MAKING OVER MAGGIE
Maggie Monroe has
always been independent, headstrong, and capable of handling just about
anything. So when her aunt Margaret hires Samuel Clay to 'assist"
Maggie in the opening of a dance hall, Maggie is not amused.
The dance hall was her project, and the reason she stayed
in the small upstate New York town. For the few months that
Maggie had been in Surprise visiting her ailing aunt and two cousins
she's seen what could happen when Aunt Margaret starts to 'help.'
Both of her cousins ended up falling in love with the man chosen to
assist. But this won't happen to Maggie-- she doesn't need a man, or
romance, or any of the silliness; she is an independent businesswoman
and entirely too busy for such trifles.
Samuel Clay takes one look at Maggie and he knows he's in
for a bit of trouble. She disagrees with every decision he makes
regarding the dance hall but he plows ahead trying to do the job for
which he has been hired. At every turn Maggie defies him, but somehow
they manage to get the dance hall started and make it a success.
Much to her dismay, Maggie realizes that she actually
needed Samuel's help, but she's not keen to admit it. Neither is
she willing to admit the feelings she is developing for him.
Samuel decided to pour on the charm to get his way, but little does he
realize that by charming Maggie she has actually cast a spell on him!
Thunder rumbled off in the distance.
Samuel Clay looked over his shoulder. Heavy, dark storm clouds loomed
behind
him, breaking through the craggy peaks and narrow valleys of the
Catskill Mountain
Range.
Taking the
crumpled piece of paper from his coat pocket he tried to make
sense of the directions. If the map was right, he was almost to the
town of Surprise,
NY. Fat drops of
water splattered intermittently onto the hard packed earth. The horse
shook his
head from side to side. Even the beast sensed the impending storm.
He stuffed
the map back into his pocket. Hunching over the saddle,
Samuel pushed the animal onward, hoping to reach shelter before the
clouds
broke and the rain let loose. Following the path of the train tracks,
he
continued to search for any sign of life and was about to give up hope
when two
out buildings appeared before him.
Like an
apparition, he thought. One minute he was feeling lost and alone
in this forsaken rocky wilderness and the next he was entering the main
road of
a small town. Surprise! He thought ruefully. Whoever had named the town
must
have had quite a wry sense of humor.
Sam wasn’t
looking for any surprises; what he was sorely in need of right
now was a dry place to stay and a good hot meal. Because of the
impending storm
there wasn’t much activity on the streets. He saw two women hurry into
a
building with a sign proclaiming it to be Jule’s Mercantile.
Scanning
the narrow street, Sam took notice of a lumberyard, what looked
to be a small café, one sheriff’s office, a boarding house and
next to that a
large two story square building.
While the
latter held his attention, he thought the first order of
business should be securing a room at the boarding house. Nudging the
horse
with his knee, Samuel Clay sat tall in his saddle as he rode through
the town
of Surprise
taking in every nuance.
Looking off
to the left he saw a schoolhouse, but what caught and held
his attention was the grand house that seemed to fill the space at the
end of
the road.
Whistling
softly, Samuel slowed the horse and took a closer gander at
the elegant three-story house. Stonework blended with wood siding. A
well
tended yard surrounded the structure with Forsythias and Rose bushes
dotting
the foundation.
“Hold
up right there, mister.”
The
feminine command brought him to a stop in the middle of the roadway,
startling him out of his musings. Looking down the horse’s long neck,
past the
perked ears, Samuel found himself gazing at the nicely rounded backside
of a
woman.
Dressed all
in black she brought to mind long forgotten images of his
mother. Pulling the thin leather reins to the right, the horse began to
move
past the woman.
A stiff raised hand shot up. “I said, hold up.”
Lyida's Passion
by Tracey J. Lyons
Publisher: Avalon Books
Alexander Judson had just pounded the last nail into the new
schoolhouse when Lydia Monroe caught his attention. Widowed two
years ago, with a business and two young children to care for, life
didn't afford him time to waste.
Lydia Monroe's aunt Margaret has a way of interfering. And she is
up to her old tricks again when she appoints Lydia to be the new school
teacher in the town of Surprise.
Inexperienced, she is horrified to think she is going to be in charge
of a room full of fidgety children. It doesn't help matters that
Alexander, also the head of the school committee, has serious doubts
about Lydia's abilities.
Determined to prove the pig-headed man wrong she throws herself into
the position, and is surprised to find that she is a natural teacher.
But Alexander is still not convinced. His children bring home glowing
tales of Lydia, clearly they adore her. Ever since the pain of losing
his wife, his is determined that no woman will even hold his heart, or
the hearts of his children again. It takes an accident, a little
interference from the townspeople and some forgiveness for the two to
realize that they are passionate about each other.
A Surprise for
Abigail
By:
Tracey Lyons
Publisher: Avalon Books
Cole
Stanton was a man on
the move. On his own since the death of his family, he couldn’t
remember the last place he’d called home. Now Cole thinks the
only way he can survive and never feel that kind of pain again is to
guard his heart against any kind of a relationship.
Up until a
few short
months ago Abigail Monroe was busy planning her wedding and then she
finds herself jilted by her intended, Edward Quinn. Her heart broken,
Abigail vows to never fall in love again.
Hoping to
ease the pain
of betrayal, she agrees to help out her sick Aunt Margaret by staying
with her in the town of Surprise, a place where she spent many of her
childhood summers. When Abigail agrees to her aunt’s unorthodox
request, and becomes the town’s first woman sheriff, her life
turns upside down. Her first arrest is for the drunken and disorderly
conduct of one Cole Stanton. After his arrest, it becomes apparent to
Abigail that Mr. Stanton could be more than just a drifter. He may very
well be a wanted man- -wanted by the law and by Abigail.
Welcome to
Surprise!
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