Win a copy of Patty Smith Hall's The Doctor's Bride!!!

First things first: The winner of last week's drawing (done by Random.org) for Laurie Alice Eakes' book, A Reluctant Courtship is R. Merr!!! Congratulations!   Thank you all for your comments and for entering. I highly recommend this book so if you didn't win, I encourage you to buy it HERE

Today, I have another special author guest.  Please Welcome Patty Smith Hall!!

Patty Smith Hall has made up stories since being forced on boring drives into the Georgia countryside when she was too young to stay home by herself. Now she's happy to share her wild imagination and love of history with others, including her husband, Danny, two smart and gorgeous daughters, and a Yorkie she spoils like a baby. She resides in North Georgia.

Isn't she pretty?  I met Patty years ago when I was on a book signing tour in Michigan. She was so helpful to me and three other authors who were touring places quite unknown to us. She helped spread the word to local libraries and churches, and I believe she even got thrown out of one church!  Well, she'll have to tell you that story. It's pretty funny.

Not only is Patty kind and pretty, but she's also a great author.   She has a new release out that I know you're going to LOVE

  The Doctor’s Bride

 Dr. Joshua McClain is headed west

First stop: Hillsdale, Michigan, to break the marriage contract his late mother arranged between him and Katie Clark. Years ago, Katie left him behind in Charleston. But after a train crash, he comes face-to-face with Dr. Kathleen Clark, his childhood friend all grown up.

When Josh shows up in town, claiming they're betrothed, Katie refuses to consider an arranged marriage. She'll marry for love or not at all. Besides, he's headed for Kansas Territory; her practice is here in Hillsdale. So why are they both finding it hard to break their betrothal and say goodbye?

 Buy from Amazon

Buy from Christianbook.com

Patty, please tell us how the story of The Doctor's Bride came about?

     

What do you do when it’s winter in Michigan; you’re stuck inside for the fifteenth day in a row because the clouds have (once again) opened up and dropped another foot of the white stuff on your driveway, and it’s so cold, your sinuses freeze into two large ice cubes in the center of your face?

      If you’re me, you write about a train wreck in Hillsdale Michigan during a blizzard in February, 1856!

      Being a southern girl, the daily onslaught of spitting snow kept me close to home during my seven years living just outside of Grand Rapids, Michigan, fueling an interest in the surrounding communities that for the most part, lay beneath a blanket of white. So when I came across an old newspaper article about the head-on collision on the Southern Michigan Rail Line just outside of Hillsdale, I found myself intrigued. Two trains--one heading east, the other, carrying passengers west--collided in the mist of a raging blizzard just after midnight on February 8th, 1856. Both trains were behind schedule so the engineers were ‘running wild’ in an effort to make up lost time, one engineer going so far as to operate his engine without a head light to warn any oncoming trains. Three men died in the initial crash while three others were so badly injured, their chances of survival was reported as extremely slim in one local newspaper.

       It being winter, I wondered how the people of Hillsdale managed such a devastating accident and learned that because no other means of transportation was available in town during the winter months, the residents took in the victims, hosting them for weeks, sometimes months according to their injuries. With a college that offered educational opportunities for both men and women, I felt I’d found the perfect recipe for romance!

What a GREAT story. Thank you, Patty.

GIVEAWAY!!  I'm giving away a copy of this marvelous book to one lucky winner (announced next Friday).  So leave a comment for Patty about what intrigues you about the storyline! 

(US only for paperback. Anywhere for E-copy)

And if you absolutely can't wait... go ahead and order your copy now!  (links above)

And don't forget to visit Patty on her Website