Violet: Bride of North Dakota (American Mail-Order Bride 39) (19 page)

IF YOU ENJOYED READING THIS BOOK, THERE ARE 49 MORE IN THE SERIES!

Find out about the rest of the American Mail-Order Brides
here
. Also click on the link in the first paragraph on that page to read the first ten pages of the prequel free
(or click here for free prequel)
.

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AUTHOR’S NOTE.

I’m so glad to be part of this amazing series. It’s been delightful to learn about North Dakota—especially that you can see the northern lights from there! I have worked to keep this book historically accurate, but please forgive me for taking literary license in a few places. At least one of the train conductors (Casper Sands) really did announce, “Prepare to meet your doom!” or “Prepare to meet your God!” when they got to Minot, North Dakota, until the tracks moved on to Williston—which they did a couple of years
before
my story, but I
had
to include this delightful tidbit. The Grand Forks Metropolitan Opera House was actually nearly open at the time of this story (fortuitous for me), and the townsfolk of Bottineau did actually move their town a mile and a half to the south in 1887 so they would be on the railroad line that was being built. Though Jack Doyle’s and the history surrounding the first Christmas tree and party are historically accurate, the inside was designed solely by me. I made up many details about the town of Minot, for example, in the general store.

DID YOU SEE ANY (GASP!) ERRORS OR TYPOS?

Though this book has gone through numerous edits, by myself and others, including professional editors and beta readers, we are human. If you spot any errors or typos, please email me at
[email protected]
and let me know! I want my books to be as clean as possible, both in content and in format.

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THANKS AGAIN...

For your time and interest, and for telling your friends about my books. If you’d like to know more about my other books, that section is just a page or two away.

Happy tales, Heather Horrocks

www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com

Book Club Questions

1. Are there any circumstances under which you would agree to become a mail-order bride?

2. How would you have reacted if you’d arrived in a strange town expecting to be picked up by your future husband—only no one was there waiting for you and the platform was empty?

3. Even though he is attracted to Violet, Daniel discounts himself as a possible husband because he sees himself as too old and too flawed. Are there areas in your life where you’ve done the same thing?

4. Can you see the northern lights from your hometown? Have you ever seen them? I was thrilled to learn they could be seen from North Dakota, and they became an integral part of the romance.

5. Do you think Violet should have given James a second chance when he returned? Yes or no? Why or why not?

6. What do you think would be the three most difficult things about becoming a mail-order bride?

7. Can you think of anything good about becoming a mail-order bride?

8. Did you like Daniel recreating the “arrival” of the mail-order bride in the final train station scene? Do you think it would have helped take the sting out of Rachel’s actual arrival when she was abandoned?

9. Do you like books that end in happily ever afters?

10. If you lived in 1890 and were going to become a mail-order bride, what would your top three requirements for your groom be?

About the Author

Heather Horrocks is the
USA Today
and Amazon bestselling author of numerous books (
Who-Dun-Him Inn
mysteries,
Chick Flick Clique
and
Christmas Street
romantic comedies, the unprecedented
American Mail-Order Bride
series and
Women Who Knew
inspirational books) plus an upcoming series for writers, sharing her unique character interview and amazing book-in-a-day system developed by plotting over sixty-five books with Diane Darcy, each in one day, with her Conspiracy Group (two or more people plotting together—some with Kristin Holt, others with Bruce Simpson, and others all by themselves). She is also the founder of Word Garden Press, a niche publisher of PG-rated fiction and non-fiction.

Raised overseas for her first seventeen years, she hid under the bed with her mother during a South American coup, waterskied through an oil slick in the Persian Gulf, partied with a Kuwaiti princess classmate, flew in and out of the blacked-out Cairo airport mere moments before it was bombed during the Six Day War, rode a camel (and ate a camel steak), crossed the finish line first at Utah's Miller Motorsports Park—and walked on hot coals—
without getting burned!
—at a firewalk workshop!

She loves anyone who can make her laugh, which explains why she adores her witty husband, her funny friends and sisters, Anne George mysteries, and her cute little dog Gus. She loves to cook for friends, siblings, and especially her children and their families. She and her husband reside in Utah. You can find her online at
www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com
.

Books by Heather Horrocks

* Boxed Sets

ROMANTIC COMEDIES:

Christmas Street Romantic Comedy Novella Series

Bah, Humbug!
#1

Kissing Santa
#2

The Naughty List
#3

*
Love on Christmas Street
(Books #1, 2, & 3)

Deck the Malls
#4

Chick Flick Clique Romantic Comedy series and Dog Park Novellas

Pride and Precipitation
#1

A Hound Dog Named Elvis
#1.5 ~ A Dog Park Novella
(in
A Timeless Romance: Autumn
anthology)

Regally Blonde
#2

A Pink Dog Named Fluffy
(formerly titled
Puppy Love
)
#2.5 ~ A Dog Park Novella

My Spare Lady
#3

*Movie Night at Candy’s Cafe
(Books #1, 2, & 3)

A Bulldog Named Desire
#3.5 ~ A Dog Park Novella

Fifty Shades of Greystoke
#4

While You Were Stranded
#5 (2016)

COZY MYSTERIES:

Who-Dun-Him Inn Cozy Mystery Series

Snowed Inn
#1

Inn the Doghouse
#2

Inn the Family Way
#3

*
Laugh Yourself to Death at the Who-Dun-Him Inn
(Books #1, 2, & 3)

The Czech’s Inn the Mail
#4
(2016)

Bad Mothers Club Cozy Mystery Series

Murder is Misunderstood #1

INSPIRATIONAL:

Women Who Knew the Mortal Messiah

Men Who Knew the Mortal Messiah

Women and Men Who Knew the Mortal Messiah

Women Who Knew the Great Jehovah
(2016)

OTHER:

How to Stuff a Wild Zucchini

Old Maid of Honor

Baby Mine

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Acknowledgments

It’s good to have a team!

Thank you, Diane Darcy, for your friendship, plotting moxie, and awesome critiques, and to you, Anissa Wall, for your indispensable edits.

And thanks to you, Mark Horrocks, for your everlasting support. Thanks for loving me (and not sending for me as a mail-order bride).

Copyright © 2015 Heather Horrocks

www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com

Word Garden Press

The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.

Cover

Cover designed by Erin Dameron-Hill

www.edhgraphics.blogspot.com

All Rights Reserved

This includes the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions.

Work of Fiction

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Special eBook Edition

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Previews

For previews of upcoming books by Heather Horrocks, to sign up for mailing list, to order personalized print copies, or for more information about the author, visit
www.BooksByHeatherHorrocks.com.

Excerpt:
Old Money

A Wild West Romantic Comedy Adventure by Heather Horrocks writing as McKenna Bond

Time travel doesn’t really happen. Does it?

Jennie’s beginning to wonder when she and her ex-fiancé seem to be pulled into an Old West painting—right in the middle of a guns-blazing bank robbery. She doesn’t know how it happened to begin with, or how they’ll get back, and nobody—not Jesse James or the marshal or the mysterious stranger—seem inclined to give them a chance to find out. Worst of all, she’s falling for the man she swore she’d never trust again.

Chapter One