Kelly Irvin – Romantic Excerpt

Shannon here: Kelly Irvin shares all about her latest Amish Romance, Lilly’s February Love, with a romantic excerpt. Comment or answer the question in any post dated Feb 2nd – 14th to enter the drawing for a print copy plus 3 other titles. Deadline: Feb 21st, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Kelly:

February: The Super Bowl of Romance

When a group of talented Amish fiction writers approached me about joining them in a 12-book indie-published series connected through the theme of Amish birthday romances, I agreed to participate with some trepidation. I’ve never indie-published a book in my 15-year career as a published novelist But the idea of a series dedicated to birthdays associated with each month of the year intrigued me. Plus, I needed to show myself that I could—at the ripe old age of 67 (now 68—earn something new.

So I said yes and immediately grabbed the month of February for my contribution. I wanted February because it’s the Super Bowl month of romance and love—especially for me.

First, my husband Tim and I married on February 14, Valentine’s Day. Very romantic, some might say. Truth be told, Tim wanted to make sure he never forgot our anniversary. In 38 years, he never has. But the month is also special because his birthday is four days later. My brother and one of my grandsons also celebrate birthdays in February. Suffice it to say, I have plenty of experience with February birthdays.

Which brings me to Lilly’s February Love. The heroine of our story isn’t having such a great time with her February birthday. That’s because she’s the youngest of ten children, all grown. She’s the only one left at home. She’s taking care of her aging parents, who both have health challenges. Because of her duties at home, she hasn’t had—or made—time for courting. The story opens on her birthday, February 12.  As a Plain woman, she doesn’t expect a huge hoopla. Which is good because she wakes up to discover her parents have gone to her niece’s house to help with the birth of a new baby. She’s delighted about the baby, of course, but she can’t help but feel a teeny-tiny bit of disappointment that they’ve forgotten her 24^th birthday.

Imagine having to keep track of birthdays for ten children (with nine spouses), 44 grandchildren, and now, one great-grandchild. It certainly boggles my mind. Lilly doesn’t even mention it to her parents when they return home. She loves them too much to ever complain. Besides her life has just become infinitely more complicated. The man she’s had a crush on since childhood pops up at her house and announces he’s been hired by her brothers to help her father manage the family farm.

Josiah Shrock isn’t beau material. Not for Lilly. He simply isn’t. For one, he used to court Lilly’s sister. Secondly, he left Hannah without a word and disappeared into the English world for three years. Now he’s back, and he’s working hard to make amends. Hannah is already married and has children. She’s long over Josiah’s betrayal. Lilly’s not.

Except she forgot to tell her heart. Her heart still says Josiah is the one.

So was Josiah a birthday gift or a new trial in Lilly’s life? I wasn’t sure until I wrote the story, which way it would go. One of the great things about Lilly’s February Love is that it is part of a series that includes 11 other stories about birthdays and romance. Miriam’s January Promise by Tracy Fredrychowski is already available. Novels to follow will be written by Rachel J. Good, Mindy Steele, Jennifer Beckstrand, Ashley Emma, Diane Craver, Jennifer Spredemann, Adina Senft, Kathleen Fuller, Debra Torres, and Susan Lantz Simpson. Here’s a snippet from Lilly’s February Love to whet your appetite for Lilly and Josiah’s story.

Excerpt from Lilly’s February Love by Kelly Irvin:

The laundry could wait. Mom’s insistence that she would help Lily do it was sweet, but unnecessary. Laundry for three people was a few loads—nothing compared to running clothes for twelve people through a wringer twice and hanging them on the line. And then taking them down, folding and/or ironing them and putting them away. Grabbing her coat, Lilly stuck her sneakers into her galoshes, tugged on her mittens, snatched up a bag of birdfeed, and headed to her favorite place on the farm.

The birdfeeder hanging from a silver maple still held enough black oil sunflower seeds to draw brisk business. A brilliant red cardinal sat on the rim holding court over a crowd of less showy titmice, chickadees, and sparrows hunting seeds that had fallen on the snow below. His lifelong love, dressed in a muted brown accented with black, joined them. “Guder mariye, Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal.”

Mr. Cardinal responded with a string of perturbed chirps.

“Don’t get huffy with me. I’m simply refilling the feeder.” Lilly set her mug on the empty fountain. She tossed a few seeds on the ground first. Mrs. Cardinal’s chirps were friendlier. “I’ll put some water in the fountain too.”

“I’m sure they’ll appreciate that.”

A man’s voice, full of amusement, boomed behind her. With a shriek, Lilly whirled. The bag of seed dropped into the snow. Her hands fluttered and landed on her chest in the vicinity of her heart.

His face lit up in a grin, Josiah Shrock stood, long legs spread, hands in his coat pockets, a few yards away.

“Josiah Shrock, what are you doing here?”

“Nice to see you too, Lilly Plank.” Josiah clomped forward, squatted, and picked up the bag. Still grinning like a guy who’d just bought a new buggy, he rose and held out the bag. “Do you always talk to yourself?”

“I wasn’t talking to myself.” Lilly accepted the bag. She hadn’t spoken to Josiah in a few years—not since he broke up with her sister Hannah and left the district. He still had that little-boy mischievous glint in his blue eyes, even though he had to be at least twenty-seven. “Obviously I was talking to Mr—the birds.”

“The cardinals make a beautiful couple, don’t they?” Josiah scooped up a handful of seeds, snow and all, and scattered them closer to the oak. Still smiling, he brushed snow from his gloves. “It’s interesting that the brightly colored male birds fall in love with the drab female birds and mate for life. It seems likely Gott was trying to make a point.”

Josiah Plank, the heart-breaking prodigal son, had given thought to the same puzzle Lilly had. Not only that, he liked birds. Mulling her response, Lilly set the bag of seed next to the fountain. She picked up her coffee mug. “I reckon He wanted to remind us true beauty is found on the inside, not on a showy outside.”

“My daadi and mammi were birdwatchers. I guess I got it from them. I didn’t know you were a bird lover.” Josiah resettled his straw hat on overly long near-black hair so the brim shaded his blue eyes from the sun. “Do you go birdwatching at the lake?”

The lake likely was Jamesport Community Lake, a favorite spot of Jamesport bird lovers. Josiah was a birdwatcher. Why did that fact stir up the bitter brew in the pit of Lily’s stomach? He didn’t get to know where she went or why. “I’m not surprised you didn’t know.” Thank goodness Mom wasn’t nearby to hear Lilly’s sarcastic tone. “I’m sure it didn’t come up when you and Hannah were courting.”

Yes, it was a direct jab. Yes, it was wrong. But it felt good. Remorse followed immediately. “Sorry, that was a low blow.”

“But deserved.” Josiah’s voice turned hoarse. “I know it doesn’t help, but I’m sorry. You’re a gut schweschder, to care so much. I always knew you’d grow up to be the sweet, sensitive Plank schweschder.”

Josiah had been three grades ahead of Lilly. Except for a mortifying incident on her first day of school—which God willing, he’d forgotten—it didn’t seem likely he’d given much thought to her at all.

Hannah had forgiven him and moved on—she was married now and a mother, after all. But Lilly had vivid memories of listening to her sister’s sobs on those long nights after Josiah left for reasons he hadn’t bothered to share with his special friend. Lilly’s own tears had been smothered in her pillow so her sister would never know. “You still haven’t answered my question. What are you doing here?”

“I’m back. I’ve been back in Jamesport for several months.” In his favor, he stood taller, rather than hanging his head. “I would’ve thought you’d heard.”

“Oh, I did hear.” Everyone had chattered about it after church that first Sunday when he sat on a bench next to his father for the first time in three years. “I meant what are you doing here at our house.”

 “Peter hired me to manage the farm.” Josiah’s face, already red from the cold, darkened, but his tone remained even. “I guess that word hasn’t gotten around.”

“Does Dat know?”

“According to your bruder, he does. Peter said he welcomes the help, what with his heart and all.”

With his heart and all. Such a cavalier description of her father’s precarious health. “Did Peter tell you Dat has had three heart attacks in four years? Did he tell you about the quadruple bypass?” Lilly stemmed the flow of words. This wasn’t Josiah’s fault. Hiring him would help, not hurt. No shooting the messenger. “Do you know what triglycerides are?”

“Nee, can’t say I do.” His eyebrows raised, Josiah shook his head. “Do I need to know if I’m going to work with your daed?”

Being a caregiver for a man with heart disease meant learning a new language. For a daughter, not a farm manager. “It’s a kind of fat in the blood. My dat has high cholesterol and triglycerides. He’s not supposed to have a lot of salt, red meat, or sweets. He needs to keep his weight down. Just so you know. If you can back me up when I encourage him to follow doctor’s orders, it would be helpful.”

“Whatever I can do.”

 “Mamm will be delighted he has some help for sure and for certain.” Mom would be delighted the load had been removed from Dad’s shoulders, but how would she feel about the new load-bearer being Josiah? “Were you to start immediately?”

“You don’t sound too happy about the news.” Josiah shifted his boots and crossed his arms. “Not that I blame you, but I hope you’ll give me a chance to prove I’m not the person you think I am.”

“I don’t have an opinion on who you are.” Not true, but Lilly would never tell him how she felt. Bottom line, he’d knowingly hurt Hannah. “We all prayed you would come back to the district. We’re happy for your sake and your family’s sake that you have.”

Reader Question: Have you ever forgotten a loved one’s birthday? How did you redeem yourself? Or the reverse: Has your family ever forgotten your birthday and how did they rectify the situation?

February Book Bundle #1

Lilly’s February Love by Kelly Irvin, Amish Romance, print

The Wayfaring Widow by Casey Cline, Historical Romance, winner’s choice print or audiobook  

Romancing the Elements by Ellen E. Withers, Romantic Novella Collection, print

King David’s Tabernacle by Caryl McAdoo Contemporary Romance, e-book

About Kelly: Award-winning author Kelly Irvin has published more than 35 novels. The bestselling writer worked as a journalist and a public relations professional before diving into writing fiction full-time. She and her husband live in Texas. They’re the parents of two kids, four grandkids, and an ornery senior cat. Learn more & connect:

Kelly’s Website           Kelly’s Facebook          Kelly’s Bookbub

About the book – Lilly’s February Love:

She feels guilty simply talking to him. He dumped his special friend and his faith to flee his community. Yet her heart insists he’s the one.

It’s Lilly Plank’s birthday, and she’s no closer to marriage than she was the previous year. She happily cares for her ailing parents, but she still secretly longs for a certain man—one she can never have. Josiah Shrock once courted Lilly’s sister. Then he left Jamesport with no explanation.

Shortly after Lilly’s birthday, her brothers hire Josiah, who’s returned to Jamesport to reclaim his Amish heritage, to manage their father’s farm. Now the two must work together every day. Lilly struggles to ignore her reignited feelings for him. Josiah’s feelings grow despite his efforts to remain at arm’s length.

Together Lilly and Josiah face painful family upheaval. Only by trusting God and each other can they receive the beautiful birthday gift He has planned for them.

Can’t wait for the drawing? Worried you won’t win? Interested in Kelly’s other titles? Need extra books for gifts? Get your copy/copies now!

Lilly’s February Love – Amazon           Lilly’s February Love – BarnesandNoble          Kelly’s Books

Come back Feb 5th for Casey Cline!