Help me celebrate my book's birthday!
THEODOSIA: A Proxy Mail-Order Bride is now available for your reading pleasure. I love these characters and hope you'll agree with me. This is the book I was writing when Covid knocked me for a few loops. I had to finish other projects and dropped out of a few, but now Theo and Houston's story is ready for you.
Houston and Theo make a lovely couple. I knew they'd be perfect for one another from the first, but they had to get a few things worked out. Their marriage is going surprisingly well... then the blow falls. You knew there would be an obstacle or two, didn't you?
She barely escapes death...
He is angry he has been jilted…
They must defend themselves against mysterious assailants.
Theodosia “Theo” Jordan has lived with the harsh aunt and uncle who are her guardians since her parents’ death eight years ago. In three weeks she will turn twenty-one and inherit the estate now controlled by her uncle. When she overhears her aunt and uncle planning her death, she immediately escapes Atlanta by becoming a proxy bride and heading for a small town in Texas.
Houston Kingsley yearns for a happy family like he had before his wife’s death earlier that year. A fraudulent mail-order bride who jilts him and keeps the money he sent her discourages him. Is he destined to raise his children alone? His brother convinces him to try for a proxy bride. The process sounds simple enough—if he can scrape up the cash for a second fare and travel expenses.
But unknown forces create danger for Theo and Houston. Can they discover and defeat the guilty to achieve the happy home each desires?
At the door, he stopped and unlocked it before pocketing his keys. “Always planned to do this. Hope you don’t mind.” He scooped her up and carried her across the threshold.
She couldn’t keep a surprised squeal from escaping, followed by laughter. “I always hoped my husband would do that.” That meant he hadn’t done so with his first marriage. That knowledge created more questions.
Appearing pleased, he gestured around them. “You see the foyer isn’t large, but accommodates a hall tree. They also had a grandfather clock against that wall, but they took it with them. Maybe we can get one someday.”
She removed her hat and added it to the shelf on the hall tree, then hung her coat on a hook. “That sounds nice.” She’d need elbow grease to polish away faint marks of where the clock had stood.
After adding his jacket and hat to the hall tree, he studied her. Slowly, he walked around her as if assessing her appearance. “I never expected a redhead for a wife. A lot of folks think redheads have a bad temper and are bad luck.”
Luckily for him, she realized he was teasing, his blue eyes sparkling with humor and mischief. “I never expected my husband would have a beard. A lot of women don’t like a man with whiskers on his face. Some men grow them to hide a weak chin.”
He grinned and spread his hands. “Hey, I can shave off my beard.”
She shifted her shoulders and sent him a saucy smile. “Hey, I can shave off my hair if the color doesn’t suit you. Would you prefer a bald wife?”
He laughed. “I give up, you win this round. Although, I know many women color their hair. Many even try for the color of yours.”
He gave a mock bow. “By the way, I find your hair a pleasing shade. Let’s continue the tour.” He guided her through the downstairs.
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Stay safe and keep reading,