Twelve Days of Christmas Mail-Order Brides: THE GOLD RING

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

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Pearl knows she'll only ever be a whore. Her chance to be anything more was snatched away long ago, and the bitterness has eaten at her for years. What keeps her looking to the future is the opportunity to take care of and protect the other working girls at La Maison des Chats... Well that, and one particular customer who holds her heart, even if he would never consider a life with someone like her.

On Christmas Eve, a dozen new brides arrive in Noelle and are forced to take up residence in La Maison. Pearl is happy to be able to offer comfort and support, because the poor things need her help...even if their very presence is a sharp reminder that she can never be one of them.

But when the Reverend's scheme to get the brides married off falls through on only the second day of Christmas, it looks like the town will never be stable enough to entice the railroad spur they all desperately need. So Pearl agrees to a deception that will not only save the town, but bring her what she desperately wants: a marriage--even a pretend one--with the man she loves.

Little do they know just how dangerous this deception will turn out to be... 

Meet Caroline Lee

USA Today Bestseller Caroline Lee has been reading romance for so long that her fourth-grade teacher used to make her cover her books with paper jackets. But it wasn't until she (mostly) grew up that she realized she could WRITE it too. So she did.

Caroline is living her own little Happily Ever After in NC with her husband, sons, and brand-new daughter, Princess Wiggles. And while she doesn't so much "suffer" from Pittakionophobia as think all you people who enjoy touching Band-Aids and stickers are the real weirdos, she does adore rodents, and never met a wine she didn't like. Caroline was named Time Magazine's Person of the Year in 2006 and is really quite funny in person. Promise.

Q&A

E.E.: How did you come up with the idea for this series?

Caroline: Totally in a dream. Sometimes I have dreams that are specifically related to my writing (as opposed to personal), and when I woke up, I KNEW this was a writing dream. Of course, it had been about a sheikh putting together a harem (heh), and I knew THAT wouldn't work for a series...but the more I thought about it, the more I realized the basic premise could work for mail-order brides, and it could be AWESOME if written by twelve different authors. Also: FUN!

E.E.: What has been the most exciting part of writing it?

Caroline: The coolest part of this project has been working with eleven other authors. I really loved seeing how each author incorporated the noun from the song's verse into their titles and into their books. There's been a lot of use of names--like the heroine from book #1 is Felicity Partridge--and then a lot of really wild, creative tie-ins. 

For the most part, the twelve of us meshed really well, which was great because we had to work so closely on this project! Not only are the books in the same series, they take place at the same time! So we had to not only communicate extensively while writing, but read and re-read each other's books and shared scenes, until we knew they meshed well. Even though these books came out in December, they've been a big part of our lives all year!

E.E.: What is the most challenging part of writing a multi-author series?

Caroline: Having to be a leader!! I stink at it; I would MUCH rather lead through democracy, asking everyone's opinion and doing my best to make sure everyone has a say and we can accommodate everyone's view. But with this many people involved, I HAD to make executive decisions, and that was really hard for me. Every time I did it, I cringed a little and wanted to apologize. I like to think those executive decisions have steered us well, but I second- and third-guessed them all! 

E.E.: Why did you pick the 5th day?

Caroline: When I set out to make this series a reality, I contacted Kit Morgan and E.E. Burke to be co-leaders with me. When we met in person to discuss, Kit quickly got assigned the first day (she has experience leading a series like this) and E.E. was the natural choice to tie it all together. Ironically--considering I'd come up with the series--I didn't have a spot I really wanted. Honestly, I liked the seventh day, because I thought it would be neat to incorporate swans... 

But when we decided to put me in the middle, #5 was the natural choice, because hey! Romances and gold rings! Easy peasy! But I had the hardest time figuring out how to incorporate that ring into my book...

My story is about one of the town whores, who has appeared in a lot of the other books. There's a theme in this series of the town whores versus the mail-order brides (as the two groups of women in town), and I LOVED being able to portray one of the whores. I also got to set it up with a false bride and false groom, so it looked like the readers were going to have to read about a really horrible hero and heroine in book #5, but I switch them out at the last minute! That was part of the decision to put me right there in the middle.

E.E.: Do you have a favorite line or scene from The Gold Ring?

Caroline: This is my favorite scene, where Draven proves--with his actions--that he thinks Pearl is so much more than what their relationship had previously been. The book IS sweet (in that there's no sex on the page), but these two have some heat between them.

He stopped in the doorway, his eye raking her from head to toe. She placed one hand on her hip, thrust her breasts against the cotton of her camisole, and gave him the sultry, sensual look she and Jolie had spent hours perfecting in the mirror.

It didn’t work.

“What are you doing?”

His question flustered her. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he stalked towards her, the heels of his boots echoing on the floorboards beneath them. “I thought you’d be in bed by now, trying to get warm.”

The mound of blankets was appealing, now that the stove’s heat had fizzled out. But she was on a mission, and wasn’t going to let anything get in her way. “I thought of another way to get warm.” 

There, that didn’t sound too silly, and it was true. Just the thought of Draven’s hand on her camisole—and on her skin under it—was enough to make her warm.

She began to untie the ribbon at the neck of the undergarment, but to her surprise, her fingers were shaking too much to make sense of the knot. 

“Pearl.” He stepped up to her, his large hand covering both of hers at her collarbone. “Stop.”

She tried to smile up at him, but wondered why it felt so watery. “I just…”

I have to thank you.

Shaking off his hand, she managed to untie her camisole. The two sides of the material gaped open, offering him a magnificent view of the inner valleys of her breasts. She held her breath as he stared down at her chest for a long moment. A muscle ticked in the unscarred side of his jaw, and she wondered what he was thinking.

Finally, his gaze lifted to hers, and she didn’t see any of the desire she’d hoped for. Here she was, in this man’s home—the reason she’d forced her way in here—and he couldn’t even summon a smidge of desire for her? 

“Pearl,” he repeated, his low and gentle, “what are you doing?”

Oh, God. He looked so fierce and deadly, but when he spoke to her like that—when he treated her like she was something special—her heart always broke from longing.

“I’m thanking you!” she cried, before she could think better of it. “You shared your food with me, you shared your home with me, and you didn’t have to! You didn’t have to do any of this! I just wanted to show you—”

“No.” 

This time his voice was harsher, and she bent her head in shame. She deserved his reproach. 

To her surprise, his hands came to the neckline of her camisole, like they’d done so many times before, but instead of pulling the white material apart, instead of exposing her breasts to the cold air and warming them with his tongue, he…he tied the ribbon closed. 

He protected her modesty.

And then he placed each of his large hands on her shoulders—close enough she could feel the sides of his thumbs, caressing the skin of her neck—and said, “Look at me, Pearl.”

She did. And when she looked into that dark eye of his, she saw something there she couldn’t identify. It wasn’t pity, and it wasn’t hope, and it wasn’t anger. It was a kind of fierceness she’d never seen on a man’s face before. 

“Are you listening?” he snapped.

Mutely, she nodded.

“You are more than a whore, Pearl.” He punctuated each sentence with a little shake. “If you want to thank a man, just thank him. You don’t need to trade your body for—for anything.” He swallowed. “Just say ‘thank you.’ ”

You are more than a whore..

Pearl blinked back tears. “Thank you,” she said thickly, not quite sure anymore what she was thanking him for. 

🎄🎄🎄

Twelve days. Twelve books. Twelve bestselling authors.

Check out the entire series!

Twelve men. Twelve brides. Twelve days to save a town.

Christmas, 1876: Noelle, Colorado is in danger of becoming a ghost town if the railroad decides to bypass the mountaintop mining community. Determined to prove their town is thriving, twelve men commit to ordering brides before the railroad’s deadline six days into the New Year.

Each of the twelve women has her own reason for signing up to become a mail-order bride. But after they arrive in the uncivilized settlement, they aren’t so sure they’ve made the right decision. Neither are the grooms.

Will the marriages happen in time to save Noelle? The countdown starts on Christmas Day.

The Twelve Days of Christmas Mail-Order Brides, written by twelve bestselling authors, put a new twist on an old song in this heartwarming historical romance series.

The Partridge by Kit Morgan - A clever man’s plan becomes a matchmaking disaster…and the countdown begins to save the town of Noelle.

The Dove by Shanna Hatfield - A bewitching gypsy and a beguiled blacksmith tangle over a hidden treasure…with only eleven days left to save the town.

The Hens by Merry Famer - A wandering woman finds exactly who she was looking for, but not who she was expecting...with only ten days left to save the town.

The Calling Birds by Jacqui Nelson - A wanted woman's flight, a man in pursuit of honesty not stolen gold...and only nine days left to save the town.

The Gold Ring by Caroline Lee - A dangerous masquerade and a twist of fate put Noelle’s future at risk…with only eight days left to save the town

The Goose by Peggy Henderson - A woman on the run, a man who doesn't want to be caught—it's one wild goose chase…with only seven days left to save the town.

The Swan by Piper Hugely - A beautiful woman with secrets comes to Noelle to confront a powerful person with the truth...and only six days left to save the town.

The Maid by Rachel Wesson - A convicted murderer, a young maid on the run...and five days left to save the town.

The Dancing Lady by Mimi Milan - A desirous diner owner and a disguised dancer waltz their way to love... with only four days left to save the town.

The Lord by Danica Favorite - An assayer and a ladies maid, each living a lie. Will the truth ruin everything...with only three days left to save the town.

The Piper by Amanda McIntyre - A determined matchmaker, a stubborn mountain man...and only two days left to save the town!

The Drum by E.E. Burke - A bad luck bride, an exploding disaster…can Noelle be saved in just one day?

What is your favorite Christmas or holiday tradition? 🎄🎄🎄

Enter the Rafflecopter for a chance to win a copy of Caroline Lee's book, The Prince's Pea. (This is the first book where you'll meet Draven, the hero in The Gold Ring.) Don't forget to leave a comment!

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E.E. Burke's Best of the West: Meet Four Bestselling Brides

And get a great deal on this series collection!

Purchase for the special introductory price of $2.99

The Bride Train Series Collection

Valentine’s Rose, Book 1

An English nobleman searching for riches, an Irish laundress seeking love... Only in American would Fate be foolish enough to put them together.

Patrick’s Charm, Book 2

A disabled veteran’s fortunes improve after he hires a beautiful and talented performer, but when her past catches up will his luck run out?

Tempting Prudence, Book 3

An upright spinster is kidnapped to become the bride of a notorious bootlegger and finds an unexpected chance at love…if she’ll risk everything, including her reputation.

Seducing Susannah, Book 4

The arrogant railroad agent must marry a proper lady to reclaim his inheritance, but the woman he wants despises him…passionately.

Plus a BONUS Prequel: A Bride’s Journey

Enjoy this brief introduction to The Bride Train Series, which provides a glimpse into the journal of one of the brides traveling west.

A little history... 

The mail-order bride phenomenon in 19^th century America spawned personal advertisements, matrimonial newspapers and matchmaking services—even the railroads wanted a piece of the action.

In southeastern Kansas a few years after the Civil War ended, riots broke out in protest of railroad land policies. Troops were sent in by President Grant to quell the violence and for a time it seemed another war might erupt. In search of a peaceful solution, some of the railroads proposed to transport single young women out West to become brides for the settlers, hoping the ladies would provide a “calming influence” on the unruly men.

Each bride and groom featured in The Bride Train series authentically represents the type of people who settled the American frontier: immigrants, former soldiers, widows, destitute women, men betting their future on the railroads, even opportunistic entrepreneurs, like those peddling moonshine!

You find all these characters and more in The Bride Train series, which offers a different, yet historically authentic, twist on the popular mail-order bride trope.

Pick up your copy of this special edition--including all four books and a bonus prologue-- for the low introductory price of only $2.99. If you’ve already read the series, consider purchasing it as a gift for someone you know who might like it.

All four of The Bride Train books have become Amazon bestsellers, and Tempting Prudence won a readers' and bloggers' book award for Best Western Romance in 2016. 

A note from the author...

My interest in Kansas history might be due to the fact that I live there. But there is so much rich national history in this state, you just wouldn't believe it! Once I started digging in, I had more materials for books than I could ever write.

Find out more!

The railroad history in particular is fascinating. I was so caught up in it that I wrote a four romance novels that follow the path of a famous railroad you might've heard of--The Kansas & Texas Railway, better known as The Katy. The first book in the Steam! Romance and Rails series, Her Bodyguard, introduces readers to the first trainload of brides shipped in for the settlers. That scene blossomed into the The Bride Train series.

I'm planning several more books in each series, as well as spinning off a Contemporary Romance series tied to the historical characters in Seducing Susannah (Book 4, The Bride Train).

Do you enjoy reading multiple series that are linked either through characters or events?  Can you think of any favorites?

Enter the Rafflecopter below to win an Amazon Gift Card worth $10, enough to purchase this box set and more!

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E.E. Burke's Best of the West: The Bride Train Arrives with a New Installment

Preorder Today
Available August 11

The Bootlegger's Bride

A spinster, a bootlegger...an unexpected chance at love.

Leaving the safety of her old life, Prudence Walker rides the Bride Train west to the end of the line. Her last chance at matrimony. She's too plain to inspire desire. Nor does she expect to find love. She does have her standards, however.

Arch Childers longs to put down roots, only he's too busy managing his family's illegal whiskey business to pursue his dreams. His troublemaking brothers, deciding he needs help, kidnap a spinster lady and present her to him, bound and gagged, as his bride.

Prudence isn't immune to the charming scoundrel, but a bootlegger is the last man on earth she would marry...

That is, until Arch sacrifices his freedom to save her.

Tempting Prudence, Book 3 in The Bride Train series, releases Aug. 11. Preorder your copy today.

Here's a brief excerpt to whet your appetite.

Arch's mother put the rocking chair into motion while she sipped her tea. “Arch has probably told you, he’s the youngest of my six boys, only four still living. When he was a baby, I feared he wouldn’t live, either. He was so sickly.” She chuckled. “Wouldn’t think that to look at him now. He's growed up strong as an oak. Smart, too. I was pleased to hear he found a wife.” 
     Prudence lifted the cup to her lips to avoid having to respond with a lie. She'd let Arch kiss her and brush her hair, had all but said yes to his proposal. Why correct his mother's misperception if they would soon be married? 
     “There is another reason I stopped by. Arch’s brothers went into town three days ago, said they was taking care of the deliveries because Arch would be busy with his new wife. Nobody’s seen them since."
     “What deliveries?” Prudence asked before she realized she ought to know.
     Mrs. Childers stopped rocking, appearing surprised by the question. “Corn whiskey."
     “Whiskey?” Prudence fumbled with her cup. Tea sloshed over the edge and onto the napkin in her lap. “Why were they delivering whiskey?”
     His mother looked at her like she might be slow. “They were taking it to the customers."
     Pru forced herself to remain seated. She wanted to jump up and run outside to find Arch and demand he explain why he hadn’t told her that his brothers were bootleggers. Now the empty coffin made sense. What better way to transport illegal goods without being suspected.
     The rocking chair creaked as his mother put it into motion, expertly cradling the teacup so as not to spill a drop. “Childers make the best whiskey in these parts. Arch’s pa learned the secret from his granddaddy and he taught the boys the trade."
     Dear Lord. Moonshiners, the whole family…including Arch.
     “I’m surprised Arch didn’t tell you.”
     Reeling from shock, Prudence could only shake her head. He’d told her he wanted to have his own farm and raise horses. That was his dream. More like a convenient cover. “No, he didn’t tell me he makes whiskey.”
     “Oh, he don’t do the distilling. He delivers the whiskey and takes care of the customers. Handles the finances. He’s rounded up a good business out here in Kansas.” She spoke with pride, as if bootlegging were an honored profession rather than a scourge on mankind. 
     Marry a child of the devil and you're going to have problems with your father-in-law.
     The old Puritan saying pretty well summed it up. That Arch made moonshine, or sold it, was bad enough. He tempted her to give in to sinful urges. He didn’t feel a need to be honest about his livelihood and had hidden the truth, even after she’d shared her sentiments concerning whiskey. He thought he was above the laws of God and man.
     Prudence stared into her cup. Tiny specks swirled in the dark liquid. She didn’t have to read tealeaves to know their future. They didn’t have one…not together.

Moonshiners and Bootleggers: a colorful history

The term moonshine originated in Europe and was used in the England in the 1700s. It originally referred to occupational pursuits that necessitated night work, or work by the light of the moon. Those who made illegal whiskey worked at night so the smoke from their stills couldn’t be seen.

The term Bootlegger is believed to have originated in colonial America in reference to white men who sold alcohol to Native Americans. The practice was frowned on (for many reasons I won’t go into here), but the more determined peddlers wanting to trade spirits for material goods concealed bottles in the top of their boots.

The terms are often used interchangeably, but strictly speaking, the moonshiner manufactured the illegal whiskey and the bootlegger transported and distributed it.

In Colonial America, distilling whiskey for home use wasn’t illegal and the time-honored process was carried out in thousands of homes. But when country exploded into civil conflict, the federal government needed tax money to pay for an expensive war. In 1862, Congress passed a law making distilling liquor without a license a federal offense, thus birthing an illegal distilling industry and furthering the long history of moonshiners and bootleggers.

Drinking was the top recreational activity for men in the Old West. Enterprising businessmen out to make money were eager to obtain a less expensive product and mark it up for a tidy profit. In some cases, before the railroads were built, homemade "fire water" was the only option.

Do you know where the term "fire water" came from? When the Indians purchased liquor, they determined the quality by the "kick" it provided. The stronger, the better. To test, they would toss some of the liquor onto a fire. If it flared up, they would deem it of good quality. Considering what was added to the liquor to provide the kick -- things like gunpowder and arsenic -- the "fire water" test might not have been the best quality control process.

Some moonshiners would age their liquor in charred oak barrels to give it the appearance and flavor or aged bourbon whiskey. Other purveyors who sold to the public would purchase "white lightning" in its raw form (generally clear and colorless) and use different additives to please purchaser's tastes. 

Some additives for color and flavor included chewing tobacco, tea, coffee, prune juice, tea bark, burnt sugar, molasses, sagebrush, red pepper, dried peaches, black bone meal. Chemical ingredients such as tartaric acid, sulfuric acid, ammonia, strychnine, turpentine and creosote would make its way into the mix to add a little "bite." Sometimes, it could be a deadly bite!

Among pet names for whiskey on the frontier is one of my favorites: "Forty-rod." Meaning, the drinker could expect to travel around forty rods (220 yards) before the booze kicked in and he collapsed. White Lightning is a ubiquitous name everyone had heard about. But here are some of the less well known but equally colorful names: skull cracker, popskull, stumphole, bush whiskey, ruckus juice, rotgut, catdaddy, mule kick, panther's breath, alley bourbon, happy Sally, jump steady, see seven stars, old horsey, wild cat.

The conscientious distiller used clean equipment and made the best product possible. He took pride in his craft and earned a certain amount of respect among his colleagues and customers. At the same time, moonshiners were looked down on as lawbreakers and considered outside of “proper” society. 

Victorians privately enjoyed the vices that they publicly condemned.

Out in the Old West, illegal stills became the source of running battles (literally) between moonshiners and law enforcement officials who sought to shut them down. To avoid detection, stills were often located in remote mountainous areas with thick forests, such as the Missouri Ozarks. 

Arch owns a red coonhound
with three legs named Rebel. 

In Tempting Prudence, Arch Childers is a bootlegger from the hills of southwestern Missouri. He stakes a claim on railroad land over the border in Kansas and sells his family’s moonshine to area saloon owners. Arch keeps a low profile around town, but he has a bad reputation due to his profession, as well as his association with his troublemaking brothers. 

Prudence is deeply religious and fiery in her opposition to liquor, most especially those who peddle it. When she first meets Arch, she's sure he's as bad as the men who abducted her. As it turns out, he isn't the scoundrel she expects him to be. 

Can a "daughter of temperance" find happiness with a bootlegger?

Enter the drawing for one of three books from the series, or an autographed copy of Valentine's Rose or a $10 Amazon Gift Card.  5 winners. Comment, follow, join or tweet to increase your chances to win!

E.E. Burke
Award-winning author
Amazon Bestseller

Who is your favorite character from this series, and why? (If you haven't started The Bride Train series, just tell me what series you're reading now and whether you have a favorite character.)

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