I COULD REALLY USE YOUR HELP

My publisher is asking me again to get reviews for this boxed set. They need reviews to be able to purchase certain ads. If you have read any of the books in this collection, would you please consider leaving a review for it on Amazon, BookBub, and/or GoodReads. It is not necessary for you to have read them all. Merely review whatever one you have read. Even if you copy and paste from a previous review you posted. This industry revolves around reviews. Thank you sooooo much!

Here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/Quilting-Circle-Box-Set-ebook/dp/B0CNZPRRS2

I’m so excited that my publisher decided to release books 1-4 of my The Quilting Circle series in a boxed set.

It is aptly titled The Quilting Circle Series.

Here is an overview:
Book 1: The Widow's Plight
When Lily Lexington Bremmer arrives in Kamola with her young son, she’s reluctant to join the social center of her new community, the quilting circle, but the friendly ladies pull her in. She begins piecing a sunshine and shadows quilt because it mirrors her life. She has a secret that lurks in the shadows and hopes it doesn’t come out into the light. Will her secrets cast shadows on her bright future?

Widower Edric Hammond and his father are doing their best to raise his two young daughters. He meets Lily and her son when they arrive in town and helps her find a job and a place to live. Lily resists Edric’s charms at first, but finds herself falling in love with this kind, gentle man and his two darling daughters. Lily has stolen his heart with her first warm smile, but he’s cautious about bringing another woman into his girls’ lives due to the harshness of their own mother. Can Edric forgive Lily her past to take hold of a promising chance at love?

Book 2: The Daughter's Predicament
As Isabelle Atwood’s romance prospects are turning in her favor, a family scandal derails her dreams. While making a quilt for her hope chest, Isabelle’s half-sister becomes pregnant out of wedlock and Isabelle--always the unfavored daughter--becomes the family sacrifice to save face. Despite gaining the attention of a handsome rancher, her parents are pressuring her to marry a man of their choosing to rescue her sister’s reputation.

A third suitor waits silently in the wings, hoping for his chance at love. Isabelle ends up with three marriage proposals. A handsome rancher, a stranger, and an unseen suitor are all waiting for an answer. Isabelle loves her sister, but will she really allow herself to be manipulated into a marriage without love?

Book 3: The Damsel's Intent
Nicole Waterby has lived her whole life in the hills due to her grandfather’s mistrust of people. But now he’s passed away, and Nicole is left to care for her two younger cousins. Feeling inadequate, she heads down the mountain to fetch herself a husband. She doesn’t realize women don’t wear trousers, buckskins, or carry a gun. She has a lot to learn about being a lady if she’s going to catch a husband. And the quilting circle is just the group of women to help her.

Rancher Shane Keegan has drifted from one location to another to find a place to belong. He longs to have a family of his own but feels doomed to live a life alone. When Nicole crosses his path, he wonders if he can have love, but he soon realizes she’s destined for someone better than a saddle tramp. Even though he knows there’s no future for him with the intriguing mountain girl, he still steps in to help her at every opportunity. Will love stand a chance while both Nicole and Shane try to be people they are not?

Book 4: The Débutante’s Secret
Geneviève Marseille, a French socialite, has only one purpose in coming to Kamola—stopping her brother from digging up the past. Kamola is so different from her beloved Paris that she is tempted to abort her mission, but the kindness of a handsome deputy tempers her desire to flee.

Deputy Montana has lived a simple life. But when a fancy French lady steps off the train and into his arms, his modest existence might not be enough anymore. Even though he’s warned he can have no future with Miss Marseille because her grandparents would never accept him, he is drawn to her at every turn. Can he make himself worthy of her?
Mystery surrounds Aunt Henny. She is aunt to all but related to no one in Kamola. When a nemesis from her past arrives, she must decide whether to flee, or stand her ground in the town she’s made her home and risk going to jail. When secrets come out, will the lives of Geneviève, Montana, and Aunt Henny ever be the same?

HAPPY READING!!!

Tuesday Tidbits: NEW RELEASE!

I’m so excited that my publisher decided to release books 1-4 of my The Quilting Circle series in a boxed set.

It is aptly titled The Quilting Circle Series.

If any of you have read even one of the books in this series, my publisher would greatly appreciate it if you would go to Amazon and leave a review. They need to have a certain number of reviews before they can try for an ad on BookBub. Even if you copy and paste from a previous review you did. Thank you sooooo much!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNZPRRS2/ref=sr_1_7?crid=3NJNTQ5SD1WGB&keywords=the+quilting+circle+by+mary+davis&qid=1700957455&s=digital-text&sprefix=%2Cdigital-text%2C155&sr=1-7

Here is an overview:
Book 1: The Widow's Plight
When Lily Lexington Bremmer arrives in Kamola with her young son, she’s reluctant to join the social center of her new community, the quilting circle, but the friendly ladies pull her in. She begins piecing a sunshine and shadows quilt because it mirrors her life. She has a secret that lurks in the shadows and hopes it doesn’t come out into the light. Will her secrets cast shadows on her bright future?

Widower Edric Hammond and his father are doing their best to raise his two young daughters. He meets Lily and her son when they arrive in town and helps her find a job and a place to live. Lily resists Edric’s charms at first, but finds herself falling in love with this kind, gentle man and his two darling daughters. Lily has stolen his heart with her first warm smile, but he’s cautious about bringing another woman into his girls’ lives due to the harshness of their own mother. Can Edric forgive Lily her past to take hold of a promising chance at love?

Book 2: The Daughter's Predicament
As Isabelle Atwood’s romance prospects are turning in her favor, a family scandal derails her dreams. While making a quilt for her hope chest, Isabelle’s half-sister becomes pregnant out of wedlock and Isabelle--always the unfavored daughter--becomes the family sacrifice to save face. Despite gaining the attention of a handsome rancher, her parents are pressuring her to marry a man of their choosing to rescue her sister’s reputation.

A third suitor waits silently in the wings, hoping for his chance at love. Isabelle ends up with three marriage proposals. A handsome rancher, a stranger, and an unseen suitor are all waiting for an answer. Isabelle loves her sister, but will she really allow herself to be manipulated into a marriage without love?

Book 3: The Damsel's Intent
Nicole Waterby has lived her whole life in the hills due to her grandfather’s mistrust of people. But now he’s passed away, and Nicole is left to care for her two younger cousins. Feeling inadequate, she heads down the mountain to fetch herself a husband. She doesn’t realize women don’t wear trousers, buckskins, or carry a gun. She has a lot to learn about being a lady if she’s going to catch a husband. And the quilting circle is just the group of women to help her.

Rancher Shane Keegan has drifted from one location to another to find a place to belong. He longs to have a family of his own but feels doomed to live a life alone. When Nicole crosses his path, he wonders if he can have love, but he soon realizes she’s destined for someone better than a saddle tramp. Even though he knows there’s no future for him with the intriguing mountain girl, he still steps in to help her at every opportunity. Will love stand a chance while both Nicole and Shane try to be people they are not?

Book 4: The Débutante’s Secret
Geneviève Marseille, a French socialite, has only one purpose in coming to Kamola—stopping her brother from digging up the past. Kamola is so different from her beloved Paris that she is tempted to abort her mission, but the kindness of a handsome deputy tempers her desire to flee.

Deputy Montana has lived a simple life. But when a fancy French lady steps off the train and into his arms, his modest existence might not be enough anymore. Even though he’s warned he can have no future with Miss Marseille because her grandparents would never accept him, he is drawn to her at every turn. Can he make himself worthy of her?
Mystery surrounds Aunt Henny. She is aunt to all but related to no one in Kamola. When a nemesis from her past arrives, she must decide whether to flee, or stand her ground in the town she’s made her home and risk going to jail. When secrets come out, will the lives of Geneviève, Montana, and Aunt Henny ever be the same?

HAPPY READING!!!

Tuesday Tidbits: FROM WENCE DID THE CRANBERRY COME & “RECIPE”

Cranberry sauce from a can or made fresh? Which do you serve? I always served from a can, until my daughter started taking culinary classes in high school and asked if she could make fresh cranberry sauce. It was delicious. So when she’s around, we have fresh cranberry sauce goodness. When it’s just me cooking, I wield the can opener. It wasn’t until 1912 that we could have this commercially processed goodness, but cranberries were popular long before they were canned.

Cranberries are one of the few fruits native to North American and were a staple for the Native Americans. The Lenni-lenape called them Pakim meaning bitter berry. They were a symbol of peace and friendship. The Chippewas word for them is a’ni-bimin, the Narragansetts’ is sasemineash, and the Algonquin referred to them as atoqua. The fruit was used for a variety of things, like remedies, foods, drinks, and fabric dyes. They used them in an energy-bar type of food called pemmican.

Early American settlers called them “craneberries” because the flower resembled the head of a sand crane. It is said that the Pilgrims were given them at the first Thanksgiving. Each year, one-fifth of all harvested cranberries are eaten on Thanksgiving.

Back in the day, barrels of cranberries were kept aboard clipper ships to help prevent scurvy.

There are many references and mentions of cranberries from 1550 through the present, with cranberry dishes showing up in cookbook after cookbook. Barrels of berries and plants were shipped back to England, and cranberry dishes became as delicacy in some parts of Europe. The Harvard University commencement dinner in 1703 served cranberries.

Revolutionary War veteran Captain Henry Hall came across wild cranberries on Cape Cod and became the first person to successfully cultivate them. The commercial cultivation of these tart berries started in 1816 in the U. S.

Attorney Marcus L. Urann revolutionized the cranberry industry when he bought a cranberry bog and canned the fruit in 1912. In time, he established a cranberry cooperative that went on to be renamed Ocean Spray. By 1940, he had canned the gelatinous log of cranberry sauce we know and love today.

What is your favorite cranberry dish?

Mine is what I call Cranberry Delight. Basically, chocolate covered fresh cranberries.

They are simple to make. Wash the cranberries and allow them to dry completely. Melt any kind of candy coating chocolate. Coat a handful of cranberries at a time and put them on wax paper to cool until the chocolate hardens. My favorite is white chocolate. The tartness of the cranberry with the sweetness of the chocolate is oh so tasty. You can read my more in-depth directions and see pictures HERE. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Do you prefer your cranberry sauce with or without chunks?

 

MRS. WITHERSPOON GOES TO WAR (Heroines of WWII series)
2023 SELAH Award 3rd Place in Historical Romance

A WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) flies a secret mission to rescue three soldiers held captive in Cuba.

Margaret “Peggy” Witherspoon is a thirty-four-year-old widow, mother of two daughters, an excellent pilot, and very patriotic. She joins the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots). As she performs various tasks like ferry aircraft, transporting cargo, and being an airplane mechanic, she meets and develops feelings for her supervisor Army Air Corp Major Howie Berg. When Peggy learns of U.S. soldiers being held captive in Cuba, she, Major Berg, and two fellow WASPs devise an unsanctioned mission to rescue them. With Cuba being an ally in the war, they must be careful not to ignite an international incident. Order HERE!

MARY DAVIS, bestselling, award-winning novelist, has over thirty titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her latest release is THE LADY’S MISSION. Her other novels include THE DÉBUTANTE'S SECRET

(Quilting Circle Book 4) THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (The Quilting Circle Book 3) is a Selah Award Winner. Some of her other recent titles include; The Widow’s Plight, The Daughter's Predicament, “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection , Prodigal Daughters Amish series, "Holly and Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection, and "Bygones" in Thimbles and Threads. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.
Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of thirty-seven years and one cat. She has three adult children and three incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at:


Books2Read Newsletter Blog FB FB Readers Group Amazon GoodReads BookBub

Sources:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/brief-history-cranberries-180957399/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranberry
https://www.cranberrycreations.com/history-of-cranberries
See it grow: CRANBERRY, by Jackie Lee, Bearport Publishing, 2016
 

Tuesday Tidbits: GARDEN UPDATE

Were my various gardens successes or not?

The outcomes are mixed.

I’ll start with the veggies and fruits.

Beans: I harvested six or seven, but considering that is the most beans I’ve ever grown, I’m counting it a success.

Peas: Not a one, so they were a fail. But I will try again next year.

Zucchini: Harvested four or five. WhooHoo! Success!

Yellow summer squash: Two harvested. Calling that a success.

Tomatoes: I got a dozen or more of tasty red gems. Success!

Strawberries: One. =0( The one a picked was good, but this has to go in the fail column.

Also in the fail column are the herbs, green onions, and chives that never grew.

Can you tell my bar for success was quite low? I’m just tickled that this black-thumb gardener-wanna-be harvested any edibles at all.

On to the flowers.

My flower garden patch did well. I’m very pleased with it. I was even happier when I weeded a final time (like the fifth time) and put down landscape fabric and mulch. That kept the weed at bay so I could enjoy the flowers. What I planted lived and the handful of things I didn’t pull up as weeds grew into some pretty flowers.

This bright reddish-orange one that the butterflies like, the daisy-ish one in the middle, the columbine (which bloomed early spring and then again in late summer. Yippee!), and some none blooming plants. Conclusion: Flower bed was a huge success!

Bushes: They survived, but I wouldn’t say they thrived. So, only a success in the fact they didn’t die.

However, the lavender I thought I killed early on but kept watering just in case, LIVES! When I weeded for the last time before putting down fabric and mulch, I discovered it was regrowing from the roots. I did break off half of it in the application of the fabric placement, but it has done well since.

We have planted three trees (three more to go). I’ll need to wait and see how they fair during the winter and if they are still alive in the spring.

Overall, I am happy with my gardens I planted by the seat of my pants in this new environment (new state that is dry and arid), so this was a success. I look forward to planting gardens again and to see how much I get to actually grow.

I’m going to plant things in different areas next year. Hopefully, we will have our fence up and won’t have to worry about the deer who roam through our yard. Where I planted the beans, peas, zucchini, and yellow squash, I want to plant raspberry and blueberry bushes next year. On the other side of the house, we want to build raised vegetable beds so we don’t have to bend over so far or sit on the ground to weed or harvest.

I also hope to acquire some rhubarb plants. I tried and tried to get some but was never successful. So, I had to settle for buying some stalks at the grocery store so I could make rhubarb pie. That’s when I discovered that one of the sensors in my oven doesn’t work. It took nearly an hour to “preheat”. Even then, it wasn’t really heated enough. It took over two hours to cook a pie that should have taken forty-five minutes or so. But the pie was mmm-mmm good! Hubby got a sensor and is going to replace it when he has time.

This year, I had no real plan and planted things haphazardly. I will make some sketches this winter so I can implement them come spring.

If you garden, I hope what you planted was fruitful and made you happy!

HAPPY GARDENING!

Oh, one more update. This is our foster cat, Tootsie. She is 15 years old, has kidney disease, and is mostly blind. Why, pray tell are we fostering a kitty with so many problems? She is a sweetie, and her issues don’t manifest in any way. She has special food for her kidneys, runs around the house as though she can see perfectly well, and doesn’t act old. We, also, didn’t want her to live out her golden years in a shelter.

Isn't she pretty!

Now, I’m off to sand the deck so we can get it protected before the snow flies next week. I tried power washing the flaking paint, but it didn’t get enough of the old stuff off. So, now we sand so we can repaint. Ugh. Then I can get back to refinishing a few small pieces of furniture.

MRS. WITHERSPOON GOES TO WAR (Heroines of WWII series)
2023 SELAH Award 3rd Place in Historical Romance

A WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) flies a secret mission to rescue three soldiers held captive in Cuba.

Margaret “Peggy” Witherspoon is a thirty-four-year-old widow, mother of two daughters, an excellent pilot, and very patriotic. She joins the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots). As she performs various tasks like ferry aircraft, transporting cargo, and being an airplane mechanic, she meets and develops feelings for her supervisor Army Air Corp Major Howie Berg. When Peggy learns of U.S. soldiers being held captive in Cuba, she, Major Berg, and two fellow WASPs devise an unsanctioned mission to rescue them. With Cuba being an ally in the war, they must be careful not to ignite an international incident. Order HERE!

MARY DAVIS, bestselling, award-winning novelist, has over thirty titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her latest release is THE LADY’S MISSION. Her other novels include THE DÉBUTANTE'S SECRET

(Quilting Circle Book 4) THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (The Quilting Circle Book 3) is a Selah Award Winner. Some of her other recent titles include; The Widow’s Plight, The Daughter's Predicament, “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection , Prodigal Daughters Amish series, "Holly and Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection, and "Bygones" in Thimbles and Threads. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.
Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of thirty-seven years and one cat. She has three adult children and three incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at:


Books2Read Newsletter Blog FB FB Readers Group Amazon GoodReads BookBub

 

Tuesday Tidbits: UP, UP & AWAY

A rooster, a duck, and sheep set sail in a hot air balloon…
Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but it’s actually the beginning of manned flight. I know, none of those are people.

On September 19, 1783, French scientist Pilatre De Rozier launched the first hot air balloon with three unusual passengers, the aforementioned farmyard inhabitants. It stayed aloft for fifteen minutes before crashing back to earth. No data on the status of the poor critters. My first thought was, Why couldn’t De Rozier have used rocks? Then another source answered that. He wanted to see if animals—and by extension humans—could breathe at higher elevations. Apparently successful, because on October 15, 1783, he experimented on a human—himself—and rode his balloon high up into the air, well, as high as he could while moored to the ground by a rope.

A month after that, Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier, French brothers, set sail untethered from Paris in their own hot air balloon on November 21, 1783. This first manned flight lasted for roughly twenty minutes before landing outside of Paris, birthing hot air ballooning.

In 1785, French balloonist Jean Pierre Blanchard and his American co-pilot Dr. John Jefferies flew a gas-powered balloon across the English Channel, making them the first people to achieve this feat. It was one of the longest balloon flights at the time. Later that year, De Rozier (of the farmyard animal fame) attempted this same trip with a hot air balloon and a hydrogen balloon tethered together. Sadly, his experimental design exploded, and he perished.

During the early 1800s, balloons became the main mode of air travel. (Was there another way to travel by air at this time?) Balloons became used not only for recreation but for military purposes and high-altitude scientific investigations, as well as transporting the mail, important individuals, and even carrier pigeons who would then do their homing trick and fly back to their roost.

During the US Civil War, Union officer General Fitz John Porter made an accidental balloon flight. (How does one “accidentally” take a balloon flight?) He decided to make aerial observations without the assigned expert to operate the craft. Porter only had one line, instead of four, tethering the balloon. The rope broke, and the general went sailing away, right over enemy territory. Thanks to a favorable wind change, he was neither captured nor killed but came safely back down over the Union line. However, like any good soldier, he succeeded in gaining the reconnaissance intelligence on the enemy’s defenses he was after.

The 1900s ushered in the airships. This large balloon supported by a frame could carry cargo and passengers for military and luxury travel. What started out great with the Van Zeppelin ended in 1937 when the Hindenburg went up in flames killing thirty-five people. The technology was deemed too dangerous and expensive to continue for any large scale use.

From the late 1700s to the 1950s, the hot air in balloons was replaced by gas, either helium or hydrogen, rendering the hot air version all but abandoned. Ed Yost redesigned the fueling system to be more maneuverable and could travel greater distances. On October 22, 1960, he launched the first modern hot air balloon. The flight lasted one hour and thirty-five minutes. Truly an innovation in balloon flight.

Though balloon flight was impractical and expensive, it did pave the way for other means of man rising above the terra firma. And with it mankind’s dreams took flight.

When I needed a hobby for my hero in The Lady's Mission, my critique partners suggested a hot air balloon. I wasn't keen on all the research that would be involved because I knew nothing, but my hero was already hooked.

PERSONAL NOTE: If you're wondering why I was silent in September, it was because I was sick most of the month. Between my severe seasonal allergies and a bad cold our grands shared with us, I wasn't good for much of anything. But I'm back now,  and hopefully, I'll stay well.

The QUILTING CIRCLE Series

Historical Romance

THE WIDOW’S PLIGHT (Book1) – Will a secret clouding a single mother’s past cost Lily the man she loves?

THE DAUGHTER’S PREDICAMENT (Book2) *2020 SELAH Awards Finalist & WRMA Finalist* – As Isabelle’s romance prospects are turning in her favor, a family scandal derails her dreams.

THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (Book3) *2021 SELAH Awards Winner & WRMA Finalist*– Nicole heads down the mountain to fetch herself a husband. Can she learn to be enough of a lady to snag the handsome rancher?

THE DÉBUTANTE’S SECRET (Book4) –Complications arise when a fancy French lady, Geneviève, steps off the train and into Deputy Montana’s arms.

THE LADY’S MISSION (Book5) *2023 SELAH Awards Finalist* – Will Cordelia abandon her calling for love?

MARY DAVIS, bestselling, award-winning novelist, has over thirty titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her latest release is THE LADY’S MISSION. Her other novels include MRS. WITHERSPOON GOES TO WAR, THE DÉBUTANTE'S SECRET (Quilting Circle 4) THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (Quilting Circle 3) is a Selah Award Winner. Some of her other recent titles include; THE WIDOW’S PLIGHT, THE DAUGHTER'S PREDICAMENT, “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection , Prodigal Daughters Amish series, and "Bygones" in Thimbles and Threads. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of thirty-eight years and one cat. She has three adult children and three incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at:

Books2Read  Newsletter  Blog   FB  FB Readers Group   Amazon   GoodReads   BookBub

Sources:
https://balloonmuseum.com/a-brief-history-of-hot-air-ballooning/
https://historyplex.com/hot-air-balloon-history
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_air_balloon
https://www.britannica.com/technology/balloon-flight/Balloons-reach-the-stratosphere
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitz_John_Porter

Videos that helped me learn how to fly a hot air balloon.
Fly & steer hot air balloon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgGdEEAkIWk
How to fly a hot air balloon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upVY1DP6IR0
AeroNuts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yuRek_-XaM
My First Lesson in a Hot Air Bolloon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkKQBDnJsFE
How do you control a hot ait balloon?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvJ2Ei8K2DI

Tuesday Tidbits: DOLLAR PRINCESSES

Consuelo Vanderbilt

What and who were they?

In the Gilded Age (post Civil War), the nouveau riche (new money) had it all. Vast wealth to buy anything and everything they wanted. Homes that were well insulated and heated, indoor plumbing with hot and cold running water, the most expensive clothes, jewels, and anything else money could buy. They had more money than they knew what to do with.

So why wasn’t that enough?

The old money people thought the upstarts weren’t good enough—even if they had more money—and wouldn’t allow them in high society social circles. All their new wealth couldn’t buy them into this elite class. Old money held power over new money by denying them acceptance. Some things money just couldn’t buy.

Or so they thought.

This is where dollar princesses came in. England had been a huge food producer to the world. When America’s vast prairies and farmland opened up to the west, this unseated England in the agricultural arena. The large estates that survived because of the tenant farmers working the land suddenly weren’t producing and their income dried up. With no revenue, the estates and mansions fell into disrepair and many a penniless noble was at risk of bankruptcy.

Jennie Jerome

Wealthy American businessmen and their wives saw an opportunity to elevate themselves by acquiring a title into the family. So they arranged marriages between their heiress daughters and titled Englishmen. Sell your daughter with a huge dowry and raise yourself in American society. It seemed like a win-win situation.

However, these heiresses went from homes with the most up-to-date modern conveniences to moving across the ocean into ancient, drafty mansions that hadn’t been updated in a century or more. They left all their friends and family behind to marry a man they likely didn’t love or know. But their fathers and families back home gained the prestige of their titles, and their new husbands had a whole lot of cash to do with as they pleased.

Sounds like a win-win-LOSE situation.

Here are a few notable dollar princesses.

Lord Randolph Churchill & Lady Jennie Churchill

The first of these dollar princesses was Jennie Jerome. Unlike most, she was eager to marry an English noble. In 1874, she married Randolf Henry Spencer-Churchill. Churchill, you say? Yep, that Churchill. Jennie was the mother of Winston Churchill who became a British Prime Minister.

John, Jennie, & Winston Churchill

What about American roots in British Royalty? In 1880, Frances Ellen Work married James Boothby Burke Roche, the son of First Baron Fermoy, at her grandmother’s insistence. Her father didn’t approve of the marriage and wrote Frances out of his will so Roche wouldn’t get anymore of his money. Roche gambled away most of Frances’s $2.5 million dowry. They divorced ten years later. However, her great-granddaughter Diana Spencer became Princess Diana when she married Prince Charles, so the marriage wasn’t a total loss.

Frances Ellen Work

Next we have Consuelo Vanderbilt. Her parents arranged a marriage between her and the ninth duke of Marlborough. Both Consuelo and the duke were in love with other people. The unhappy couple wed in November of 1895. Consuelo Vanderbilt said, “I spent the morning of my wedding day in tears and alone; no one came near me.” Since the marriage was coerced and their hearts belonged to others, they each had affairs.

Consuelo Vanderbilt

Consuelo Vanderbilt

Between post Civil War and WWII, it is estimated that around 350 American heiresses married English nobility, infusing the equivalent of a billion pounds (around $25 billion in today’s dollar) into the floundering British economy and saved many an estate—at least for a while.

In the series Downton Abbey, Lady Cora Grantham was a dollar princess. Her dowry money helped to save the ancestral home. The fictional “Lady Grantham” character was based on real life Lady Almina married to the Fifth Earl of Carnarvon. Her dowry helped restore Highclere Castle where Downton Abbey was filmed.

Lady Almina, Countess Carnarvon

In my Quilting Circle series, book 2, The Daughter’s Predicament, Isabelle’s stepmother is set on turning her own daughter, Adelaide, into a dollar princess and claim a title for their family. This poses a challenge for my heroine, Isabelle, who, like all the other heroines in this series, has a mind of her own.

The QUILTING CIRCLE Series

Historical Romance

THE WIDOW’S PLIGHT (Book1) – Will a secret clouding a single mother’s past cost Lily the man she loves?

THE DAUGHTER’S PREDICAMENT (Book2) *2020 SELAH Awards Finalist & WRMA Finalist* – As Isabelle’s romance prospects are turning in her favor, a family scandal derails her dreams.

THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (Book3) *2021 SELAH Awards Winner& WRMA Finalist* – Nicole heads down the mountain to fetch herself a husband. Can she learn to be enough of a lady to snag the handsome rancher?

THE DÉBUTANTE’S SECRET (Book4) –Complications arise when a fancy French lady, Geneviève, steps off the train and into Deputy Montana’s arms.

THE LADY’S MISSION (Book5) *2023 SELAH Awards Finalist* – Will Cordelia abandon her calling for love?

MARY DAVIS, bestselling, award-winning novelist, has over thirty titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her latest release is THE LADY’S MISSION. Her other novels include MRS. WITHERSPOON GOES TO WAR, THE DÉBUTANTE'S SECRET (Quilting Circle 4) THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (Quilting Circle 3) is a Selah Award Winner. Some of her other recent titles include; THE WIDOW’S PLIGHT, THE DAUGHTER'S PREDICAMENT, “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection , Prodigal Daughters Amish series, and "Bygones" in Thimbles and Threads. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of thirty-eight years and one cat. She has three adult children and three incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at:

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Resources:
https://historycollection.com/16-facts-about-dollar-princesses-the-american-girls-who-were-sold-into-royalty/3/
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2022/06/22/gilded-age-dollar-princesses/?firefox=1
https://www.history.com/news/american-heiress-marry-british-aristocrat
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2019/02/14/dollar-princesses/?firefox=1
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-gilded-ages-real-life-dollar-princesses/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Randolph_Churchill
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consuelo_Vanderbilt
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Ellen_Work
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Curzon,_Baroness_Curzon_of_Kedleston