Violet_Bride of North Dakota

by Heather Horrocks

  THANKS AGAIN...

  For your time and interest, and for telling your friends about my books. If you’d like to know more about my other books, that section is just a page or two away.

  Happy tales, Heather Horrocks

  www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com

  Book Club Questions

  1. Are there any circumstances under which you would agree to become a mail-order bride?

  2. How would you have reacted if you’d arrived in a strange town expecting to be picked up by your future husband—only no one was there waiting for you and the platform was empty?

  3. Even though he is attracted to Violet, Daniel discounts himself as a possible husband because he sees himself as too old and too flawed. Are there areas in your life where you’ve done the same thing?

  4. Can you see the northern lights from your hometown? Have you ever seen them? I was thrilled to learn they could be seen from North Dakota, and they became an integral part of the romance.

  5. Do you think Violet should have given James a second chance when he returned? Yes or no? Why or why not?

  6. What do you think would be the three most difficult things about becoming a mail-order bride?

  7. Can you think of anything good about becoming a mail-order bride?

  8. Did you like Daniel recreating the “arrival” of the mail-order bride in the final train station scene? Do you think it would have helped take the sting out of Rachel’s actual arrival when she was abandoned?

  9. Do you like books that end in happily ever afters?

  10. If you lived in 1890 and were going to become a mail-order bride, what would your top three requirements for your groom be?

  About the Author

  Heather Horrocks is the USA Today and Amazon bestselling author of numerous books (Who-Dun-Him Inn mysteries, Chick Flick Clique and Christmas Street romantic comedies, the unprecedented American Mail-Order Bride series and Women Who Knew inspirational books) plus an upcoming series for writers, sharing her unique character interview and amazing book-in-a-day system developed by plotting over sixty-five books with Diane Darcy, each in one day, with her Conspiracy Group (two or more people plotting together—some with Kristin Holt, others with Bruce Simpson, and others all by themselves). She is also the founder of Word Garden Press, a niche publisher of PG-rated fiction and non-fiction.

  Raised overseas for her first seventeen years, she hid under the bed with her mother during a South American coup, waterskied through an oil slick in the Persian Gulf, partied with a Kuwaiti princess classmate, flew in and out of the blacked-out Cairo airport mere moments before it was bombed during the Six Day War, rode a camel (and ate a camel steak), crossed the finish line first at Utah's Miller Motorsports Park—and walked on hot coals—without getting burned!—at a firewalk workshop!

  She loves anyone who can make her laugh, which explains why she adores her witty husband, her funny friends and sisters, Anne George mysteries, and her cute little dog Gus. She loves to cook for friends, siblings, and especially her children and their families. She and her husband reside in Utah. You can find her online at www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com.

  Books by Heather Horrocks

  * Boxed Sets

  ROMANTIC COMEDIES:

  Christmas Street Romantic Comedy Novella Series

  Bah, Humbug! #1

  Kissing Santa #2

  The Naughty List #3

  *Love on Christmas Street (Books #1, 2, & 3)

  Deck the Malls #4

  Chick Flick Clique Romantic Comedy series and Dog Park Novellas

  Pride and Precipitation #1

  A Hound Dog Named Elvis #1.5 ~ A Dog Park Novella (in A Timeless Romance: Autumn anthology)

  Regally Blonde #2

  A Pink Dog Named Fluffy (formerly titled Puppy Love) #2.5 ~ A Dog Park Novella

  My Spare Lady #3

  *Movie Night at Candy’s Cafe (Books #1, 2, & 3)

  A Bulldog Named Desire #3.5 ~ A Dog Park Novella

  Fifty Shades of Greystoke #4

  While You Were Stranded #5 (2016)

  COZY MYSTERIES:

  Who-Dun-Him Inn Cozy Mystery Series

  Snowed Inn #1

  Inn the Doghouse #2

  Inn the Family Way #3

  *Laugh Yourself to Death at the Who-Dun-Him Inn (Books #1, 2, & 3)

  The Czech’s Inn the Mail #4 (2016)

  Bad Mothers Club Cozy Mystery Series

  Murder is Misunderstood #1

  INSPIRATIONAL:

  Women Who Knew the Mortal Messiah

  Men Who Knew the Mortal Messiah

  Women and Men Who Knew the Mortal Messiah

  Women Who Knew the Great Jehovah (2016)

  OTHER:

  How to Stuff a Wild Zucchini

  Old Maid of Honor

  Baby Mine

  Receive a FREE STORY for signing up for Heather’s New Release Newsletter at www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com

  Acknowledgments

  It’s good to have a team!

  Thank you, Diane Darcy, for your friendship, plotting moxie, and awesome critiques, and to you, Anissa Wall, for your indispensable edits.

  And thanks to you, Mark Horrocks, for your everlasting support. Thanks for loving me (and not sending for me as a mail-order bride).

  Copyright © 2015 Heather Horrocks

  www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com

  Word Garden Press

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.

  Cover

  Cover designed by Erin Dameron-Hill

  www.edhgraphics.blogspot.com

  All Rights Reserved

  This includes the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions.

  Work of Fiction

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Special eBook Edition

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only; it may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please use the Kindle enabled lending program or purchase a separate additional copy on any other format.

  Previews

  For previews of upcoming books by Heather Horrocks, to sign up for mailing list, to order personalized print copies, or for more information about the author, visit www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com.

  Excerpt: Old Money

  A Wild West Romantic Comedy Adventure by Heather Horrocks writing as McKenna Bond

  Time travel doesn’t really happen. Does it?

  Jennie’s beginning to wonder when she and her ex-fiancé seem to be pulled into an Old West painting—right in the middle of a guns-blazing bank robbery. She doesn’t know how it happened to begin with, or how they’ll get back, and nobody—not Jesse James or the marshal or the mysterious stranger—seem inclined to give them a chance to find out. Worst of all, she’s falling for the man she swore she’d never trust again.

  Chapter One

  WHAT A NIGHTMARE.

  It wasn’t bad enough that a freak storm had forced Jennie Ryan’s plane to land, leaving her stranded. Oh, no, not nearly bad enough. She was, at this very moment, standing in the one place on earth she swore she’d never go again.

  The city where Bryce would vow to love, honor, and cherish someone else in the morning at a lovely June wedding.

  The place where his father probably still kept a watch out for her.

  And home of the worst experience of Jennie’s life the year before.

  G
ood old Abilene, Kansas.

  Exhausted and incredulous, Jennie stepped from the plane which should have carried her from medical school in Boston back home to Idaho for a two week vacation before her pediatric internship began.

  Instead she found herself in the small Abilene municipal airport, which was obviously overwhelmed at having not one but two planes forced down.

  It would be all right. It had to be. She didn’t have to see Bryce. Abilene was a big town. This was not fate or anything like it—just a random, vastly coincidental, forced landing. And she wouldn’t give it any more meaning than that.

  It didn’t matter that Bryce was getting married tomorrow, a fact she knew only because some busybody friends at school insisted on keeping her informed of Bryce’s doings—whether she wanted to hear or not. The marriage didn’t matter, only that she wasn’t still at the airport when the happy couple left for their honeymoon. She’d be out of here way before then.

  Jennie followed a businessman down the ramp. He muttered about the delay in a big computer deal. Behind her, a woman in her seventies lamented that now she would miss her sister’s fiftieth anniversary celebration.

  Jostled by the crowd as she entered the airport, she followed the businessman, who seemed the type of person who could get things accomplished.

  He strode toward a counter with a long line of people waiting—as there were in front of every counter she could see down the length of the concourse.

  As a blue-uniformed woman walked past, Jennie snagged her arm. The business man turned today Jennie.

  “When can I get a flight out of here?” Jennie asked.

  “I’m sorry, but this storm has closed down the entire airport. There will be no flights leaving for at least a few hours.” The woman looked as tired as Jennie felt, and she’d obviously forced the smile on her face. “And there is no guarantee when they’ll start up again.”

  Hours? Stuck in Abilene?

  “You’re kidding,” the businessman echoed Jennie’s thoughts, only with more decibels. “I can’t sit around here. I’ll take my business elsewhere.”

  The woman shrugged. “I wish I could help you. You can talk with the other airlines if you’d prefer, but they can’t take off, either.”

  Okay. Think. If Jennie couldn’t fly out of town, she’d drive. She’d been in this airport before, and she knew where to find the rental car booths. Leaving the man behind her, she crossed the length of the airport, now muttering.

  She passed a huge line of people before her foggy brain registered the fact that they were all waiting for a rental car. Disheartened, she started back toward the end of the line, but hadn’t reached it before a woman sitting at the Hertz counter called out, “I’m sorry, folks. We just rented our last car.”

  And, as the crowd disbanded, she saw a ‘closed’ sign on both the Avis and Enterprise counters.

  Nobody had rental cars?

  Jennie sighed. She needed sleep. She’d been up for one hundred hours a week for the last month, during her emergency room training, and she could barely think straight. She probably wasn’t safe behind the wheel, anyway. Hopefully the airport shuttle was still working but, even if it wasn’t, surely she could catch a cab. She’d let someone drive her to a hotel somewhere, get some sleep, and find a way out of town when she was rested enough to think of one.

  Jennie passed a bank of telephones. Before she began this running around, she’d better call her mother and let her know she wouldn’t be home for at least a day or two, even longer if she had to drive back to Idaho.

  Heading toward the luggage carousel, she bumped into someone. “Sorry.”

  “That’s all right, dear.”

  Startled, Jennie looked down into the eyes of an old woman and recognized her as the woman who’d sold her and Bryce the painting the year before.

  Charity Beaumont.

  “My word, Jennie Ryan, is that you?” Charity’s familiar face crinkled into an excited smile. “The storm did bring you into Abilene. Well, this is the day, after all. You must come and stay with me, my dear. I insist. I have to hear all about whatever destiny brought you here today.”

  Jennie shook her head and couldn’t respond. The older woman was delusional. There was a much simpler explanation.

  Not destiny.

  Not fate.

  Nothing but a horrible, ironic accident.

  If you’d like to read more, go to www.McKennaBond.com.

  Excerpt: Bah, Humbug!

  Christmas Street Romantic Comedy Novella #1

  (This book is free on Amazon/Kindle)

  Lexi Anderson is an up-and-coming, Martha Stewart-type talk show host. When her kids’ favorite author moves in next door, things are bound to get interesting.

  For the first time in his writing career, Kyle has writer’s block—until he sees the snowman on his lawn and realizes that this is the perfect place for his villain to hide the weapon. He digs into the snowman to discover two things: the weapon fits in the body just under the head, and the snowman was supposed to be the back drop for Lexi’s next show.

  From this improbable beginning comes friendship. Can there be more for a woman who is afraid to get close again and a man who has shadows from his childhood?

  Families join together and hearts are healed as this couple goes walking in a winter wonderland.

  CHAPTER ONE

  SATISFIED, JARED STRONG WATCHED THE POLICE haul off another crook to jail—another crook he had uncovered. He nodded to Melinda and said, “I knew it was old Mr. Sellers all the time.”

  Leaning against the headboard of her bed, Lexi Anderson sighed and shut the book. “We did it. We reread the third Jared Strong book, just in time to buy the new one when it comes out Tuesday.”

  Her two pajama-clad children leaned into her, one on each side.

  Steven said, “I think it’s so cool how Jared always knows who the bad guys are.”

  “That’s because you’re nine. When you’re as old as I am, you’ll like Melinda better,” said Trista, from her ripe old age of eleven, referring to Jared’s best friend and co-detective.

  “I don’t care what you say. I want to be a detective when I grow up. Just like Jared.” And Steven snuggled back into Lexi’s side and hugged her arm. “Read the last chapter again, okay?”

  “Okay.” She smiled as Trista tried to feign indifference.

  As she reread the ending, she was filled with a sense of contentment. She was reading her childrens’ favorite book in their beautiful new home.

  Things hadn’t always gone so smoothly. She’d had some hard knocks. Her parents had died in a car crash when she was seventeen. She’d married her boyfriend in what she now realized had been a desperate attempt to create a family around her.

  Unfortunately, on his twenty-fifth birthday, her husband decided family wasn’t what he wanted, and had taken off to “experience life.” Neither she nor the kids had heard from him since then.

  She avoided relationships because she wasn’t about to lose someone else she cared about. And she realized that she was overprotective of her children, but they didn’t seem to mind.

  Since the divorce, she’d been forced to fight her way up from the bottom of both the financial and emotional heap. And now, well, they were doing all right. She had been called a younger, fresher version of Martha Stewart. She’d just signed a lucrative five-year contract to continue hosting her one-year-old national television show. She and the kids had more money than they could have ever imagined. Enough money that she’d been able to buy this house, their first, which nestled on a lovely lane with maple trees shaking hands above the street.

  At first she’d worried about making the move from San Diego to Salt Lake City. But everything seemed perfect here. The way the kids raced through the house laughing and loving it just as much as she did. The way they all seemed to fit into this home as if they’d lived here forever.

  She hoped they’d fit into the neighborhood and school, as well. The neighbors seemed friendly enough.
When the moving truck pulled up yesterday morning, six neighbor guys had shown up and helped unload the truck.

  There were still two bedrooms filled with boxes, but the rest of the house was unpacked and decorated for the holidays.

  The house and neighborhood were perfect. Through the windows, she could see cars driving by, their lights dimmed by drivers wanting to see the decorations on what was known as Christmas Street.

  Besides, the kids were excited because the Jared Strong author, Kyle Miller, lived somewhere in the Salt Lake area. Of course, that area covered small entangled towns from Bountiful down to the point of the mountain, so the odds of running into him were minute. But the chance of going to a local book signing had still been an attraction.

  Best of all, this year the kids seemed to be doing better than ever in school. And the three of them had settled into a nice routine. They didn’t need anything or anyone else in their lives. They had each other and that was enough.

  Next Friday, they were going to splurge, attend the book signing at Fashion Place Mall, buy the fourth book in the Kyle Miller series, Jared Strong and the Mystery of the Haunted House on Walnut Lane, and get Kyle Miller, himself, to autograph it.

  As she closed the book a second time and looked down at her children, she decided she didn’t want anything in her life to change. Life was perfect, just the way it was. Safe, secure, single...and happy.