Great to be back!

Before I write this blog post, I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of support for my work.  It’s fantastic to be in writing mode again and I’m looking forward to a year filled with lots of forward-creative movement!  Love out to all!

Connie’s Conundrum. 

Well, ladies and gentlemen, one of our star characters is in the middle of a love triangle that is also part of a second love triangle that is also one dangerous position to be in. Whew.

In Book #3, “Race Against Time”, we find that Connie Merriton is quite happy to be reunited with her daughter, Margarita, however she’s not very happy with her husband, Richard, and his recent affair with his ex-fiance, Cynthia.

Connie traveled with Margarita back to their homeland, Mexico, in order to give herself some space between her husband and the nasty blonde he was screwing around with, but, instead of rest and recovery, finds that her own ex, Hector, is not only still in love with her, but wants to officially break up Connie and her husband so that she will be free to marry again.   And, as they say, the plot surely does thicken!

It may seem like an easy choice for Connie.  Richard turned out to be a lying dog of a husband who didn’t hesitate for long to jump into the sack with Cynthia, a scheming woman who was out to snare him from moment one.

But, Connie is unsure of Hector, and is still reeling from the whole shot-through-the-heart kind of feeling she had when she discovered how Richard and Cynthia had been carrying on without regard for who was watching them and who in their circle of friends knew full well what they were doing.

And so… the conundrum is there in front of our sweet Connie.

Texas brings trouble? 

There is yet another choice in front of Connie, and it’s one she never thought would be available to her.

A very wealthy landowner who did business with Connie’s father for years, owns a large chunk of the state of Texas, and finds himself in need of a fresh stock of thoroughbred horses after many in his own stables take sick and die.

Enter one Preston McIvor, a Scottish-born lad who came to the United States as a child with his parents.  The McIvors had little money to start with, but Preston’s father became a trusted ally of one General Stevens, the head of military operations in Texas in the 1820s, and was instrumental in finding the leader of a gang who was robbing stage coaches and killing anyone who got in their way.  As a reward, the McIvors were granted 100,000 acres of land, which Preston’s father stocked with cattle, and turned that already large Texas property into one over 400K acres in size – which then ranked him among the wealthiest men in Texas and in the United States at large.

Upon the death of his parents, Preston came into a fortune that any self-respecting Duke would be overjoyed to receive; unfortunately though, Preston wasn’t as lucky in love.

The first Mrs. Preston McIvor died in childbirth at the age of 22, with Preston’s infant son following her about 3 weeks later.  Preston’s second wife, a sturdy German woman he thought would easily withstand the strain of carrying children and living on a busy, working ranch, died before giving Preston any of the dozen children he wanted when a flu epidemic swept through Central and West Texas.  That same flu took several of his best ranch hands before it was done.

Currently in the story (book #3) it’s the year 1845, Preston is now 40 years old, and has managed to increase the already vast fortune left to him by his father, but is still both single and without children.  And there is one girl he simply can’t get out of his mind.

Preston noticed quite a few years back that the Mexican man of considerable means who sold horses to him had a beautiful wife and an equally beautiful daughter.  And although the last time he saw little Connie she was but 11 years old, Preston could not forget his first glimpse of that long, glossy black hair and the exquisite face it framed.  Nowadays, Preston wondered about what was surely the magnificent woman that young girl had grown into, more often than he admitted.

Connie gets another surprise.  

Just when our elegant Mrs. Merriton thinks she may be able to find peace and possibly even love again, she gets yet another totally unexpected visitor.

Coming onto the scene is Preston McIvor – tall, with red-blonde hair, and so handsome it could and surely should be outlawed, and, from a number of tragic turns of personal events, is in the market for horses – a wife.

Needing to buy quality horseflesh, Preston once again pays a visit to the home of Connie’s parents, where she took refuge with Margarita, and when he sees Connie again after almost 15 years, is completely bowled over by the rush of emotions. He feared he was doomed to be a bachelor forever, never have a child to leave his money and land to, and to warm his bed only with expensive ladies of the evening.

But within the first 30 seconds after seeing Connie Merriton, Preston is convinced that both of those beliefs were going to change.

How it turns out.  

I’ll be dangling the carrot of “what he says – what she says” in the coming months prior to my Book #3 update being published.  I can tell you all that Preston is a good man, and wants very much to give up the single life to settle down with a woman he loves and can spend the rest of his life spoiling.  Connie herself is impressed by him, and yes, Preston does stand a real chance with her.  Perhaps more than Hector.   And that also presents some big problems.

Take care everyone – until next time,

Nancy