Thursday, April 26, 2018

ThrowBACKLIST Thursday: THE ISLAND

Last month, I interviewed my sister about LAKESIDE (book 1 in my Mackinac Island contemporary romance series), so I thought I’d continue that series with book 2.



THE ISLAND
Haley’s heart would be safe on the island.
     Mackinac Island was the perfect place to soothe her wounds and avoid the manipulation of her family. But when a lone passenger boards her tour carriage, Haley Tindale feels the walls around her heart shaking. Can he be trusted?
     Brent Walker is searching for a young man when he encounters Haley. He finds it hard to concentrate on his mission. Perhaps he should quit the case and focus on Haley. Or maybe her insight into the island could be of use to him. Can a woman terrified of being used surrender to God and His plan? Will Haley’s wounded heart forever be an impenetrable island?

Having visited Mackinac Island several times, I was confused by the two different spellings. Mackinac or Mackinaw? Which is it? I was sure they did that to confound spelling-challenged people such as myself. The island is spelled with a “c” at the end and the city is spelled with a “w”, but what about the fort, the bridge, and the straight? Without going into too much gruesome detail on the origin of the word, everything is spelled with a “c” (Mackinac) except the city (Mackinaw City).

The story I heard was to have less confusion for the post office, the mainland city changed the “c” to a “w.” I can see that. People would likely address thing to Mackinac and not specify “city” or “island.” But did the one little letter change at the end of the name really make a difference? I don’t know. I’m just glad I’ve figured out the spelling conundrum.

When I had proposed LAKESIDE, the acquisitions editor at the publishing house asked if I had any other stories set on Mackinac Island. I told her no—but I could come up with some. And I did. At the time, Heartsong Presents was interested in four book series, so I came up with three more stories. After all the books came out through their book club, they repackaged them into a single volume.

I decided to vary my stories. Book 1, LAKESIDE was set mostly off the island with my characters going for a visit. Book 2, THE ISLAND I chose to have a heroine who worked on the island during the summer as a carriage tour driver. In book 3, THE GRAND HOTEL, I reversed that, having the hero work on the island and the heroine visiting. For book 4, HERITAGE I wanted to explore winter life on the island with year-round residents.

By the time all the books were contracted and I was writing the fourth, the publishing house had changed their repackaging model and were going to include only three of the four stories. I waffled on which three to include and decided the first three. Why, you ask? Because I needed to add wedding scenes for the one to be included in the repackaged collection, and for those three, the wedding scenes popped into my head.

LAKESIDE, THE ISLAND, & THE GRAND HOTEL are included in MICHIGAN WEDDINGS


Contemporary Romance: Michigan's Mackinac Island offers a safe harbor for wounded hearts seeking retreat. Lorelei returns to the island carrying a secret that has stolen her joy, but an old acquaintance is waiting to try to restore it. Haley's job on the island hides her from family conflict and the fear of being used by others until a handsome customer arrives asking for her help. Aimee seeks family treasure and adventure at the Grand Hotel, but one of the assistant manager's adherences to routine threatens her goals. Will God's guidance lead these women down the path of forgiveness and romance?

Book 4, HERITAGE is available in a separate volume, as are books 1-3.





NEW RELEASES
“Holly & Ivy,”my #HistoricalRomance novella in A BOUQUET OF BRIDES COLLECTION, takes place in 1890, in Washington State. It’s about a young woman who accompanies her impetuous younger sister on her trip across the country to be a Christmas mail-order bride and is helped by a gallant stranger.  #BouquetOfBrides
COURTING HER AMISH HEART is a contemporary romance, the first in the Prodigal Daughters series.
A doctor or an Amish wife? She can choose to be only one…Kathleen Yoder comes home after fourteen years in the Englisher world. Practicing medicine means sacrifice—no Amish man will want a doctor for a wife. Widowed Noah Lambright offers a cottage as her new clinic, seeing how much Kathleen’s skills can help their community. But as their friendship deepens, could love and family become more than a forbidden dream?
#ChristianRomance #HistoricalRomance #Romance

MARY DAVIS is a bestselling, award-winning novelist of over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. She has five titles releasing in 2018; "Holly & Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection in January 2018, Courting Her Amish Heart in March 2018, The Widow’s Plight in July 2018, Courting Her Secret Heart September 2018, & “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in MISSAdventure Brides Collection in December 2018. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.
Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of over thirty-three years and two cats. She has three adult children and one incredibly adorable grandchild. Find her online at:
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