Western Wednesday: Dear Mr. Turner ~ Kit Morgan plus giveaway

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WesternWednesdays I’ll be featuring authors from a Facebook group I am a part of, Pioneer Hearts. The authors at Pioneer Hearts have two things in common, we write historical Westerns and we write Romance. You can find almost any heat level there that you’re looking for except erotica. Because of this fact, I’ve added a new little icon on the bottom of my Western reviews, a heat level, so you as a reader know what to expect.

Check the end of this post for a giveaway!

Mail Order Bride Ink: Dear Mr. Turner

Mail-Order Bride Ink! Mischief, Marriage and Mayhem, these brides have something to write about! Mrs. Pettigrew, of the Pettigrew Mail-Order Bride Agency sees to that! She likes to hear from all her brides and loves a happy ending. But to ensure her brides get one, she does things to help love along. Sometimes, however, those things don’t always go as planned…

Dear Mrs. Pettigrew,

I made it to Clear Creek without incident. Unfortunately, my intended was unable to meet me at the stage as he was otherwise engaged in being shot at by bloodthirsty outlaws! He, of course, was shooting in return, but that’s not the sort of excuse a bride wants to be told!
I hope I made the right decision in coming here. My life as a Southern Belle of Savannah is quickly fading, my hope with it. I don’t know if I’m the right sort of bride for this Eli Turner. He’s everything a southern gentleman is not. I’m everything a woman of Clear Creek is not! Are you sure this is going to work? Speaking of work, the women here expect me to do a lot of it. I knew there would be some involved, but I had no idea life on the prairie could be so hard. I did, however, manage to bake my first pie without burning it, or the house down, with it. A small achievement and I hope the first of many. I’ll need many more to survive this place! IF I survive …
Write me as soon as you can!

Sincerely,
Pleasant Comfort

Eli Turner’s older brother Tom had been happily married for the last six years and had a couple of children to boot. Now it was Eli’s turn, but was he ready? He was just a simple deputy after all with an even simpler house to call home. What did he have to offer a bride? Especially the one he got! His mail-order bride wasn’t anything like he expected and probably wouldn’t survive life out west. What’s a man to do with a swooning female?

Pleasant Comfort hadn’t planned on getting married, least of all to a man she had no say about. So when her father tries to marry her off to the despicable Rupert Jerney just to save himself from financial ruin, she does what any self-respecting Southern Belle of Savannah would do. She hightails it out of Georgia! But doing so as a mail-order bride might not have been her first choice.She wasn’t made for roughing it without servants, a cook, and six older brothers to look out for her. What’s a Southern Belle to do when the women of Clear Creek get a hold of her and have other ideas?

Snippet:

The meal was quite pleasant, the food wonderful – especially the bread. At least Eli thought so. If his bride could bake bread this well, what else could she do? He couldn’t wait to find out.

He also couldn’t wait to give Miss Comfort her gifts. Thankfully, the meal was winding down. He planned on having dessert with her on the front porch. It was a nice evening, not too cool, perfect for courting a beautiful lady …

Eli shook himself. Great Scott, he was beginning to sound like Wilfred!

“Is there anything wrong, Mr. Turner?” his vision of loveliness asked.

“Not at all,” he said, his voice cracking. He cleared his throat. “Would you like to have dessert on the porch with me, Miss Comfort?” He caught the quick glance Harrison and Sadie exchanged. “I hope the Cookes won’t mind if I deprive ‘em of your company for a while.”

Belle smiled. “We don’t mind at all. Do we, Colin?”

Colin shook his head. “No, not us.”

Eli smiled. They, of course, knew about the box. Harrison and Sadie, on the other hand, didn’t. He looked at them, his smile frozen in place.

“Well, that would be fine,” Sadie slowly agreed. “We can have our dessert and coffee in the parlor while the two of you … retire to the porch.”

Colin pushed his chair from the table and stood. “Shall we see to dessert, my sweet?”

“Certainly,” Belle said brightly.

Colin grinned at Harrison and Sadie, then followed Belle into the kitchen.

Harrison glanced around the table. “What was that all about?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea.” Sadie gave Eli a quizzical look.

He shrugged innocently. “Miss Comfort, are you ready?”

She daintily wiped her mouth and set her napkin on the table. “Of course.”

Now Harrison was looking suspicious. Eli had to move carefully. He walked around the table and offered his arm to Miss Comfort, who took it with ease. He could get used to this. He escorted her from the room, swung by the chair holding his coat and whisked the box out from under it.

“What’s that?” Harrison asked.

Eli, too nervous to bluff his way through it, settled for ignoring him.

Harrison’s mouth dropped open, and he quickly turned to his wife. “He brought something for her and didn’t tell us!”

Sadie smiled and shook her head. “Really, Harrison, do mind your own business. Whatever it is, he didn’t bring it for you.”

“But he didn’t tell us!”

“So?” She got up from the table. “Help me with these dishes so we can have dessert.”

“But they’ve gone out onto the porch, dear wife. You know what that means.”

“I can’t say that I do.” She began to clear away the plates.

“Where is your sense of snoopery?” he asked indignantly.

“Snoopery? What kind of word is that?”

“I just made it up. If you will excuse me …” He moved to leave the room.

Sadie set down the stack of plates in her hands and followed him into the parlor. She watched as he quickly opened the front window, the one that looked out over the porch. Eli and Miss Comfort’s voices drifted into the room. “Harrison Cooke!” she hissed. “Get away from that window!”

He went to her and took her hands in his. “It’s our duty, dear wife, to chaperone. Now what kind of chaperones would we be if we left them alone out there, unwatched and unlistened to?”

“Oh for Heaven’s sake.” Sadie yanked her hands from his. “You are the nosiest man I have ever met!”

“On the contrary,” he said in a low voice. “I’m doing what’s right by Miss Comfort and our young friend Mr. Turner.”

Sadie put her hands on her hips. “You just want to see what’s in the box.”

“A nice side benefit,” he admitted, waving a finger at her. “But making sure it is nothing untoward, of course.”

Sadie rolled her eyes. “Harrison, you’ve gone plumb loco.” She left to deal with the dirty dishes.

“That woman has no sense of romance,” he muttered. Harrison turned, rubbed his hands together in anticipation, then firmly planted himself in the chair next to the open window.

Review:

Dear Mr. Turner is book two in the Mail Order Ink series. The strange Mrs. Pettigrew finds brides for men in Clear Creek, and her track record is amazingly successful. Pleasant Comfort’s family has been living beyond its means for some time. When her father sees a way to pay off debt without much trouble on his own part, he seizes it. Agreeing to marry off his daughter to a scoundrel just to be clear of his debt.

Pleasant runs away and through a series of events end up in Clear Creek to marry Eli Turner. Neither are what the other is expecting, both are perfect for each other.

If this is your first Clear Creek story, you will be able to read this, but you might feel a bit lost. These stories have a host of characters and all have their own personalities, some of them quite quirky. You’ll still enjoy the story, but I highly recommend starting with the Prairie Brides and Prairie Grooms, and Holiday Mail Order Brides set (which happens to be on sale at the time of this post) series first. All the books seem to be connected.

A great funny story, and a sweet afternoon read. I received this book free for an honest review, which I have given.

Author Bio:

31sojzX9F1L._UX250_A consistent Top 100 lists bestseller, Kit Morgan, aka Geralyn Beauchamp, has been writing for fun all of her life. When writing as Geralyn Beauchamp, her books are epic, adventurous, romantic fantasy at its best. When writing as Kit Morgan they are whimsical, fun, inspirational sweet and clean stories that depict a strong sense of family and community. ‘His Prairie Princess’ is the first of the Prairie Brides books and the first in the series of a long line of stories about Clear Creek, Oregon. One of the wackiest little towns in the old west! Get to know the townsfolk in Clear Creek and come sit a spell!

You can follow Kit on Facebook! Kit Morgan

Giveaway:

To enter to win a signed copy of Dear Mr. Turner and a $10 Amazon gift card, comment on this post what is your favorite aspect of little old western towns.

Heat Rating: 2 flames

light touches, no kissing

 

 

0 Comments

  1. Congratulations Vicki Wurgler! Author Kit Morgan will be contacting you shortly so watch your spam folder! ~Kari

  2. Vicki Wurgler says:

    I like the boardwalks, stores that sell everything and the horses tied up out front

  3. emilee douglas says:

    I love the little stores and wooden boardwalks.

  4. One of my fav aspects of little old western towns is that everyone seems to know everyone. Small town environment. 🙂

  5. kim hansen says:

    That the little stores had just about everything one would need.

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