E.E. Burke's Best of the West: Becky Lower's Cotillion Ball Series

Blinded By Grace (Cotillion Ball Series)

In 1858 New York City, Halwyn Fitzpatrick thinks he's off the hook for attendance at the annual Cotillion Ball. He has no sister to shepherd down the grand staircase this year and no real desire to go through the rituals of courtship and betrothal himself. Besides, he'll know the right girl when he sees her, especially now that he has new spectacles. But his mother has other plans for him. At twenty-seven years of age, her son is in dire need of a wife.

Grace Wagner needs a husband by July in order to inherit the trust her father has left for her. Her stepfather, though, has plans for the money that don't include Grace, and the last thing he wants is for her to find a husband before she turns twenty-one, thereby fulfilling the terms of the trust. 

She's been in love with Halwyn since she was thirteen, but he hasn't noticed her at any of the balls they've been at over the years. With the aid of his new glasses, he spies Grace from across the room and they share a dance. Grace decides to present him with a business proposition that will satisfy them both. But can a clueless knight in shining armor and a desperate damsel in distress find a way to turn this marriage of convenience into something more?

Excerpt:

Amazon best-selling author Becky Lower has traveled the United States in search of great settings for her novels. She loves to write about two people finding each other and falling in love amid the backdrop of a great setting, be it in America on a covered wagon headed west or in Regency England. Her Cotillion Ball Series features the nine children from an upscale New York family prior to and during the Civil War. Her first Regency, A Regency Yuletide, received the Crowned Heart and has been nominated for the prestigious RONE award from InD’Tale Magazine. A regular contributor to USA Today’s Happy Ever After section, her books have been featured in the column on ten separate occasions.

Website: http://www.beckylowerauthor.com

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Becky’s blog: http://beckylowerauthor.blogspot.com

Review Becky’s books on Goodreads–http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6159227.Becky_Lower

What’s the first book you remember reading?  

I read everything I could get my hands on from an early age, but the first ones I can remember were the Laura Ingalls Wilder books and the Trixie Belden series. I guess that’s why I’ve written a series myself. My Cotillion Ball series is set in America in the years leading up to and into the Civil War, so I tip my hat to Ms. Wilder.

If you could interview one person (and it doesn’t have to be a writer) who would it be?

I’ve been fascinated by Jedediah Smith for years now. In fact, I credit him for starting me on my writing journey. I saw a program about his fascinating life and I was so disappointed with the way his life ended. I wanted to write a new ending to his life. I’ve written the story about five different ways now, but it’s still under the bed.

If you were given a chance to travel to the past where would you go and specifically why?

I’d love to have attended a Rocky Mountain Rendevous in 1825 or so. Maybe I could have met Jed Smith there.

What is your favorite tradition from your childhood that you would love to pass on or did pass on to your children?

We didn’t have a lot of money when I was growing up, and I come from a large family, so food was always scarce. Except at Thanksgiving. That was the one day when I could have seconds. And thirds, if I wanted. So now, as an adult, whenever two or more of my siblings get together, we celebrate with a full-blown Thanksgiving dinner, regardless of what the calendar says. This year, we had three generations together to celebrate the holiday early. And we passed on the tradition that the date on the calendar doesn’t matter. It’s the people you choose to celebrate with.

Tea or Coffee? And how do you take it?

Coffee, please, with a dollop of cream. I’ve never been able to drink it black.

What will always make you smile, even on a bad day?

I moved to North Carolina last year and there’s one road that I try to take whenever I have to go to town. It’s a tree tunnel, with towering pine trees on either side of the road, so close to the road you can almost touch them from your car. Whenever I take it, regardless of how my day’s going, it makes me smile.

Becky is graciously offering two copies of her Cotillion Ball books Blinding by Grace and The Duplicitous Debutante. To enter the drawing, leave a comment and your email so we can contact you.

If you could go back in time and meet someone, who would it be and what would ask them?