Garnet,a Victorian Historical Romance from Caroline Clemmons

Please help us welcome Caroline Clemmons to the blog today. Caroline is here to share her book, Garnet with us. Garnet is a Victorian Historical Romance. Welcome, Caroline! We are all excited to hear about Garnet.

About Garnet:

Thanks to Maddy for hosting me.

Today I want to talk about GARNET, The Widows of Wildcat Ridge, book 9. I’m so excited about this book and I hope readers will be too. So far, reviews have been very positive. Writing in a multi-author series is fun but not easy. Everything has to be coordinated so none of us contradicts the others. Don’t miss the giveaway mentioned at the end of this post.

Garnet is a spunky heroine. She was brave enough to leave Georgia to become the mail-order bride of Michael Chandler and help him operate his cafe. Only nine months after she arrived, a terrible disaster occurred and Mike, his brother Joe, and sister-in-law Dessie were killed. This left Garnet managing the café on her own, taking charge of her niece and nephew, and grieving for all her friends who died.

She’s not one to have a pity-party. Instead, she works hard to fulfill her duties at the Crystal Café and take care of Hyacinth, age 6, and Joey, age 8. She’s devoted to the children and even enjoys the café—if only she had someone to help her. Then, she has a prowler in her rooms above the café. What if the children or she were hurt?

Adam Bennett is a rugged bounty hunter who slips up and is waylaid by the man he’s chasing along with his two cronies. After a severe beating, they kick him into a deep ravine and make off with his horse, pack mule, and all his gear. Eventually he struggles to Wildcat Ridge and the Crystal Café.

I had a lot of fun with Garnet and Adam, the children, the children’s grandparents, and the people in Wildcat Ridge. The villain is a nasty one but our hero and heroine are up to the challenge—we hope.

Garnet Buy Links:

Excerpt from Garnet:

Here’s an excerpt when Adam shows up at the café the day after the prowler:

A loud rap at the back door startled her. She kept the curtains closed unless they were serving food and couldn’t see who had knocked.

Joey grabbed his stick. “Don’t answer it. Might be the robber there.”

She wiped her hands on her apron. “Or a friend who needs something.” Joey didn’t know the Colt .45 was in her apron pocket. After taking a deep, bracing breath, she opened the door.

The dirtiest man she’d ever seen stood there. His beard was as dirty as his clothes. Fresh cuts showed through the mud on his face. He was tall and broad-shouldered but looked as if he could barely stand.

“Ma’am, my name is Adam Bennett. Please don’t be put off by my appearance. I was robbed up the mountain a ways and lost all my gear. I’m mighty hungry. If you need anything done, I’d like to work for a meal.”

Joey was by her side. “He isn’t the one from last night.” All the same, her nephew kept his pick handle in his hand.

“We’re the Chandlers. Come in and sit down. Wait, wash your hands and face at the sink first. You can’t handle food while you’re that filthy.”

While the man washed his hands, she filled a plate from leftovers and poured a cup of coffee. “Joey, please get my medicine box from upstairs.”

He leaned close. “I don’t think I should leave you alone while he’s here.”

Joey took being man of the family seriously. “Oh, all right. Hyacinth, would you get the medicine box for me?”

“How come he doesn’t have to and I do?” Usually sweet, Hyacinth was a bit spoiled and definitely jealous of her brother.”

“Because Mr. Bennett is injured and needs our help. Please hurry.”

Her niece stomped up the stairs while muttering under her breath, her golden curls bouncing with each step.

When Garnet glanced at the man, she saw he’d wolfed down his food. “I’ll get you more. How long since you’ve eaten?”

“Not sure how long I was in and out of consciousness up there. They attacked me on Saturday. What day is this?”

“Monday. No wonder you’re hungry.” She set another plate of food in front of him and refilled his cup.

About Me:

I love being a writer! I can choose my hours, my commute is only a few steps from our bedroom to my tiny office, I can wear anything I wish, and I get to tell my stories. My office is painted pink, so my family calls it my “pink cave”. I admit I spend a LOT of time there.

I started writing for a large NY publisher. Then, I wrote for a small press, Wild Rose. They were truly lovely people, but I decided to go independent. Since I’m an indie-published author, I get to choose what I write and when. Garnet is in a series with other authors, so I did have to coordinate details with the other authors in the series. Still, I chose to be in the series and what went into the book.

For a birthday present several years ago, our youngest daughter decorated my office. She knows my tastes so well and I love the prints she chose.  My husband gifted me a faux dark cherry desk and matching corner computer station. I got my chair at an office supply store. It’s not that comfy lately so I’ll have to get a new one soon.

I write while listening to Pandora music. When I’m working on a book, I listen to classical. I have to or I start thinking of song lyrics instead of my story. When I’m answering email etc., I listen to James Taylor, Carole King, Stevie Nicks, on and on. When I’m not writing, I love reading, spending time with my family, browsing antique malls, and meeting friends for lunch.  Our youngest daughter and I used to have booths in antique malls but we just didn’t have the time to devote to buying items. We brought home the best things, of course, and hated to let other things go. Neither of us has room for even one more item now. LOL

I write western historical and western contemporary romances and also wrote two mysteries. I have to admit my heart is in historical romances. This is partially due to my father telling us tales of his family when they first came to Texas from Georgia in 1876 and forward. Daddy was from a family of seven boys and one girl (I pity the poor girl).  Those boys got in so much trouble—nothing mean-spirited, but plenty to keep my grandfather upset.

Daddy had a knack of making his stories come alive. Through his tales, I visualized late nineteenth century Texas up through the time in which we lived. Then, as a freshman at Texas Tech in Lubbock, I had a wonderful history teacher.  In addition to the regular curriculum, he lectured on Southwest and Texas history. By this time, I was really hooked on the West.

Here’s my official bio:

Through a crazy twist of fate, Caroline Clemmons was not born on a Texas ranch. To compensate for this illogical error, she writes about handsome cowboys, feisty ranch women, and scheming villains in a small office her family calls her pink cave. She and her Hero live in North Central Texas cowboy country where they ride herd on their rescued cats and dogs. The books she creates there have made her an Amazon bestselling author and won several awards.

Caroline Clemmons’ Social Links:

To thank you for reading this blog, I’m offering an e-copy of GARNET to two people who comment here.

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4 Comments

  2. Family stories can be such a gold mine for novels. Glad your dad was such a storyteller because I have enjoyed your novels. I don’t imagine you would have been as inspired without his stories.

  4. Oh, this was such a good book. I hope Everybody reads this! I’d love to be able to meet Caroline Clemmons. I’ve loved all her books

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