MAIL ORDER MARTINA by Kathleen Lawless

Today, we welcome my good friend, Author Kathleen Lawless, to Notes From a Romantic's Heart. Kathleen has a new book out. Mail Order Martina, part of the Mail Order Brides series, and also one of my favorite tropes -- the secret baby!

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Is your book based on real-life experience or a figment of your imagination?

My characters and their experiences are totally fictitious, but certain things from real life filter through in the form of character traits. Places I’ve visited or situations that happened will often form a loose base to be fictionalized in my work.

If you could trade places with one of the characters from your book, who would it be and why?

Most of my books are historical and while it’s fun to fantasize about the past in a totally romantic way, I don’t think the reality of no showers or running water is for me.

Is the setting for your book real? If so, have you been there? If it’s fictitious, is there somewhere real that you’ve used as a model?

I typically invent the place where my story takes places, loosely based on somewhere in the general area. That way I don’t have to stress about getting every little real-life detail right. Readers are not shy about letting you know if you’re wrong about something. I read a book once set near where I live and the author had tulips blooming in August. Not even possible, and that sloppy bit of research quite ruined the book for me.

About the Book

Neither of them are marriage material—but fate decrees otherwise.

A deathbed promise and a land-hungry neighbor are enough for Will to cope with after getting out of jail for a crime he didn’t commit, never mind a tomboy bride with a toddler. He thought women were sweet and gentle creatures, but Marty can outride and outshoot anyone Will knows and has no interest in the role of a traditional wife.

After their father dies, Martina and her young half-brother are displaced, so Martina travels west to make a new life for them. She didn’t count on her new husband being an ex-con whose ranch is under attack. Especially as Will believes a woman’s place is in the home, while Martina insists her place is next to him.

An Excerpt

“What the heck is going on?” A man on horseback rode up at breakneck speed and stopped inches from the wagon. Martina shaded her eyes to look up into his face, which was shadowed by the sun behind him and the brim of his hat. She had an impression of broad shoulders and unruly dark hair that nearly brushed his shoulders.

She lifted her chin and faced the man fully. “My name is Martina Owens. Mr. Thorn is expecting me.”

“Says who?”

"He does. Right here in this letter.” She dug the dog-eared and folded paper from her pocket, passed it to him, and watched as he unfolded it and smoothed the creases, his frown deepening as he scanned the contents.

Will stared down at the letter, then back up at Martina. “My brother wrote this. Before he was killed, he had some bee in his bonnet about finding me a woman.”

“He paid my way here.”

“And I’m prepared to pay your way back.”

“You’re not getting rid of us that easily,” Martina shot back. Her sharp retort captured his attention for real. His eyes narrowed, the stormy blue deepened.

Just then, she heard a thunder of hoof beats coming their way. When the dust cleared, Martina gave a sigh of relief.

A man dressed all in black dismounted. “Howdy, Will.”

“What brings you out this way, reverend?”

“Came to see you legally wed to this lovely lady.”

Will did a double-take. “On whose say so?”

“Miss Owens stopped by the rectory earlier and showed me the letter of intent. Said you failed to meet her at the train station, and she was a’ feared you mighta got cold feet.”

“There’s been a misunderstanding,” Will said stubbornly. “Harry wrote that letter, not me.”

"Now son,” the reverend said, “you know perfectly well you can’t drag a lady halfway across the country, then turn your back on her the second she gets here. Any lady who travels all this way, with no idea what’s waiting for her at the other end, does so because she has no place to go back to.” He glanced at Martina. “I get that right?”

She gave Will a determined look. “I came prepared to work and it appears to me that you could use some help around here.”

The reverend pulled his bible out of his saddle bag. “Right then. Let’s get started.”

Will sent Martina a surly glance. “You prepared to marry a con?”

She met his gaze, unflinching. “You kill anyone?”

“Nope.”

“Steal something that wasn’t yours?”

“Not exactly.”

“Planning to commit any crimes in the future?”

His eyes narrowed. “What is this?”

Even though he towered over her by more than half a foot, she lifted her chin to meet his gaze. “Anyone can make a mistake. I believe everyone deserves a second chance.”

About the Author

Kathleen Lawless blames a misspent youth watching Rawhide, Maverick and Bonanza for her fascination with cowboys, which doesn’t stop her from creating a wide variety of interests and occupations for her alpha male heroes.

Her hero, Steele, in HER UNDERCOVER COWBOY, is a modern-day cowboy, so when she was wooed by a man called Steel— while he’s not a cowboy, he is an Alpha male and her forever hero. Which is why all of her stories end Happily Ever After.

Not that she can ever stick to just one genre. So many stories to tell—never enough time.

With close to 40 published novels to her credit, she enjoys pushing the boundaries of traditional romance into historical romance, romantic suspense, women’s fiction and stories for young adults.

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Come back soon for more authors, more books. Until then, stay safe, stay healthy, stay happy, and stay well read.

Nancy