...Sneak Peek Sunday...

It's that time again! Sneak Peek Sunday is upon us. Put on by the lovely Sara Walter Ellwood, this blog hop is set up to share six paragraph snippets of author's current works in progress.

The week I'll be sharing a sneak peek of Red Snow Bride, book two of The Dawson Brides series.

Jeremiah Dawson, small time rancher and full time werewolf, has advertised in the city papers for a proper wife and Lorelei might just be what he's looking for in a woman. The only problem is the scandal her last husband threw her family into. Desperate for an escape, she must decide to answer his advertisement or keep making her way in the underbelly of turn-of-the-century Boston. In this scene, she's on the cusp of that decision.



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Boston had defeated me in two days. It had to be some sort of record. My fingers were clawed and stiff and didn’t want to move after two almost full days of backbreaking chicken plucking. I stank of dead animal and I’d never get all of the white feathers out of my hair. The piddly amount I’d been paid for all those tedious hours of work turned my stomach. At this rate, I’d be able to pay rent but only if I never ate again for the rest of my life. For the tenth time I unfolded the advertisement I kept safe in my pocket. Jeremiah Dawson did sound like a fine name. It rolled off of the tongue in an attractive way. Even if he was some horrid looking man, or dwarf, or cripple, who was I to be picky? I’d married a beautiful man with a heart of black. Maybe the other way would work in my favor this time around. And more importantly, I'd be far away from all of the horrid things people whispered about me as I walked by.I’d made the decision that day, as it became apparent the foreman was more interested in me than the other girls who sat around me. He’d whisper foul things into my ear as his rank breath brushed my face and lifted the dark tendrils of hair that had fallen into my face. The man gave me chills and not just because of his odor. It was because behind his emotionless gaze was something that terrified me. He was a man who’d do anything to get what he wanted. My rebuffs were only proving a delightful challenge for him --- a piece of red meat added to the hunt. Decidedly, I scribbled across the crude paper before I could change my mind.
Dearest Mr. Dawson,I write to inform you of my interest in an advertisement you placed in a paper some months ago. For reasons I can’t quite sort through right now, I've a mind to consider your offer. You've written of your want for a proper wife, and I assure you my high bred pedigree stretches for generations. As I’ve fallen on misfortune, I don’t have any dowry to offer or material possessions to give if that is what you are looking for, but I’ll be easily companionable and diligent in my wifely duties. I have to admit, as I would feel terrible for pursuing you under false pretense, that I have been a victim of a serious scandal here in Boston recently and won’t bring any prestige to your lineage. However, if you are willing to overlook all of that and would still consider me a candidate for your arrangement, please contact me in Boston.Yours,Lorelei McGregor
I scurried to the post office as fast as I could dodge the rank mud puddles in hopes of making it before the post man flipped the handwritten sign to ‘closed.’ Just in time, I swished in through the door, smearing muddy water over the wooden planks beneath my feet. “I need this mailed to Jeremiah Dawson of Colorado Springs, Colorado,” I said breathlessly.He took the letter from my outstretched hand and with a grumpy frown said, “It’ll go out with tomorrow’s post.”A sense of relief I didn’t quite understand flooded me as I left my letter there in the care of the post man. Maybe it was because it was out there in the universe now and out of my hands, or maybe because the stranger, Jeremiah’s, answer would be a chance to feel something other than rejection. Whatever it was, I sat in my tiny room and read his advertisement over again, and this time I felt a sense hopeful fear. My path in life had been altered by the cruelty of my husband, and now Mr. Dawson’s answer would be my destiny.*********************************************

Thanks so much for stopping by and giving the snippet of Red Snow Bride a read. To hop along to other authors sneak peeks, click here.