Christmas Surprise!

I have a Christmas Surprise for my readers! If you're a fan of the Yellowstone Series and the Teton Trilogy - the Walkers, Osbornes, and Russells got together for Christmas! 
I wasn't going to write a Christmas story this year, because I simply didn't think I'd have time. I had worked all summer on Yellowstone Origins, then had to get Emma, Bride of Kentucky done before its deadline, and by then, it was already well into November.

My editor told me that I needed to take a break, and not even start a new  book this year. I sort of agreed with her...for about a week. I had mentioned that I really wanted to write a Christmas novella that I had thought of last year, but I ran out of time then, too. A few days after she declared I needed to go on a break, she contacted me and said "you know, if you want to write that Christmas story, maybe you should do it."
So, I hit the keyboard, and, voila! the story that I wanted to write a year ago finally came to life. I loved bringing together the Walkers with the Osbornes and the Russells. The thought of, "what would happen if Lucas Walker ever got together with Chase Russell on an adventure," was too good to pass up. The possibilities were endless with those two!

The end result is a novella that was about 8,000 words longer than I had first anticipated (coming in at around 29,000 words), so that's good news for my readers. It was so much fun to write, and I hope you will love it, too!

So, here it is .... Teton Season of Joy (A Yellowstone and Teton Romance Series Crossover Christmas Novella!)

Blurb:

Lucas Walker's life couldn't be more different from a few years ago. Now married and expecting his first child, he wants nothing more than to provide a good home for his family.  With Christmas coming, he sets off to find the perfect surprise for his wife.

As Tori Walker approaches the time for her baby to be born, she is comforted by the expert care that surrounds her. However, winter in the mountains can turn deadly at the blink of an eye. When her prankster husband fails to return from a short hunting trip, she doesn't know whether to be angry or worried.

Christmas is a time to reminisce and enjoy family time. Young or old, all who gather in the Walker home this holiday can share memories of falling in love, being saved from near death, and not being able to imagine life without each other. When Lucas and his companion are feared lost in the wilderness, this holiday season may well be remembered as the season of mishaps, rather than a season of joy.

AMAZON: http://amzn.to/1OU6HfI

iBooks: http://apple.co/1Qx405E

B&N: http://bit.ly/1HWBHwp

KOBO: http://bit.ly/1XXB4JY

Author Spotlight _ Lorrie Farrely

In the spirit of a wonderful, old-fashioned Victorian Christmas, I'd love to share two exciting, emotional, historical romances – one set Back East, one set Out West – with readers. The first is one of 50 novels in the unprecedented, 45-author series AMERICAN MAIL-ORDER BRIDES. I'm delighted to be in the company of some of today's most talented and beloved authors, including Peggy L. Henderson, Kirsten Lynn, Susan Horsnell, Jacquie Rogers, Patricia Carroll, and many more, in creating these   heartfelt and engaging novels.

My book, MOLLIE: BRIDE OF GEORGIA, is fourth in the series. (By the way, the lovely young woman on the cover portraying Mollie is Jennie Gregg Farrelly (1883-1954), my husband's grandmother. I hope she'd be tickled to find herself on the cover of a 21st century novel!) Set in November and December of 1890, MOLLIE is a story of courage and hope as a young woman, answering an advertisement for a mail-order bride, confronts an unknown and very challenging future.

Years of brutal warfare have left the South with far more women than men. What, Mollie Winters worries, could be so wrong with Dr. Nicholas Avinger that he was forced to advertise for a wife?

Despite her misgivings, Mollie takes a desperate leap of faith. Arriving in Atlanta with little more than a few pieces of clothing, two pairs of shoes, and the manuscript of her wildly melodramatic, romantic adventure novel, she prepares to start a new life with the attractive but irascible Dr. Avinger.

A haunted man who prefers animals to people, Nick Avinger has driven away more than one assistant, as well as his latest fiancée. Mollie Winters might just fill both bills, if only he didn’t want her so much. And if only he didn’t fear how much he would hurt her.

Years of brutal warfare have left the South with far more women than men. What, Mollie Winters worries, could be so wrong with Dr. Nicholas Avinger that he was forced to advertise for a wife?

Despite her misgivings, Mollie takes a desperate leap of faith. Arriving in Atlanta with little more than a few pieces of clothing, two pairs of shoes, and the manuscript of her wildly melodramatic, romantic adventure novel, she prepares to start a new life with the attractive but irascible Dr. Avinger.

A haunted man who prefers animals to people, Nick Avinger has driven away more than one assistant, as well as his latest fiancée. Mollie Winters might just fill both bills, if only he didn’t want her so much. And if only he didn’t fear how much he would hurt her.

Will the Christmas Season bring hope to Mollie and Nick, or will the trauma of the past prove too overwhelming?

Here's an excerpt from MOLLIE: BRIDE OF GEORGIA:

Mollie woke to Nick’s muffled groans and growls. The room was dark but for the faint glow of the fireplace embers, and she turned worriedly toward her husband. His face was bathed with sweat, and suddenly he writhed, kicking wildly at the covers. Frightened that he was in the throes of a nightmare, or worse, suddenly taken ill, she reached out to calm him, trying gently to stroke his face. His eyes flew open, and he stared at her with the ferocity of a cornered animal. His eyes were feral, but opaque, blind.

“Get away, damn you!” he shouted, and Mollie gasped, shrinking back. Nick’s hand shot out and his fingers wrapped around her throat like an iron vise, tightening painfully. Abruptly, he shoved her backwards, slamming her shoulder against the brass bars of the headboard. He released his grip, and in one wild scramble, bolted from the bed. He whirled back to face her, his hands balled into fists and his chest heaving. His eyes were unfocused, staring past Mollie with crazed fury at something only he could see.

Trembling, horrified, she gasped for air, broken sobs choking her bruised throat. “Nick!”

Her cry emerged as a strangled rasp. She swallowed, tried again, desperately, “Nick! Wake up! For God’s sake, wake up!”

© 2015 by Lorrie Farrelly

Also celebrating the Christmas Season is the tender Western historical short romance CHRISTMAS TREASURE:

Ex-Union Army Captain Will Blackburn has tried to put the loss of his Georgia home and the fierce alienation of his family behind him. His fresh start on a Nevada cattle ranch has given him renewed purpose, but making peace with the trauma of war is not so easily done.

When Will receives word that the only family member who never turned against him, his beloved younger sister Mattie, has died, he must deal not only with his past, but also with a starchy, stubborn young woman who has traveled more than two thousand miles to fulfill Mattie’s last wish: that her cherished CHRISTMAS TREASURE be hand-delivered to her brother. But will that unexpected gift bring Will peace or even greater pain?

CHRISTMAS TREASURE and MOLLIE: BRIDE OF GEORGIA, as well as all my novels and short stories, including multiple award winners TERMS OF SURRENDER and TIMELAPSE, are available at:

AMAZON: 

AMAZON UK:

AMAZON AUSTRALIA: 

Find more of Lorrie’s books here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LorrieFarrellyAuthor

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Website:  https://sites.google.com/site/yourbestreads

Twitter: https://twitter.com/@lorriewrites

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+LorrieFarrelly/posts/p/pub

I wish everyone the comfort and joy that is so much the spirit of the Christmas Season. Happy holidays!

Release Day! Emma, Bride of Kentucky

Today was release day! 

I was honored to have been asked to join this project! My contribution is Emma: Bride of Kentucky, and it is Book 15 in the Series. 

Forty-five authors come together to bring readers a new series of epic proportions. On fifty consecutive days beginning November 19, 2015, a romance, featuring a mail-order bride, will be published--one set in each of the fifty states. The books will be released in the order the states were admitted to the union. The stories all take place in 1890, following a day when a factory in the East burns to the ground, leaving these women unemployed and forced to choose mail-order marriages for survival. Share the experiences of these brides as they seek love and new lives across the United States.

Blurb:

Emma Waterston is determined, headstrong, and comes from a lifestyle where class structure determines one’s associations. Left destitute after the death of her mother, she takes a job at a textile factory. When a fire destroys her place of employment, leaving her penniless again, she makes a desperate decision and answers an ad for a mail order bride from a wealthy Kentucky horse breeder.

Sam Hawley is content with his life as a horse trainer on an affluent Kentucky estate. His primary focus has always been on the horses. He views their owners as rich people with nothing to do but flaunt their money. Loyalty to his mentor is the only thing that keeps him rooted to one place. When he meets the bride-to-be of the man he detests the most, his life is about to change.

Too late, Emma discovers the ad she answered was too good to be true. Her future husband is not what she was led to believe and a horrific experience leaves her no choice but to face the kind of life she’s been trying to escape. Kentucky was supposed to promise a return to her life of wealth. What she finds instead will redefine her definition of being rich. 

Excerpt:

“Miss Emmaline Waterston,” someone called from behind her.

Emma’s heart lurched in her chest at the deep voice calling her name. Finally. Curbing her agitation at having been left waiting for so long, she plastered her best smile on her face, and swallowed the lump of apprehension in her throat. When she wheeled around, she nearly tripped on a loose wooden board under her feet.

The smile faded, and her forehead wrinkled when she glimpsed the man walking toward her. Her eyes darted around to see if it might have been another man calling out her name, rather than the one heading directly at her.

She mentally recited the description David Benton had given of himself - dark-haired, with a moustache, nearly six feet tall, and wealthy. The man in her direct line of vision did not fit that description, not in the slightest.

He was dressed in a simple, light-blue cotton shirt tucked haphazardly inside tan britches that were held up by dark suspenders. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and his wide shoulders did not escape her notice. Neither did this man’s dirty blond hair that poked out from beneath a brown cap that reminded her of the newspaper boys back in Lawrence. The other ends of his britches were tucked into old, worn boots.

He stopped just in front of her, and Emma raised her head to look him in the eye. He languidly peeled the cap from his head, revealing a disheveled mop of hair that fell forward over his eyes. His lips curved in a slow grin, creating indents in his cheeks. Emma’s heart fluttered inexplicably in her chest. She blinked, and shook her head slightly at the reaction. She stared up into deep-blue eyes that threatened to suck her right up. She’d never seen a man this handsome before, even if he appeared unkempt. 

“Miss Emmaline Waterston?” he asked again in that rich drawl she’d already heard once before.

A slight shiver passed down her spine, and goose bumps formed on her skin, despite being warm under her cloak.

“Yes,” she answered, having to clear her throat to say it a second time. “And you are?”

Surely, this couldn’t be David Benton. If so, she’d been deceived.

“Sam Hawley,” he said, holding out his hand.

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