Fresh out of Mrs. Pettigrew's School for Young Ladies, Amelia Westcott and her two best friends are ready for adventure. Suddenly a life filled with social obligations and meaningless gossip seems unappealing. On a whim the girls investigate the phenomena of young women heading west to marry, and Amelia is captivated by the freedom such a decision offers. Hugh Jordon needs a wife. The severe shortage of women in the Pacific Northwest makes advertising for a bride seems reasonable. As long as he finds a wife who is the exact opposite of his tempestuous mother, he’ll be well satisfied. Studying the applicants, he chooses one that seems to best fit his needs, and delegates his head clerk with the critical task of sending polite rejections to the others. Unfortunately, most of them never get the letter Hugh anticipated and soon the brides descend, all expecting to marry the same man! Amelia is horrified, and realizes that the adage "marry in haste, repent at leisure" has never been more true. How could he do that to her? What sort of man was he, to propose to so many women? She simply must have their wedding annulled and return to Massachusetts at once. Hugh has other ideas. In his opinion, the perfect place for his bride to learn about faith, loyalty and commitment is in his home and over his knee! Snippet: When Amelia finally disembarked from the Mystic Maiden she was dressed head to toe in black and it infuriated him. His beautiful bride appeared to be in mourning and he wondered if one of the women in her entourage planned on shooting him. They moved down the gangway in mass as he watched from the ship's rail. Hugh had just started down the gangway when his brother Samuel met him. “Welcome home,” Sam said, slinging an arm around his back. “Where’s your new bride? Mother and father are anxious to meet her and have planned a welcome home dinner.” “See that little speck of black in the middle of those women?” Hugh asked pointing to the group waiting on the wharf. Sam followed his direction and nodded. “That’s her.” “Well, go and fetch her. Why isn’t she by your side?” he asked realizing something was very wrong. “It’s a long story, and at this point a very ugly one,” Hugh replied. “She’s in mourning?” “Apparently.” “Who died?” “No one yet, but it’s still early,” Hugh drawled looking at the sky. “I take it you’re not exactly in a state of marital bliss?” “Far from it, in fact I don’t see how things can get any worse.” Watching a huge crowd of men gather around the women Hugh clenched his fists. He wanted to go down there, push his way through the crowd and toss Amelia over his shoulder. There were too many hungry eyes for his liking. She should be home, with him, getting her naughty ass paddled good. How dare she believe him capable of such trickery, such underhanded, conniving deceit? Amelia, The Marriage Market, Book One, is available this weekend at the sale price of $2.99 on Amazon only. On Monday it will return to the regular price of $4.99 and will be available on Blushing Books, Barnes & Noble, etc. Thanks for stopping by and checking out my new release. I know I haven't been around much, but a case of Shingles has laid me low :( Stevie
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