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1899 Las Vegas. I so love this series and spending time with the Harvey Girls. Hate to put it down, look forward to picking it up again. I can appreciate how difficult it is to be a waitress, but these girls had it really hard. Belle has been the lady's maid to a girl in the first book. Belle and her friend came there as mail order brides to start a new life. Circumstances and misunderstandings make her sign on at Harvey House instead of getting married, but her romance isn't over, it is just beginning. Colt and the Death Raiders gang situation are unraveled within the story. Lots of danger, excitement and handsome men. Melting love scenes. SWOON!
I received this book free from the author, publisher and CelebrateLit book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
#ThePursuitOfMissParish #GraceHitchcock #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout #FiveStarNovel #CelebrateLit
Book: The Pursuit of Miss Parish
Author: Grace Hitchcock
Genre: Historical Romance
Release date: May 31, 2023
Love’s gentle promise becomes nothing more than a withered dream.
With dreams of love and a hope for belonging, shy Belle Parish leaves her position as a maid in Charleston to travel to New Mexico with her best friend to become mail-order brides. Colt Lawson’s letters hold great promise and while his devilishly handsome face matches his picture, something does not add up. Discovering his lie only moments before they wed, Belle flees the church and straight into the CastaƱeda Hotel Harvey House. Giving up the prospect on ever marrying, she dons her nun-like uniform and focuses on her role as a Harvey Girl waitress until a strong, former Texas Ranger rides into her life.
Colt Lawson didn’t want to send that letter to Belle Parish in the first place, but her first response had all but captured his heart. When he is left standing at the altar alone, he is left with two choices—either release his dream of a love marriage, or attempt to win her heart. Wooing her would be a lot easier if that Texas Ranger wasn’t back in town. Who wants a dusty rancher with a past when she could have a shining knight in a Stetson?
Click here to get your copy!
Grace Hitchcock is the award-winning author of multiple historical novels and novellas. She holds a Masters in Creative Writing and a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in History. Grace lives in the New Orleans area with her husband, Dakota, sons, and daughter. Connect with her online at GraceHitchcock.com.
Questions from READERS for Grace Hitchcock
Q: As a mom, how/when do you find time to write?
Grace Hitchcock: I used to walk around the block to my favorite coffee shop in New Orleans, writing with a delicious latte and scone beside me, headphones in with the perfect soundtrack playing waiting for the muse. . . and now days, I write during Sofia the First episodes blaring in the background for my toddler while the baby sleeps and my Kindergartner is in half-day school.
On the days when I can’t get the word count down during those tiny moments, my husband takes the babies for an hour in the evenings and tells me to go write! When I’m on tight deadline with days left to go, the house usually isn’t the cleanest and Laundry Mountain, in all its splendor, may just fall on top of us. Sometimes while on deadline, I get the urge to pause and clean, but if I ignore the impulse long enough, the feeling generally passes. Once the book is in to my editor, it’s time to clean.
Q: What is your favorite source of inspiration for creating the characters in your stories?
Grace Hitchcock: For main characters, I use Names Through the Ages to figure out their names based on their background and once I know a character’s name, it’s as if the heroine/hero stroll into my writing room and I get to know their personality, the story closely following.
For the supporting characters, I have a need/plot point that they need to fill and I build their personality around that need. Not quite as exciting haha but they serve a purpose. But, I always remind myself to try to fill them out because they do not know they are not the main characters.
Q: When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
Grace Hitchcock: One of my earliest memories is writing stories in my little diary in my closet. (Remember the diaries with the locks on them that were super easy to pick, but still dreamy to have a book with a lock on it.)
I started taking my desire to write seriously when I was a senior in high school. I was homeschooled and my mom let me write a novel for my senior English project to test that theory if I wanted to write. It was so fun to write, I knew that’s what I wanted to do, so I got my Masters in Creative Writing and I’ve been typing away ever since.
Q: What is your writing process like?
Grace Hitchcock: I usually begin with a spark of an idea that I at once research to see if it would work with the eras I enjoy writing (Gilded Age and Regency England). From there, I do a deep dive into writing out a chapter by chapter plot, which generally takes about a week to ten days.
Once I have my plot down, I do about a week or two more of basic research and begin the first very, very rough draft that I usually finish at 50,000 words after 3 months of writing.
Then, I research any spots that needed improving in the first draft and go full editing mode, pausing throughout the book to research spots that need more description and historical accuracy, which is about two months and then, I do a third round of edits and research while doing a line edit, which takes a month.
By the time I get to the 6-month mark, I am more than ready to have a break haha and I send my 75,000/80,000 word novel off to my publisher/editor who does a content edit, sends it back to me for three weeks, another editor does a line edit, sends it back to me for three weeks, then another editor does a copy edit and sends it to galleys (where they format the book) and send it back to me to proof one last time for two weeks! Then, it goes to press at usually 75,000-100,000 depending on the novel. So long story short, 6 months to write and about 2 months to edit!
Q: Do you have any tips for aspiring authors?
Grace Hitchcock: In this business, just about every author gets a rejection from a publisher . . . even by publishers who later accept them!
When I began sending out one of my first manuscripts, I thought it was pristine, but after about 15 rejections, I put it on the shelf and focused on a new manuscript with fresh eyes and new goals based on some of the industry professionals’ suggestions. Six months after I shelved that first manuscript, I went back and looked over it . . . the professionals were right. It wasn’t ready and it would require a lot more love (aka bleeding edits) before I attempted to send it out again. Sometimes, time is what you need to get a fresh perspective.
But it is also important to remember that when you get a rejection letter, they are not rejecting you. They are rejecting the work. And as much as you see it as a work of art, the publishers see it as a product. They are there to sell a product and if the product isn’t ready, it won’t sell well, so take heart and “hone your craft” and focus on any feedback you received that has merit.
That critique was very hard for me to hear haha but it helped push me to keep learning, attending writer conferences, and following my dreams. Over the years, I have had novels rejected by Barbour, Bethany, and Kregel, but I tried again and again and eventually signed with each publishing house! So keep it up! You can do it!
To celebrate her tour, Grace is giving away the grand prize package of an autographed copy of The Finding of Miss Fairfield AND The Pursuit of Miss Parish with bookmarks and book magnets, and a $50 Amazon gift card!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://promosimple.com/ps/2658d/the-pursuit-of-miss-parish-celebration-tour-giveaway
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Book: Ava
Author: Caryl McAdoo
Genre: Historical Christian Romance
Release date: May 3, 2023
And a child will lead them.
Even if she’s a seventeen-year-old, raven-haired bear slayer though? Ava May, head strong, fetching, and true of soul grew up wise in the ways of swamp living while so naive concerning the outside world. Gold for her ma to pay off her dead father’s debts and the promise of great adventure transport her from her backwoods Louisiana cabin to Montana’s big sky county to marry a stranger. However, love threatens to thwart all the plans made for the mail-order bride before the wagon train’s wheels stop rolling. Enjoy your journey with Ava and the other brides under Miss Lottie’s care on the Oregon Trail, living though temptations, dangers, and the harrowing trek.
Award-winning, Christian author Caryl McAdoo prays her story brings God glory. Of her best-selling novels, readers love her historical Christian romance family sagas most, but also enjoy their contemporary cousins, Caryl’s Biblical fiction, her historical mystery series, and tales for young adults, mid-grade booklovers, and pre-K through 2nd grade picture books.
The majority of reviewers award her stories five-stars and praise Caryl’s writing style, citing her extensive research and the depth of her characters.
The prolific writer loves singing the new songs God gives her almost as much as penning new novels—hear a few at YouTube! She’s been married to Ron fifty-five years, and they share four children and twenty-five grandsugars. The McAdoos live in the woods south of Clarksville, seat of Red River County in far Northeast Texas, waiting expectantly for God to open the next door.
2023 is the fifth annual Prairie Roses Collection, and I’m so excited to add AVA to my contributions for this multi-author, covered-wagon-stories project! The sojourners of these grueling treks fascinate me, willingly suffering such hardships and walking two thousand miles for a fresh start.
In fact, Ava May Harley never wanted to leave her home, a log cabin her father built in Skeeter Bottoms. She was born there, but with her Pap gone, for her family’s sake . . . The Word says if we don’t take care of our own, we are worse than an infidel, right?
What have you sacrificed for the sake of your family?
What immediately comes to my mind is the time we gave up our “golden years” and put off our empty-nest for fourteen years to take in four precious grandsugar-sons when we were fifty-two. They were six, four, three, and three-days-old.
Had we not, CPS was going to remove them from our family and spread the brothers out among strangers. Ron and I couldn’t let that happen and asked them to leave the boys with us. Of course, we thought it would only be for a few months.
We assumed their parents would attend the required classes and ‘get clean’ Figured we could do anything for a couple of months, right? The short months turned into years. Each boy left when the graduated high school, except the baby. When the third brother left, he asked to go with him to the other grandmother’s. He was fourteen then.
When people asked how we did it, there was an easy answer. š “Only by the mercy and grace of God.” The boys are grown now. The oldest is a fire fighter, and the youngest is a Marine. Ron and I have enjoyed our empty nest since 2017 (at 67 years of age), but we miss our fellers!
In AVA, my sweet heroine was only seventeen when a cousin dangled gold coins in front of her broke and bereft mother. Ma could buy a proper gravestone for her dead husband and pay off his debts if she would only send her firstborn off to marry a stranger in Montana.
My brave and independent character made her own decision to make the journey for the betterment of her family and count it a great adventure. As the miles piled on top one another, taking her farther and farther from her life in the Louisiana swamps, the only home she’d ever known, she doubted her decision more than once.
Her strong faith in God worked with her naivety and kept her on the Oregon Trail, moving ever toward her future. When a person knows God has a plan, and believes they are on that very path, there’s no reason to be afraid or worry. She knew God would never leave her or forsake her.
She knew how completely trustworthy He is.
I fell in love with this precious character, and I hope you will, too. I hope you will enjoy going along with AVA on the harrowing journey!
How involved have you gotten with a book character in the past? Share the character’s name and the book’s title if you will in your comments below! š
BLESSINGS!
To celebrate her tour, Caryl is giving away the prize of a $50 Amazon gift card and copy of the book!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://promosimple.com/ps/2658c/ava-celebration-tour-giveaway
This looks like it is an AMAZING story, one that very much needs to be told. Please share the link with everyone you know! Child trafficking is a huge problem in this country and the world. It needs to stop.
Trailer link: (87) Sound of Freedom | Theatrical Trailer for July 4 | Angel Studios - YouTube
The film stars Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ, The Count of Monte Cristo) who plays the lead role of Tim Ballard. Academy Award Winner Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite) plays Katherine Ballard and Bill Camp (Lincoln, 12 Years a Slave) plays “Batman”—Ballard’s right-hand man.
The film is produced by Eduardo VerƔstegui and directed by Alejandro Monteverde.
Get Your Tickets At: https://www.angel.com/sof
Exclusively in theaters July 4th, 2023.
Share this film with the world by Paying it Forward at https://www.angel.com/pay-it-forward/...
Help get this film to a theater near you by expressing interest at http://Angel.com/freedom
