THE BACKCOUNTRY BRIDES COLLECTION Release Day

Backcountry Brides Collection makes its debut at Old Fort Niagara

Love on Colonial America’s Frontier

Travel into Colonial America where eight women seek love, but they each know a future husband requires the necessary skills to survive in the backcountry. Living in areas exposed to nature’s ferocity, prone to Indian attack, and cut off from regular supplies, can hearts overcome the dangers to find lasting love?

Shenandoah Hearts by Carrie Fancett Pagels
1754 - Great Wagon Road, into the Shenandoah Valley (Virginia)
As the French-Indian War commences, Magda Sehler wonders if Jacob Owens lost his mind to have abandoned his Philadelphia business and moved to the Shenandoah Valley. Or has he lost his heart?

Heart of Nantahala by Jennifer Hudson Taylor  
1757 - (North Carolina)
Joseph Gregory plans to buy a lumber mill, but Mabel Walker becomes a formidable opponent. When she’s forced to make a painful decision, she must choose between survival and love.

Her Redcoat by Pegg Thomas
1763 - Fort Michilimackinac (Michigan) during Pontiac’s Rebellion  
Laurette Pettigrew grew up in the northern frontier. Henry Bedlow arrived against his will. Their chance meeting changes everything. Will a deadly clash of cultures keep them from finding happiness?

A Heart So Tender by Debra E. Marvin
1764 – (New York)
As thousands of Native warriors converge on Fort Niagara, jaded British Lieutenant Archibald Walsh and idealistic schoolmistress Susannah Kimball learn the greatest risk lies in guarding their hearts.

A Worthy Groom by Angela K. Couch
1771 - Sapling Grove settlement on the Holston River (Tennessee)
The Cowden temper has been Marcus’s lifelong bane. A trait Lorinda Cowden curses. Now, winning the heart of his bride hinges on fighting a war without raising a fist.  

Across Three Autumns by Denise Weimer
1778-1780 – (Georgia)
Fighting Loyalists and Indians, Jenny White settles for strength over love . . .until Scottish scout Caylan McIntosh leads her family on a harrowing exodus out of Georgia’s Revolutionary “Hornet’s Nest.”

The Counterfeit Tory by Shannon McNear
1781 – (South Carolina)
Tasked with infiltrating an infamous Tory gang, Jed Wheeler has no wish to endanger the leader’s cousin, Lizzy Cunningham. He risks not only his life. . .but his heart.

Love’s Undoing by Gabrielle Meyer
1792 - Fur Post on the Upper Mississippi River (Minnesota)
When Englishman Henry Kingsley meets Abi McCrea, the daughter of a Scottish fur trader and Indian mother, will their worlds keep them apart, or have they finally found somewhere they truly belong?

Debra here...
I chose Fort Niagara for a number of reasons. It's the oldest continually occupied fort in North America for one thing, and the incredible building known as The French Castle was indeed built by the French in the early 1700s.  The setting in stunning--the very corner of what is now New York State, where the Niagara River flows in to Lake Ontario. But my inspiration for this story was two compelling events after the French and Indian Wars (Seven Years' War) while the British army held the fort. Locally the settlers and the native Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) lived in guarded peace. But Pontiac's Rebellion waged on in the west. An event known as The Massacre at Devil's Hole, along the river south of the fort, caused Sir William Johnson, the Indian Agent for the British Crown, to call on all tribes to come to Fort Niagara for 'The Great Gathering" for peace. Johnson lived quite happily in Mohawk country to the east, but Fort Niagara was in Seneca country, and most Seneca villages sided with the French rather than the British.  And it was a group of Seneca warriors responsible for the Devil's Hole Massacre.

Reenactors at a recent Patriot's Day event

Map of The Niagara River running from Erie to Ontario, separating Ontario, Canada from New York.  We took a hike down into the gorge to take a look!

A HEART SO TENDER features a British Lieutenant forced to face the very warriors he holds responsible for his friend's death. Worse, he is charged with the safety of a young British woman who has come to the fort as a guest of Sir William--a woman who longs to work with the Indian people she so admires and wants to help.

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Find out more about this collection at Amazon

Today there are multiple giveaways over at the Colonial Quills blog where I'm giving away one paperback to one random commenter who answers my question. Visit The Colonial Quills blog today!

Tonight, I'm part of an online Facebook Party, where I'm giving away an ebook version of Backcountry Brides.  The party runs from 1- 8 pm east coast time. I'll be hosting from 4-4:30, but stop in anytime and comment!

I'll be giving away a paperback to one random commenter who answers my question.  What question, you ask? Visit the Colonial Quills blog to find out!

Last year, I visited the FRENCH and INDIAN War weekend at Fort Niagara. This is the view from the South Redoubt (blockhouse) toward the French Castle.

There's room for everyone to sleep - barracks style. When you're on your work shift, someone else will sleep in your spot!

Actor Ray Milland - my inspiration  for Lt. Archibald Walsh.

While I pour the tea, consider signing up for my newsletter. I have a promotion (during the months of May, June and July) for new subscribers. One will randomly win a $25 Amazon Gift Card to help me celebrate the release of Backcountry Brides!

The two colonials who accompanied me to Fort Niagara!

And, if you'd like to get in on the fun, here's a Rafflecopter promotion for a Kindle Paperwhite and other prizes, hosted by the Backcountry Brides Authors.
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