Mail Order Moriah by Caroline Clemmons #AHAgrp #MFRWauthor

Hello everyone, please welcome Caroline Clemmons to my blog today as she shares her book, Mail Order Moriah. 

How many of us can relate to Caroline's mother?

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​Mom was a cautious driver, good in forward gear, who could barely back up well enough to get out of our driveway.  She and I went to visit Mom’s sister, brother, and mother, who lived near one another in a rural area about thirty miles from our home in Lubbock, Texas. Recently, there’d been heavy rains but that day was sunny.
First, we stopped at the home of Mom’s sister. To reach my grandmother’s, Mom took our usual short cut on a back road.  But—she’d never driven it after a heavy rain.
The dirt road was deeply rutted from previous traffic. Halfway there, we turned a corner and encountered what looked like a shallow lake across the road. Mom stopped. She couldn’t back up well enough to risk slipping into the bar ditch. She decided to continue and slowly drove into the water. In the middle of the lake, the car stopped. What should we do? What would Dad say?
Her brother saw us stranded and pulled our car out of the lake/playa with his pickup truck. He teased mother but was actually very nice about having to wade into the muddy water to hook a chain to our car. He explained that she should have driven faster so the car wouldn’t stall. The incident was embarrassing for her. Later we laughed about it—much later. I used this in HOME, SWEET TEXAS HOME, with the heroine driving and the hero rescuing her, with mishaps.

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Poor Mom, sometimes I think it's something with us women who seem unable to back a car up, or get through a mud puddle. LOL

Tell us a little about Mail Order Moriah!

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​A sweet western historical romance, first of the Pearson Grove series.
Moriah Singleton faced hardship to get from England to America but met more problems once she arrived. The only solution she could find was to become a mail-order bride in far away Texas. How will she ever save enough to bring her sister to America?
After a disastrous brief engagement ended badly, Scott Ferguson sent for a mail-order bride. He needs her help in his mercantile. He hopes his wife will also be his life’s helpmate.
Danger, family entanglements, and disaster await the couple. Will the problems bring them closer or drive them apart?

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Let's take a peek and see if the problems can bring them closer or drive them apart!

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​Everyone stared at them, even more than the previous evening. Moriah thought they might as well be specimens on display at a museum. To make things more uncomfortable, Scott didn’t speak and she couldn’t think of anything to say either.
By the time their food arrived, she thought she would explode from tension. “Tomorrow I’d like to mail my parents a letter. Where’s the post office?”
His eyes held a glint of humor. “The store is the post office. I’ll give you a tour when we get home.”
“That will be helpful.”
“Do they know you’ve come west to be married?”
“I sent them a letter the evening before I left Massachusetts. In case they’d mailed me one before it reached them, I left postage, an envelope, and your address with my landlady at the boarding house where I stayed. She promised to forward my mail here.”
“You said you’re from Kent, but I don’t know how far that is from London.”
“The village where my family lives is about thirty miles south of London. My father grows hops. Where is your home?”
“If you mean my parents’ home, it’s about a hundred and fifty miles south-southwest near the Brazos River in McLennan County. My older brother helps our father farm.”
“Do they know you sent for a mail-order bride?”
Scott shifted on his chair. “I’d give anything if I hadn’t written them I was engaged. Now I don’t know how to explain what’s happened.”
His attitude annoyed her. “How hard could it be, Scott? You just write them and tell them the facts. Are they likely to visit?”
He rested his wrists on each side of his plate. “They plan to now that cold weather is here. Hard to leave the farm most of the year.”
“Don’t you think you should warn them?”
He toyed with his fork. “I thought maybe you could write them and explain.”
“Me? Is it a coward I’ve married? Are you afraid to tell your family the truth of your situation?”
He held up his hand. “No, that’s not the problem. My older brother Sean is always lording it over me about how much better he is at everything than I am. He’s one of the reasons I chose to buy a business away from where my folks live. Sean will lap up the news that I sent for a mail-order bride like it’s a gift from heaven.”
His eyes widened. “Not that there’s anything wrong with a mail-order bride, mind you. That’s not what I’m saying.”
She spoke very quietly. “Exactly what are you saying, Mr. Ferguson?” Her facial muscles ached from keeping a pleasant expression when she wanted to toss her coffee in his face and storm off.
“Look, all I’m saying is… well, you see… I might have bragged about my fiancée being from the wealthiest family in town and how she’d chosen me even though there were other eligible bachelors here.”
She met his gaze and arched an eyebrow. “And now you have to eat humble pie and it’s not going to taste good, is it?”
“You’re right. I don’t know how to go about wording the letter. I don’t want to seem ungentlemanly toward either you or Alexandra. I can’t explain why she broke the engagement without putting her in a bad light.”
“And you’re ashamed to admit to your family you have a mail-order bride.”
“No, no, I’m not ashamed of you or sending for you. All right, I admit I’m embarrassed in light of the bragging I did, but there’s nothing wrong with my having sent for you or your having come.”
She offered her sweetest smile. “I’m glad you feel that way, dear husband. When we get back to our rooms, we can both write letters to our parents. I’ll let you read mine. Do you dare let me read yours?”
Muscles clenched in his jaw. “You have a bargain, Mrs. Ferguson.” He scooped up the last bite of his apple pie then dabbed his mouth with the napkin.
She took her time dawdling over her dessert, more to annoy him than for any other reason. He was one of the best looking men she’d ever met and he had manners outwardly. Inside, she was afraid he had no spine. He’d soon learn she meant what she said.

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​Through a crazy twist of fate, Caroline Clemmons was not born on a Texas ranch. To compensate for this illogical error, she writes about handsome cowboys, feisty ranch women, and scheming villains in a small office her family calls her pink cave. She and her Hero live in North Central Texas cowboy country where they ride herd on their rescued cats and dogs. The books she creates there have made her an Amazon bestselling author and won several awards. Find her on her blog, website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Google+, and Pinterest.
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She loves to hear from readers at caroline@carolineclemmons.com

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