you’re in a hole, quit digging. So, let’s look at the rooms on this floor, shall we?” He guided her the way the boys had gone. “The room on the end is Tommy’s. The one at the other end of the floor is ours. In between—except for the one Mike chooses—are spare rooms.”
Through a crazy twist of fate, Caroline Clemmons was not born on a Texas ranch. To compensate for this illogical error, she writes about handsome heroes, feisty women, and scheming villains in a tiny office surrounded by research books and mementos. She and her Hero live in North Central Texas cowboy country where they ride herd indoors on their two cats and two dogs as well as providing nourishment outdoors for squirrels, birds, and other critters.
The over sixty books she has created have made her a Top 100 Amazon historical author, a bestselling author, and won awards. She writes sweet to sensual romances, both historical and contemporary as well as time travel and mystery. In addition to her series she has written single titles and contributed to multi-author series and box sets. When she’s not writing, she loves spending time with her family, reading her friends’ books, dining in restaurants, browsing antique malls, delving into genealogy, checking Facebook, and taking the occasional nap.
Join her and other readers at Caroline’s Cuties, a Facebook readers group for special excerpts, exchanging ideas, contests, giveaways, recipes, and talking to like-minded people about books and other fun things.
To stay up-to-date with her releases and contests, subscribe to Caroline’s newsletter here and receive a #FREE novella of HAPPY IS THE BRIDE, a humorous historical wedding disaster that ends happily—but you knew it would, didn’t you?
Thank you so much for joining me today. Please come back again on Saturday and Monday for more authors and brand new books!
Blessings,
Nancy
I LOVE this premise. Can't wait to read it!
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy Caroline's books!
ReplyDeleteLoving the series! Happy book birthday!
ReplyDelete