MAIL ORDER BRIDES FOR SALE: THE REMINGTON SISTERS--AND A GIVEAWAY! by Cheryl Pierson

Why does the subject of mail order brides hold such an attraction for us as readers and as authors? Maybe we wonder if we could take such a chance.

What would make a woman leave everything familiar to her and travel to “parts unknown” to marry a man she knew nothing about? What’s scarier than online dating? Being a mail-order bride! Once they’d made the commitment to leave their homes behind—much to the consternation of many family members and friends, in some cases, I would imagine—the die was cast.

Livia J. Washburn, Celia Yeary, Jacquie Rogers and I decided we would write a boxed set of stories about four sisters--the Remington sisters--who were going to be virtually "sold" by their stepfather into loveless marriages for his benefit. After overhearing these plans--what could they do?

A woman would have to be certain in her own mind that what she was going to was better than what she was leaving behind. She would have to be resourceful enough to plan some kind of “exit strategy” if things didn’t work out. And I suppose, many times, women resigned themselves to the fact that they would become a soiled dove—the lowest of the low—in order to survive.

In spite of all the scenarios we might come up with for a mail-order bride to leave the life she had known behind her for something completely foreign to her, there are, I’m sure, many that we never could have even contemplated. For each story is personal, intimate, and heart-rending in its own right.

But our intrepid sisters come up with a scheme to get themselves to safety--and anything would be better than what their stepfather has planned for them--of that, they are certain.

Here's a bit about their background and each of the four sisters:

Brought up in the wealth and comfort of Eastern “old money” in staid and proper Philadelphia, the Remington sisters are forced to scatter to the four winds and become mail-order brides. In order to gain a fortune, their sinister step-father, Josiah Bloodworth, has made plans to marry them off in loveless marriages. Time is running out, and no matter what lies ahead in their uncertain futures, it has to be better than the evil they’re running from…

LIZZY: Livia J. Washburn
Elizabeth Remington’s world is turned upside down when she is forced to become a mail-order bride. With her cat, Fulton, Lizzy flees to Alaska—only to discover the man she’s to marry is not who she thought he was! Now, she must protect herself from the biggest danger of all—her own heart. Handsome Flint McKinnon has signed his soul away to her step-father, hasn’t he? He’s chased Lizzy across the continent, but can she believe him when he says he loves her?

BELLE: Jacquie Rogers
Belle Remington must marry someone before the dangerous Neville Fenster catches up with her. She hightails it out of Philadelphia to the wilds of Idaho Territory to become a bootmaker's bride, but when she arrives in Oreana, she discovers her groom has been murdered! Now, handsome, inebriated rancher Cord Callahan insists on fulfilling the marriage contract himself. Belle is beautiful and smart as a whip. But she has a secret. When Fenster shows up, can Cord protect the woman he wants to love forever?

SABRINA: Cheryl Pierson
Impulsive Sabrina Remington, the youngest, weds a man she knows her family would disapprove of. Though Cameron Fraser’s family owns a ranch in lawless Indian Territory, he’s made his way in the world with a gun, living barely on the right side of the law. With everything on the line as Bloodworth and his henchmen close in, will Cam be able to protect Sabrina from the desperate man who means to kidnap her for his own wicked purposes?

LOLA: Celia Yeary
Sensible Lola Remington, the eldest of the four sisters, must be certain the others are on their way to safety before she can think of fleeing Philadelphia herself. With the help of a local bridal agency, Lola finds the perfect husband for herself—in the wild countryside of Texas. Jack Rains owns a ranch and he’s in need of a bride—and children, of course! But just when Lola starts to believe there might be a future for them, she discovers a hidden letter from another woman…Jack’s first wife.

EXCERPT FROM SABRINA:

Both Cam and Sabrina have secrets--Cam has pretended to be his brother, Robert, in an effort to find out if Sabrina could care about him. Being half Cherokee is a burden he knows too well--and he knows he's got to have the right kind of wife to survive in Indian Territory. But Sabrina has not been entirely forthcoming with her situation, either. Let's take a look...

“I’d—I’d like an explanation,” she said frostily.

“And I’m gonna give you one, Sabrina. The best I can, any-how.” Cam raked a hand through his hair. “Let’s sit down over here—”

“No, thank you. I’ll stand.” Her voice was prim, proper, and as icy as a frozen pond in January.

Cam sighed, hooking his thumbs in his gun belt and tilting his head back to look at the night sky. “You’re not making this any easier.”

“No. I don’t intend to. You’ve deceived me. You’ve made me feel…foolish.” She let out a deep breath. With it went some of her anger. “I trusted you, C-Cameron.” It was still hard to think of him as “Cameron” rather than “Robert”—and it was going to take some getting used to.

Cam took a step toward the boulder he’d sat on earlier. “I’m sorry for that. It was wrong of me, ’Brina. But I had to be sure—”

“Sure? Of what? I’m the one who’s given up everything to come here to a place where I don’t know anyone—evidently, even my husband—to a land that is unfamiliar—”

“Sabrina, you haven’t given up everything. Even though, right now, you may not recognize it, I’m your best bet for any protection you might need.”

“From?”

He bent a dark, searching stare on her. “You’re running from someone—your stepfather, maybe others—there in Philadelphia. When they get here—”

Sabrina’s eyes were wide, and she felt the blood drain from her face. He hadn’t said “if”—he’d said “when”. He believed they were coming. It had been in the back of her mind, ever since she’d boarded the stage west, but to hear it voiced by Cam… Still, he didn’t really even know the full circumstances of her leaving Philadelphia…he couldn’t be sure she’d be followed.

“You believe they’ll follow…for certain.” She shuddered.

Cam’s expression changed, letting her know he’d only speculated up to now; her reaction had let him know he was right. “I’d like the full story. When you’re ready.”


Would you have what it takes to be a mail-order bride in the old west? I’m not sure I would, but it’s fun to think about--and write about. Leave me a comment to be entered to win a digital copy of MAIL ORDER BRIDES FOR SALE: THE REMINGTON SISTERS!

If you just can't wait to see if you won, here's the link!
https://www.amazon.com/Mail-Order-Brides-Sale-Remington-ebook/dp/B0776X5S9D/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1514402034&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Remington+Sisters

A Holiday Tradition: Mincemeat Pie (and a giveaway)

The winter holidays are sneaking up on us. Do you know where your family-favorite recipes are?

The Thanksgiving dinner. Edwd. Ridley & Sons., 1870

More importantly, do you know which hours are the busiest at your local grocery store or market? If not, figure that out now so you can avoid the crowds. After fifteen years on Galveston Island, I still haven’t discovered the right time to shop. However, I seem to have reached the venerable status of “old,” so I frequently find myself the beneficiary of Southern manners. Younger folks eagerly assist “sweet little old ladies” fill their shopping carts (possibly just to get us out of the way).

Though I am hardly a little old lady of the sweet variety, I’m not above masquerading as one when it serves my agenda.

Some traditional holiday foods have been around for a long, long time. Take mincemeat pies, for example. They date back to Medieval times, when savory “minced meat” filling stretched families’ meager ration of protein by adding beef suet, dried fruits, sugar, and spices to leftover meat. The recipe endured into the early nineteenth century, as illustrated by this recipe from Mrs. Child’s 1833 cookbook The American Frugal Housewife.

Boil a tender, nice piece of beef—any piece that is clear from sinews and gristle; boil it till it is perfectly tender. When it is cold, chop it very fine, and be very careful to get out every particle of bone and gristle. The sweeter and better to boil half an hour or more in this.

Pare, core, and chop the apples fine. If you use raisins, stone them. If you use currants, wash and dry them at the fire.

[Add] two pounds of beef, after it is chopped; three quarters of a pound of suet; one pound and a quarter of sugar; three pounds of apples; two pounds of currants, or raisins. Put in a gill of brandy; lemon-brandy is better, if you have any prepared. Make it quite moist with new cider. I should not think a quart would be too much; the more moist the better, if it does not spill out into the oven. A very little pepper.

If you use corn meat, or tongue, for pies, it should be well soaked, and boiled very tender. If you use fresh beef, salt is necessary in the seasoning. One ounce of cinnamon, one ounce of cloves. Two nutmegs add to the pleasantness of the flavor; and a bit of sweet butter put upon the top of each pie, makes them rich; but these are not necessary. Bake three quarters of an hour. If your apples are rather sweet, grate in a whole lemon.

The term “mincemeat” arose about 1850 in the U.S. to distinguish traditional minced-meat pies from those containing no meat. Beef suet remained among the ingredients, though, and many cooks added nuts and some kind of liquor.

The 1875 edition of Cassell's Dictionary of Cookery included recipes for both types of filling.

Savory version:

Peel, core, and chop finely a pound of sound russet apples, wash and pick a pound of raisins, and let both these be chopped small. Then take away the skin and gristle from a pound of roast beef, and carefully pick a pound of beef-suet; chop these well together. Cut into small pieces three quarters of a pound of mixed candied orange, citron, and lemon-peel; let all these be well stirred together in a large pan.

Beat or grind into powder a nutmeg, half an ounce of ginger, and a quarter of an ounce of cloves, the same of allspice and coriander-seeds; add half an ounce of salt, and put these into the pan, mixing them thoroughly. Grate the rinds of three lemons, and squeeze the juice over half a pound of fine Lisbon sugar, mixed with the lemon-peel; pour over this two gills of brandy and half a pint of sherry. Let these ingredients be well stirred, then cover the pan with a slate; and when about to use the mince take it from the bottom of the pan.

Sweet version:

To make mincemeat pies without meat, carefully prepare, as before directed, a pound and a half of fresh beef-suet, and chop it as small as possible; stone and chop a pound and a half of Smyrna raisins; well wash and dry on a coarse with two pounds of currants; peel, core, and cut small three pounds of russet apples; add a quarter of an ounce of mixed cinnamon and mace in powder, four cloves powdered, a pound an a half of powdered sugar, a tea-spoonful of salt, the juice of a lemon and its peel finely grated, and a table-spoonful of mixed candied fruit cut very small. Let all the above be well mixed together, and remain in the pan a few days. When you are about to make mince pies, throw a gill of brandy and the same of port wine into the pan, and stir together the mince. Line the required number of patty-pans with properly-made paste; fill from the bottom of the pan; cover, and bake quickly.

I’m not a fan of mincemeat, but it remains a popular dessert for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Many contemporary cooks use prepared mincemeat filling (None Such is a popular brand, available in both condensed [dry] and jarred versions), so piemaking is quick and easy: just dump the filling into a pie crust and bake. Pillsbury offers a simple made-from-scratch (almost) recipe here.

My mother and grandmothers made their own mincemeat, which takes about three months to cure. If you’re industrious and have lots of time on your hands, you may want to try this recipe.

Mincemeat
Makes 4 quarts

1 lb. cooking apples, unpeeled
½ lb. butter (or an equal amount of shredded beef suet)
12 ounces raisins
8 oz. currants
8 oz. golden raisins
4 oz. candied orange peel, chopped (to make it yourself, see recipe below)
4 oz. candied lemon peel, chopped
4 oz. slivered or chopped almonds or chopped walnuts
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
12 oz. dark brown sugar
2 ½ tsp ground allspice
½ tsp grated nutmeg
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
About ½ cup brandy, or to taste

1.    Core and chop apples.

2.    Combine all ingredients except brandy; pour into a crock or large glass bowl, cover, and leave on counter overnight.

3.    The next day, preheat oven to 225° F. Stir mixture well, then pour into baking pan, cover with foil, and bake 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

4.    Remove from oven, uncover, stir well and let cool completely.

5.    Add brandy.

6.    Pack into jars or crock. Cover and refrigerate 1-3 months.

Homemade Candied Citrus Peel
Makes about 4 oz.

4 thick-skinned lemons (Meyer lemons’ peel is too thin) or 3 oranges
3 quarts water
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
½ cup sugar

1. Using a vegetable peeler, pare skin from fruit. Reserve the rest of the fruit for another use.

2. In large saucepan, combine 3 quarts water and fruit peel (either lemon or orange; repeat the process for the other fruit). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Cook, uncovered, until about 1 inch of water remains in the pan (about 1 hour).

3. Remove peels from saucepan and discard liquid.

4. In clean saucepan, combine 2 cups water with 1 cup sugar and boil over high heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add peels. Let stand 1-2 hours at room temperature.

5. Return pan to heat and cook peels until they absorb all syrup (about 45 mins.). Stir frequently to prevent scorching.

6. Remove peels from pan, roll in remaining ½ cup sugar, and let stand on waxed paper or parchment overnight.

7. Place peels in airtight container and store in cool, dry place for up to 2 weeks. Do not refrigerate. (Refrigeration will make the peels gummy.)

To make a pie, fill pie shell with about 2 quarts of the filling, top with crust (either solid or lattice), and bake in 400° F oven until crust begins to brown (about 30 minutes). Reduce heat to 350° F and bake 30-40 minutes longer, until filling is bubbling and crust is golden.

Which pies do you bake for the holidays? Tell me in the comments! One of the commenters will win a copy of Prairie Rose Publications’ new boxed set of Christmas novellas, A Cowboy Under the Mistletoe. Stories by Stacey Coverstone, Livia J. Washburn, Donna Alice Patton, Kaye Spencer, Gail L. Jenner, and Tanya Hanson are guaranteed to make your holidays merry and bright.

A Texan to the bone, Kathleen Rice Adams spends her days chasing news stories and her nights and weekends shooting it out with Wild West desperadoes. Leave the upstanding, law-abiding heroes to other folks. In Kathleen’s stories, even the good guys wear black hats.

Her short story “The Second-Best Ranger in Texas” won the Peacemaker Award for Best Western Short Fiction. Her novel Prodigal Gun won the EPIC Award for Historical Romance and is the only western historical romance ever to final for a Peacemaker in a book-length category.

Visit her hideout on the web at KathleenRiceAdams.com.

WHY DID YOU NAME IT THAT? by CHERYL PIERSON

Ask any writer where their titles come from for their work and you’ll get a thousand different answers from “It just came to me!” to “My publisher made me use this one.” As an author, I’ve had both happen to me, with several other scenarios for my titles scattered in between.


BUY IT HERE:https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Eyes-Cheryl-Pierson/dp/1499215452/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474425964&sr=8-1&keywords=Fire+Eyes
In my first book, FIRE EYES, the heroine’s name is Jessica—my own daughter’s name. She needed a name that she was referred to by the Indians, and my daughter had told me years earlier she wanted her Indian name to be FIRE EYES. So that was a given. And it worked out great! That story was the one that the title came easiest for, of all my books.


BUY IT HERE: https://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Danger-Cheryl-Pierson-ebook/dp/B00KY8GGH4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1474426021&sr=8-4&keywords=Sweet+Danger
Fast forward to my first contemporary romance novel, Sweet Danger. The story takes place in a deli that has been taken over by a very dangerous escaped convict, Tabor Hardin, and his men. His hostages just happen to include an undercover police officer, Jesse Nightwalker, who put him away in prison—supposedly for life. One of the other hostages is Jesse’s neighbor, Lindy Oliver, who is the retired police commissioner’s daughter. They’ve just met and are minding their own business over a sugar ring when a hail of gunfire erupts and—well, y’all know how I love my wounded heroes, and Jesse is no exception. I had titled the story THE SUGAR RING. But I was told by my publisher that that title would have to be changed. Period. SWEET DANGER was born, and in retrospect, is a much better title.

Titles should stick with the reader, be memorable, and make readers want to know more about the book.
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (Who would do that?)
SWEET SAVAGE LOVE (Tell me more!)

SHANE (Who is this person?)
ONE THOUSAND WHITE WOMEN (Who were they?)
NOBODY’S DARLING (Maybe mine?)
THE GATES OF THE ALAMO (I’ve gotta know!)
THE CHRISTMAS SPIDER (What???)
HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE (Maybe I can learn something, here!)
MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN (Did I live there once?)

BUY IT HERE: https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Otherverse-James-Reasoner/dp/1519314272/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474426092&sr=8-1&keywords=Tales+from+the+Otherverse
TALES FROM THE OTHERVERSE (Where is this place, and what are these tales about?)
LOST SISTER (Who was she and why was she lost?)

THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (Who was he? Certainly not who we thought!)

The list goes on—but you get the idea. I know right now you’re thinking of titles you’ve read that have stuck in your mind—and the questions they’ve made you ask about those particular stories or books.

And I bet you’ve seen a phrase and thought, “That would be a great book title!” I know I’ve done that plenty of times. I’ve even written them down. Now, if I could only remember where I wrote them!

https://www.amazon.com/Code-West-Classic-Western-Novels-ebook/dp/B01JM2UONO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474426315&sr=8-1&keywords=Code+of+the+West
Another fun way to come up with titles is through a title generator. There are several of these online. They even have them for different genres: Sci-fi, westerns, fantasy…you name it. But they come up with some real doozies! Take a look at some of the ones a western title generator came up with for me:
FALLEN SAVAGE
THE GUITAR OF THE AZURE
THE PLAINS OF THE SAGE
THE DEATH’S RING
WOLVES IN THE MESA
THE WILLOW AND THE HOLSTER
THE REIN OF THE DWINDLING SECRET
THE BIBLE OF THE WHITE HEART
RUBY IN THE CHURCHYARD
LIGHTS IN THE SOMBRERO
ANGEL OF THE FINAL LIGHT

These are mainly odd, funny titles, but the beauty of them is that they get your mind working in ways you might never have thought before—and adding and changing some of the words in some of these titles can make for a beautifully creative experience!

What are some of YOUR favorite titles, and why?
I will be giving away a copy of A KISS TO REMEMBER, a digital boxed set of five western historical romances by Livia J. Washburn, Kathleen Rice-Adams, Tracy Garrett, Tanya Hanson and myself to one lucky commenter! Be sure to leave your contact info in your comment in case I draw your name!



IF YOU CAN'T WAIT TO SEE IF YOU WON, HERE'S THE BUY LINK!
https://www.amazon.com/Kiss-Remember-Western-Historical-Romance-ebook/dp/B01IM37OAA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474431965&sr=8-1&keywords=A+KISS+to+Remember

This Authoring Stuff Ain’t Easy — and a GIVEAWAY

There’s an old saying about fiction writing: “It’s easy to write a book. Just sit down and open a vein.”

The advice is meant to be humorous and taken figuratively, but authors sometimes consider a literal interpretation. Unlike like Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Plath, Hunter S. Thompson, Virginia Woolf, and David Foster Wallace, most of us are not mentally disturbed…usually. However, writing can drive the sanest author over the edge on occasion.

The writing challenges that contribute to temporary insanity are legion and take a variety of forms. Like our stories, “issues” may be plot- or character-driven. No story comes without at least one. Some stories bring along so much baggage, we consider murdering all the characters in one blaze of glory and penning “the end”…at the midpoint.

Here are the challenges the five authors who contributed to the new boxed set A Kiss to Remember faced during our journeys to the happy ending.

Tracy Garrett: Her Sanctuary

Beautiful Maggie Flanaghan’s heart is broken when her father dies suddenly and the westward-bound wagon train moves on without her, leaving her stranded in River’s Bend. But Reverend Kristoph Oltmann discovers the tender beginnings of love as he comforts Maggie, only to find she harbors a secret that could make their relationship impossible.

Tracy: I seem to have a recurring theme in my writing—my heroes prefer to remain the tall, handsome, silent type. Hero Kristoph Oltmann was introduced by my characters as a German immigrant, speaking with an accent. That was in Wanted: The Sheriff, an earlier story in the River’s Bend series. Since he was maintaining radio silence for the most part when I started Her Sanctuary, I had to trick him into talking. When I finally succeeded, I discovered he was born in the good old U.S. of A. Not a trace of an accent — unless you counted the bit of a Missouri twang he’d picked up since moving to River’s Bend. That made for some interesting edits. Someday I want to write a book where the hero talks more than the heroine!

Cheryl Pierson: Gabriel’s Law

Brandon Gabriel is hired by the citizens of Spring Branch to hunt down the notorious Clayton Gang, never suspecting a double-cross. When Allison Taylor rides into town for supplies, she doesn’t expect to be sickened by the sight of a man being beaten to death by a mob—a man she recognizes from her past. Spring Branch’s upstanding citizens gather round to see a murder, but everything changes with the click of a gun — and Gabriel’s Law.

Cheryl: My biggest challenge in this story was to not let them fall madly in love with each other too soon. They’d known one another before in the orphanage where they lived as kids. So once they meet again under the circumstances in the book — the old feelings are still there. How was I going to stop them from acting on those feelings right away? Especially since Allison has saved Brandon from certain death? Well, now you have the beginnings of the story. I hope you’ll get the boxed set and enjoy the rest of this tale and all the others that are included!

Tanya Hanson: Outlaw Heart

Making a new start has never been harder! Bronx Sanderson is determined to leave his old outlaw ways behind and become a decent man. Lila Brewster is certain her destiny lies in keeping her late husband’s dream alive: a mission house for the down-and-out of Leadville, Colorado. But dreams change when love flares between an angel and a man with an Outlaw Heart.

Tanya: I had two main challenges, one so severe I told my editor I wasn’t sure I’d be able to finish. We had to rescue my husband’s mother from an elder-abuse situation that all but sucked the breath out of me. Praise God she’s settled and safe and I met the deadline. On a Friday. My computer crashed on Sunday!

Kathleen Rice Adams: The Dumont Way

The Civil War burned Texas...and fanned the flames of love. The Dumont Way, a trio of romances about a powerful ranching dynasty, includes the never-before-published novella The Trouble with Honey: A marshal’s widow can escape a Union Army manhunt only with the help of an outlaw condemned to hang.

Kathleen: You know a story is going to be difficult when the villain is the only character who behaves. Both the hero and the heroine in The Trouble with Honey had their own agendas from the get-go — and, of course, neither of their agendas coincided with mine. I was forever yanking one or the other back onto the path I had forged for them. They finally agreed to work together, but only if I’d change the story. So, I threw away what I’d written and started over — three times. In the future, I plan to begin each story with a cast meeting during which I’ll make clear that rebelling will get the offender(s) shot and hanged.

Livia J. Washburn: Yesterday’s Flame

When smoke jumper Annabel Lowell’s duties propel her from San Francisco in 2000 back to 1906, she faces one of the worst earthquakes in history. But she also finds the passion of a lifetime in fellow fireman Cole Brady. Now she must choose between a future of certain danger and a present of certain love — no matter how short-lived it may be. “A timeless and haunting tale of love.” ~The Literary Times

Livia: Since Yesterday’s Flame is a time-travel story, the biggest challenge was fitting together everything in the past and present so the plot worked out and made sense. Time travel paradoxes can be very tricky!

So, there you have it — five reasons not to take up writing unless you enjoy self-flagellation. Creating fiction can convince the most stalwart soul the cliché “artists must suffer for their craft” is high sarcasm. People often use sarcasm to cover actions and emotions they’d rather not confront. All five of us who contributed to A Kiss to Remember had no choice but to face our demons head-on. Thankfully, the demons suffered defeat…this time.

 

 

 

 Overcoming obstacles is the soul of a good romance, isn’t it? What kind of obstacles do you enjoy watching heroes and heroines overcome on their way to a happily-ever-after ending? Tell us in the comments! I’ll draw one commenter’s name from the trusty ol’ Stetson and send that person an e-copy of A Kiss to Remember.

A Texan to the bone, Kathleen Rice Adams spends her days chasing news stories and her nights and weekends shooting it out with Wild West desperadoes. Leave the upstanding, law-abiding heroes to other folks. In Kathleen’s stories, even the good guys wear black hats.

Her short story “The Second-Best Ranger in Texas” won the 2015 Peacemaker Award for Best Western Short Fiction. Her novel Prodigal Gun won the EPIC Award for Historical Romance and is the only western historical romance ever to final for a Peacemaker in a book-length category.

Visit her hideout on the web at KathleenRiceAdams.com.

Say Whut? How to Pronounce Names of Places in Texas

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
How Texans pronounce place names down here.

In case y’all haven’t noticed, Texans do things their own way. Pronunciation, for example, is always a crapshoot when you’re from out of state. If you ever get lost in Texas, the place names that follow are good to know. Depending upon where you are in the state when you ask for directions, if you say them incorrectly you’ll most likely get snickered at and you may get a blank look.

This list is far from comprehensive.

First, a few universal basics:

Any name ending in “-boro” is pronounced “[name]buh-ruh”
Any name ending in “-shire” is pronounced “[name]sher.”
Most names ending in “-ville” are pronounced “[name]vuhl.”
Most names ending “-land” are pronounced “[name]luhnd.” (You have to listen pretty hard to hear the D.)
In Texas, “bayou” most often is pronounced “BI-oh,” not “BI-yoo.”

Mispronouncing any of these is a dead giveaway you ain’t from around here:

Bexar: Bear
Blanco: BLANK-oh
Boerne: BUR-nee
Bosque: BAHS-key
Bowie: BOO-ee (C’mon, folks. Jim Bowie was one of the brave defenders of the Alamo. The least y’all non-Texans can do is say his name right.)
Brazos: BRA-zuhs (short A, as in “cat”)
Eldorado: ell-duh-RAY-doh
Gruene: Green
Guadalupe: GWAH-dah-loop
Humble: UHM-buhl (The H is silent in this Houston suburb’s name, people! What you do with it any other time is your own bidness.)
Luckenbach: LOO-ken-bahk (There is absolutely no excuse for getting this one wrong. Merle Haggard sang a number-one country hit about the town, for pete’s sake.)
Manchaca: MAN-shack
Mexia: Muh-HAY-uh
Palacios: puh-LASH-us
Pecos: PAY-cuss
San Marcos: San MAR-cuss
Seguin: Seh-GEEN (Named for Juan Seguin, a Tejano hero of the Texas Revolution who wasn't at the Alamo.)
Waxahachie: Wawks-uh-HATCH-ee

The following are more obscure, and we’ll forgive you for mispronouncing them. Many of them are pronounced nothing like they’re spelled. Some are Texan-ized Spanish, German, or American Indian words. Some are settlers’ surnames. Lord only knows where the rest came from.

Alvarado: Al-vuh-RAY-doh
Agua Dulce: Ah-wah DOOL-sih
Anahuac: ANN-uh-wack
Aquilla: Uh-KWILL-uh
Balmorhea: Bal-muh-RAY
Banquete: Ban-KET-ee
Bedias: BEE-dice
Bogata: Buh-GO-duh
Bolivar: BAHL-iv-er
Bronte: Brahnt
Brookshire: BROOK-sher
Buda: BYOO-duh
Bula: BYOO-luh
Buna: BYOO-nuh
Burnet: BURN-it
Carmine: Kar-MEEN
Celina: Suh-LIE-nuh
Christoval: Chris-TOE-vuhl
Cibolo: SEE-oh-low
Coahoma: Kuh-HO-muh
Colmesneil: COLE-mess-neel
Comal: KOH-muhl
Del Valle: Del VA-lee (pronounced like “valley”)
Erath: EE-rath
Falfurrias: Fal-FURY-us
Farrar: FAR-uh
Flatonia: Flat-TONE-yuh
Floresville: FLOORS-vuhl
Floydada: Floy-DAY-duh
Fredonia: Free-DOHN-yuh
Fulshear: FULL-sher
Grand Saline: Gran Suh-LEEN
Helotes: Hell-OH-tiss
Jiba: HEE-buh
Hico: HIGH-koh
Hochheim: HO-hime
Iraan: EYE-ruh-ANN
Jardin: JAR-duhn
Jermyn: JER-muhn (pronounced like “German”)
Jiba: HEE-buh
Jourdanton: JERD-n-tuhn
Juliff: JEW-liff
Kleberg: CLAY-berg
Knippa: Kuh-NIP-uh
Kountz: Koonts
Kosciusko: Kuh-SHOOS-koh
Kuykendal: KIRK-en-doll
Lake Buchanan: Lake Buh-CAN-uhn
Lamarque: Luh-MARK
Lamesa: Luh-MEE-suh
Lampasas: Lam-PASS-us
Latexo: Luh-TEX-oh
Leakey: LAY-key
Levita: Luh-VIE-duh
Lillian: LILL-yun
Llano: LAN-oh
Lorena: Low-REE-nuh
Manor: MAIN-er
Marathon: MARE-uh-thun
Marquez: mar-KAY
Miami: My-AM-uh
Medina: Muh-DEE-nuh
Montague: Mahn-TAG
Navarro: Nuh-VARE-uh
Nacogdoches: Nack-uh-DOH-chess
New Berlin: Noo BUR-lin
New Braunfels: Noo BRAWN-fuls
Nocona: Nuh-KOH-nuh
Olney: ALL-nee
Opelika: OPEH-uh-LIKE-uh
Palestine: PAL-uh-steen (Nobody gets that one right unless they’re from Texas.)
Pedernales: Purr-den-AL-ess
Pflugerville: FLOO-ger-vuhl
Poth: POE-th
Quemado: Kuh-MAH-doh
Quitaque: KITTY-qway
Refugio: Reh-FURY-oh
Salado: Suh-LAY-doh
Salinero: Suh-LEEN-yo
Santa Elena: San-tuh LEE-na
Study Butte: STOO-dee BYOOT
Tawakoni: Tuh-WAHK-uh-nee
Tivoli: Tih-VOH-luh
Tulia: TOOL-yuh
Uvalde: Yoo-VAL-dee
Weesatche: WEE-sash
Weslaco: WESS-luh-koh

Now, place your Stetson over your heart, face Austin, and sing “The Eyes of Texas,” and we just might make you an honorary Texan.

Texans, what names aren’t on this list? The rest of y’all: What odd place names occur in your thereabouts? Tell us in the comments! I’ll give one commenter a digital copy of the five-author boxed set A Kiss to Remember.

Cheryl Pierson, Tracy Garrett, Tanya Hanson, Livia J. Washburn, and I filled nearly 1,000 pages with western romance stories about San Francisco firefighters (yes, they existed back then), gunmen, preachers, outlaws, con men, and ranchers. (Anybody besides me see a bad-boy theme developing here? Well, except for that hunky preacher, and Lord knows the rest of the alleged "heroes" need him around to keep them somewhere in the general vicinity of the straight-and-narrow.)

I'm a mite biased, but I think there's some excellent reading in this set.

Don't just sit there! Light a shuck on down to the comments and get after it.

A Texan to the bone, Kathleen Rice Adams spends her days chasing news stories and her nights and weekends shooting it out with Wild West desperadoes. Leave the upstanding, law-abiding heroes to other folks. In Kathleen’s stories, even the good guys wear black hats.

Her short story “The Second-Best Ranger in Texas” won the 2015 Peacemaker Award for Best Western Short Fiction. Her novel Prodigal Gun won the EPIC Award for Historical Romance and is the only western historical romance ever to final for a Peacemaker in a book-length category.

Visit her hideout on the web at KathleenRiceAdams.com.

A KISS TO REMEMBER BOXED SET AND GIVEAWAY--by CHERYL PIERSON

I slipped up big time! I “THINK” I may have overloaded my brain. You see, today is my birthday—the big 59 (and forever holding, right here!) and a boxed set release day with one of my “oldie but goodie” stories in it. And it’s also my blog day here at Sweethearts. Sorry to be so late, but without further ado, here’s my big news! I will give away a Kindle copy of this boxed set to ONE LUCKY WINNER! Just leave a comment about what got you started reading romance books and be sure to leave your contact info in the comment section, as well! You just might be my winner!


Are you ready for FIVE books in one of the best western historical romance boxed sets to debut this year? Prairie Rose Publications has got just the stories you’ve been craving! Get ready for some wonderful hours of pleasure-filled reading as you settle back in your easy chair and get lost in these wonderful tales of romance that you won’t be able to get enough of!

HER SANCTUARY by Tracy Garrett
Beautiful Maggie Flanaghan’s heart is broken when her father dies suddenly and the westward bound wagon train moves on without her, leaving her stranded in River’s Bend. But Reverend Kristoph Oltmann discovers the tender beginnings of love as he comforts Maggie, only to find she harbors a secret that could make their relationship impossible.

GABRIEL'S LAW by Cheryl Pierson
Brandon Gabriel is hired by the citizens of Spring Branch to hunt down the notorious Clayton Gang, never suspecting a double-cross. When Allison Taylor rides into town for supplies, she doesn't expect to be sickened by the sight of a man being beaten to death by a mob—a man she recognizes from her past. Spring Branch's upstanding citizens gather round to see a murder, but everything changes with the click of a gun—and GABRIEL’S LAW.

OUTLAW HEART by Tanya Hanson
Making a new start has never been harder! Bronx Sanderson is determined to leave his old outlaw ways behind and become a decent man. Lila Brewster is certain that her destiny lies in keeping her late husband’s dream alive—a mission house for the down-and-out of Leadville, Colorado. But dreams change when love flares between an angel and a man with an OUTLAW HEART…

THE DUMONT WAY by Kathleen Rice Adams
The biggest ranch in Texas will give her all to save her children…but only the right woman’s love can save a man’s tortured soul. This trilogy of stories about the Dumont family contains a new, never-before-published tale by Kathleen Rice Adams! Nothing will stop this powerful family from doing things THE DUMONT WAY…

YESTERDAY’S FLAME by Livia J. Washburn
When smoke jumper Annabel Lowell's duties propelled her from San Francisco 2000 back to 1906, she faces one of the worst earthquakes in history. But she also finds the passion of a lifetime in fellow fireman Cole Brady. Now she must choose between a future of certain danger—and a present of certain love—no matter how short-lived it may be... "A timeless and haunting tale of love."~ The Literary Times



The link is "live" at Amazon, if you want to pop over and pick this great collection up for only .99!
https://www.amazon.com/Kiss-Remember-Western-Historical-Romance-ebook/dp/B01IM37OAA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469752535&sr=8-1&keywords=A+Kiss+to+Remember#nav-subnav