A Mother’s Gift
by Charlotte
Hubbard
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Inspirational Romance (Amish)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
For Leah Otto, marrying Jude Shetler is a long-held dream come true. As
a young girl, she was captivated by his good looks and talent as an auctioneer.
When Jude, now a widower with three children, begins to court her, Leah doesn’t
hesitate. Other men may not appreciate her tomboy ways, but Jude values Leah’s
practical nature and her skill with the animals she tends, and both enter the
marriage with joy and optimism.
Three
months later, Leah feels as if her world is coming down around her. Her twin
teenage step-daughters, Alice and Adeline, are pushing boundaries and taking
far too many risks, while five-year-old Stevie deeply misses his mother. Leah,
more at ease in a barn tending her goats and chickens than in a kitchen,
struggles with her housekeeping duties.
Then a
baby is abandoned on their doorstep, and Leah must search her soul. Caring for
little Betsy fills her with renewed purpose and the strength to begin pulling
her family together. With Jude’s steadfast support, Leah finds that what she
once thought of as a happy ending may be something even better—the beginning of
a life rich in love, faith, and unexpected blessings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT:
Jeremiah Shetler leaned his elbows on his kitchen table, gazing earnestly
at his younger brother—who, at thirty-three, was surely old enough to know
better about what he was getting into. “Last chance to see reason, Jude,” he
stated bluntly. “If you go through with this wedding tomorrow, you’ll be
signing on for a lifetime of sorrow and regret.”
Jude’s dark eyes flashed with resentment. “Sounds more like my
marriage to Frieda—God rest her soul,” he added quickly. “Why can’t you let me
find my happiness with a woman who won’t keep secrets? A woman who adores me
and makes me laugh?”
“Leah’s a nice girl, jah,” Jeremiah said with a shake of his head,
“but she’s clueless about such basic activities as putting a gut meal on the
table—”
“Why are you telling me this?” Jude demanded.
Jeremiah exhaled forcefully. He’d never understood what Jude saw
in Leah. He could only assume that his widowed brother was so desperate for
affection and companionship that he was willing to settle for a woman who’d
never progressed beyond being the tomboy daughter Raymond and Lenore Otto hadn’t
taught much about a wife’s responsibilities.
“Have you ever eaten a meal Leah cooked?” he challenged. “Vernon
Gingerich has told me that any time he’s visited the Otto home, Lenore’s been
bustling around in the kitchen and Leah’s been in the front room chatting with
him and her dat. And at our family dinners these past months, Leah’s cleaned up
the dishes, but I’ve not seen any signs that she knows how to operate a stove.”
“Lenore does the cooking when Vernon visits because he’s her
bishop, and she enjoys cooking for a man now that Raymond’s gone,” Jude
explained impatiently. He raked his hand through his disheveled dark waves,
glancing downward with an anguished sigh. “Come on, man. You know how it is to
lose a wife—and you don’t even have kids to look after. Doesn’t the
loneliness—the need for adult conversation—eat you alive at times?”
Jeremiah looked away, his heart pierced by the blatant reminder of
Priscilla’s absence. After three years of living without her, he did indeed
know how the silence of nights alone clawed at a man’s heart like a relentless
beast. But he needed to pursue his present purpose before Jude made the biggest
mistake of his life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Word From the Author
What would we find
under your bed?
Dust bunnies.
Big, fluffy dust bunnies that get all excited when my Border collie, Vera,
sends her ball flying under the bed and I have to get down on my stomach to
knock it out with a yardstick. Now there’s a picture for you!
Do you listen to
music while writing? If so what?
I do—and the kind
of music/playlist varies with what I’m writing. It’s always instrumental,
because I can’t write while someone else’s words are playing. As I work on
these interview questions, my playlist includes classical pieces that shuffle
with New Age songs. When I’m working on a book, I tend to run my playlist of
hymn tunes played on all sorts of instruments—or, when I was recently working
on A SIMPLE CHRISTMAS, I listened to the Christmas playlist. Lori Line, Mary
Beth Carlson, and Dreamcatcher are among my most listened-to artists.
What is something
you'd like to accomplish in your writing career next year?
In 2019 I’ll be
writing books 5 and 6 of the Promise Lodge series—and it’ll be time to
negotiate a new contract with my publisher. My editor tends to favor series
that don’t go beyond 6 or 7 books, so we might conjure up a new Amish series.
OR, if the Amish story market seems to be declining by that time, we may go a
different direction! I’m amazed that these Amish books have remained popular
for so long in a market where hundreds of authors are publishing them (either
with a publisher, as I do, or self-publishing them online).
How long did it take
you to write this book?
I wrote A
MOTHER’S GIFT in about four months, give or take some time for revising. My
books are all the same length/word count, so I allow the same amount of time
for each one—but now that my husband’s retired, I also allow for more travel
time when I won’t be writing. I know my readers would like me to write MORE
books, faster, but my mind and body need time away from the computer. Life’s
too short and too wonderful to spend every waking moment staring at a computer
monitor!
AUTHOR Bio and
Links:
Charlotte
Hubbard is the acclaimed author of Amish romance and fiction that evokes
simpler times and draws upon her experiences in Jamesport, the largest Old
Order Amish community west of the Mississippi. Faith and family, farming, and
food preservation are hallmarks of her lifestyle—and the foundation of all her
novels. A deacon, dedicated church musician and choir member, she loves to
travel, read, try new recipes, and crochet. A longtime Missourian, Charlotte
now lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, with her husband and their border collie,
Vera. Please visit Charlotte online at www.CharlotteHubbard.com.
CharlotteHubbard.com
Facebook:
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www.Facebook.com/Charlotte.Hubbard1
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1496712188
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