Shannon here: Louise M. Gouge shares a romantic excerpt from her Historical Romance, Finding Her Frontier Home. Comment or answer the question in this post to enter the drawing for a print copy. Deadline: May 20th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Louise:
Hi, Shannon. Thank you for hosting me here on your Inkslinger blog. My name is Louise M. Gouge, and I’m the author of twenty-eight Christian romance novels.
First, I’d like to share with you a little bit about my own love story.
David and I met on a blind date and married two and a half months later. He always told me it was love at first sight for him. It took me a few weeks to realize he was The One, but only after I prayed and asked the Lord what to do about this pesky guy who bought me roses and treated me with such fine manners. God’s answer was very clear: Don’t let this one get away! So I didn’t.
Fifty-four years, his year long stint in Vietnam, four children, and many moves later, my beloved died of Agent Orange related cancer. I miss him every day. There’s a beautiful song from the legendary musical The King and I, titled “Hello, Young Lovers,” that I could call my theme song because it urges young lovers not to cry for me. “I’ve had a love of my own like yours,” and the memories give me joy because I know I’ll see David again when it’s my turn to meet Jesus face to face.
David and I had our challenges, but somehow the memories that surface in my mind are the happy ones. For instance, if you ask me what the most romantic thing he ever did for me, it wasn’t those roses, which faded all too soon.
The first instance was the day he kicked my tires. What? No, I’m not crazy. He knew I was a nervous driver, and he was just making sure I would be safe driving to work on a busy highway. That’s true love.
The second instance happened on my sixty-first birthday. David said we were going out to dinner, and he would pick me up after work (I was at a different job this time). What I didn’t see in the back seat of his car was a suitcase. We drove to the airport, and I assumed we would have dinner at the lovely restaurant there while we watched the planes take off and land. Instead, he guided me to a gate, where we boarded a plane to Texas to visit our daughter, son-in-law, and grandson. Can you think of a better surprise? I can’t. What a great husband to know exactly what would make my birthday so special.
As the song says, I’ve had a love of my own, so I love a love story. That’s why I write romance novels. And of course, my faith in Jesus Christ inspires me to infuse my stories with His gospel.
Now, I’d like to tell you about my upcoming May 23 release, Finding Her Frontier Home, a sequel to last summer’s Finding Her Frontier Family (which is a Selah Award finalist) and my 2010 novella Yuletide Reunion. In this new book, we revisit the Mattson family, a New Mexico ranching clan with five marriageable sons who have their individual challenges to finding their perfect bride. Finding Her Frontier Home tells the story of the middle son, Andrew, nicknamed Drew. Could prissy city gal named Lila Rose Duval be the bride for him?
Here’s the first page.
Excerpt from Finding Her Frontier Home by Louise M. Gouge:
Chapter One
Charleston, South Carolina
April 1888
“I am sorry, sir.” Her pretty face marred by a condescending sneer, the young gal seemed determined to shut the front door on Drew. “As I’ve already told you, Mrs. Mattson is not receiving visitors.”
His stomach chose that moment to growl. He should have eaten at the train station, but his eagerness to accomplish his mission won out over his hunger.
To her credit, the gal’s expression softened. “If you’re hungry, you can go to the back door, and our housekeeper will give you a sandwich.” Again, she tried to shut the door.
Angry at himself and this obstinate woman, Drew slammed his hand against the wooden edge of the portal. Blue eyes widened with alarm, she jumped back, sending regret spiraling through him. As usual, his temper had got the best of him. Most times he managed to hide it from others, but today the stakes were too high for him to surrender so easily to a stubborn female.
“Do you mind?” Her alarmed expression dissolved into a glare as she tried again to shut him out. As if this little slip of a gal had any chance of that.
He held fast to the edge of the door but wouldn’t force his way in. Better to tell her what was what.
“Ma’am… Miss…I’m Andrew Mattson. Don’t you think Mrs. Mattson would like to see one of her sons for the first time in close to nine years?”
Question for Readers: Do you swoon over a good love story? In fact, that’s why I began writing romance novels about heroes and heroines who seek God’s will as they navigate their romance. Do you ever ask people you meet or know about their romance? Share some swoony details with us.
About Louise: Award-winning Florida author Louise M. Gouge writes historical romance and women’s fiction. Married to David Gouge for 54 years, she is now widowed. She is the mother of four amazing adult children and grandmother of nine absolutely perfect grandchildren. With a BA in Creative Writing and a master’s degree in liberal studies, Louise taught composition and humanities at Valencia College in Kissimmee, Florida. Now happily retired from teaching, she writes full time.
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About the book – Finding Her Frontier Home:
A ranch out West could be the home she’s longed for.
Lila Rose Duval has a safe, protected life in Charleston as a lady’s companion for Rebecca Mattson—until the woman’s handsome but disheveled son Drew arrives at her door. Now they’re all traveling to the breathtaking wildness of New Mexico Territory to reunite the entire Mattson clan. But the refined, genteel Lila Rose knows nothing of ranching life beyond etiquette and burning food. Worse still, Drew might just be falling for her. But can love convince this city girl that she belongs in the wild beauty of the West…with him?
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Finding Her Frontier Home Louise’s Books
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Glad to have you here, Louise. Love stories definately make me swoon. Like you, it’s one of the reasons I write what I do and why I started this blog. I often ask couples how they met and I’ve used some of those stories as fictional fodder.
I heard a great swoony story once that would make a great book. A man who had been married for sixty years told me he married his wife without ever going on a date. They met on a bus ride, exchanged addresses and courted through the mail while he was in the military. As soon as he got out, he went straight to her house with a marriage license. He had only seen pictures of her for years. When she and her sister came to greet him, he said he hoped he knew which one was his “fiancé”. I probably won’t live long enough to write this one, but isn’t it great?
What an adorable story, Jenny. That would be one to write for sure!
yes
I have a winner! bn100 won the drawing. I appreciate Louise for being my guest and everyone else for stopping by.