Wagon Trail Bride and The Marriage Agreement, the first two books in the Pioneer Series, are both serious in nature. There are a couple of light moments where I got a chuckle while writing them, but overall, they have a more serious tone to them.
Groom For Hire, which is Book 3, is definitely a comedy. Those of you who enjoyed the type of humor in A Husband For Margaret, you will probably get a kick out of this one.
The book is now on pre-order!
I had trouble getting an iBooks link because this book is going through my awesome publisher who uploads directly to the iBookstore. I use Smashwords for distribution to iBooks. So if anyone has the iBooks link they would like to send my way, please do.
Please note that the heroine’s name is Michelle. I originally made it Evelyn, but then I found another Evelyn in Patty’s Gamble, and I was afraid people would think this was the same Evelyn. So I changed the name to Michelle. I forgot to tell the publisher at the time I sent in the description, so the book page says “Evelyn”. I already notified the publisher of this issue.
That aside….
The hero is Joe Otto, and he was the one who was in love with Amanda when she married Richard Larson. Well, in this book, he gets his second chance at happiness, but it’s not exactly in the way he expects because Michelle (the woman he signs to temporarily marry so she can go on a wagon train to California without a relative) is excited about the trip and wants to do everything she can to be part of leading the wagon train. This baffles him, and no matter how hard he tries to persuade her to be content sticking to the female duties, she won’t give up.
Below is an excerpt from the story to give you a flavor of the humor you’ll find if you read it.
This is when Michelle tries to join the men when they’re ready to go hunting.
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They turned around in time to see Joe jogging their way.
“Your wife wants to join us for hunting,” Matthew replied. “The trouble is, she’s never used a gun in her entire life.”
Before Joe said anything, Michelle already knew he wouldn’t approve. “I’m just going to watch,” she told Joe. “I won’t use the rifle.” Even though she wanted to in the worst way. Men were so lucky. They got to do a lot of fun things while women were stuck with cooking and cleaning. She gave the rifle back to Danny. “See? I’m not shooting at anything today.”
Joe slowed to a stop as soon as he reached them. “This is ridiculous. You can’t go out there with these men.”
“Why not? You think I can’t learn from watching them?” she asked.
Joe took her by the arm and led her away from the group.
“What are you doing?” she demanded in irritation. She was beginning to feel more like a child than a grown woman with the way he was treating her.
When they were out of everyone’s hearing, he faced her and let go of her arm. “I’m stopping you from making a foolish decision,” he told her. “Think about what you’re about to do. You’re willing to go with five men away from the group. Don’t you know what kind of trouble you’re asking for?”
It took her a moment to understand what he was getting at, and when she did, she gasped. “That’s awful, Joe. Just awful. Why would you agree to take men to California if you think they’re the type who’d take a woman’s innocence?”
He blinked, her answer having the desired effect of surprising him. Then he shook his head and said, “I wouldn’t agree to take men on a wagon train if I thought they were the type who’d mistreat a woman.”
“In that case, why are you worried?”
“Because I don’t know them that well. I don’t think they would do that, but one can never be sure about anything. Who knows if the temptation might be too much for any one of them? It’s in your best interest to make sure you’re never alone with any of them, understand? That’s why I tell women and children to go to the stream together or go with a male relative. It’s for your protection.”
“Well, I want to learn how to hunt, and in order to do that, I need to learn to shoot a gun. I think of Danny as a brother, and he thinks of me like a sister. He’ll take care of me.”
Joe laughed. “You are so naïve.”
She frowned. “I don’t appreciate being laughed at.”
He shook his head. “Why can’t you be content being a woman? Why do you need to act like a man?”
“I’m not trying to act like a man. As Mrs. Taylor said, women have owned homesteads. If they can own property, then I can hunt.”
“When I talked to your father, he made you sound like a sweet young woman who wouldn’t cause me any problems, but so far, you’ve been the biggest problem I’ve had on this trail.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Thanks a lot!”
“You can’t be surprised I think that about you. You’re determined to do everything I tell you not to do.”
“That’s because you are determined to prevent me from living the adventure that’s part of this journey.”
“Adventure?”
“Yes. I like being out here. I have an opportunity to learn how to do new things, and you’re not letting me do them. Danny’s willing to let me do them. The other men only had a problem because I don’t know how to use a gun, but once I know how to use it, they’ll let me hunt with them. Danny will teach me how to shoot. And you aren’t going to stop me.”
That said, she stuck her nose up in the air and turned to get away from him. But he quickly slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her to his side.
“You’ll do that over my dead body,” he said.
Not to be deterred from his comment, she made eye contact with him. “You either teach me, or I’ll have Danny do it.”
After a long moment, he gritted his teeth. “Fine. I’ll do it. You’re my wife. That makes you my responsibility. That means I have to deal with you.”
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