Left at the Altar {+ Giveaway}

It’s a pleasure to welcome author Margaret Brownley to Thoughts in Progress today to talk about her latest release, LEFT AT THE ALTAR, the first installment in her Match Made in Texas series.

Margaret has graciously answered some questions about her writing. In addition, you have the chance to win a print copy of LEFT AT THE ALTAR. Please see end the of the post for more details on the giveaway. First, here’s a bit about the book.

◊Title: Left at the Altar

◊Series: A Match Made in Texas, Book #1

◊Author: Margaret Brownley

◊Pub Date: November 1, 2016

◊ISBN: 9781492608134

Welcome to Two-Time Texas:

Where tempers burn hot

Love runs deep

And a single marriage can unite a feuding town

…or tear it apart for good

          In the wild and untamed West, time is set by the local jeweler…but Two-Time Texas has two: two feuding jewelers and two wildly conflicting time zones. Meg Lockwood’s marriage was supposed to unite the families and finally bring peace. But when she’s left at the altar by her no-good fiancé, Meg’s dreams of dragging her quarrelsome neighbors into a ceasefire are dashed.

          No wedding bells? No one-time town.

          Hired to defend the groom against a breach of promise lawsuit, Grant Garrison quickly realizes that the only thing worse than small-town trouble is falling for the jilted bride. But there’s something about Meg’s sweet smile and determined grit that draws him in…even as the whole crazy town seems set on keeping them apart.

Who knew being Left at the Altar could be such sweet, clean, madcap fun?

LEFT AT THE ALTAR is available to purchase at the following sites:

Amazon

Books-A-Million

Barnes & Noble

Chapters

iBooks

Indiebound

Now join me in giving a warm welcome to Margaret as she answers some questions about her writing. Welcome, Margaret.

What drew you to write about the west and jewelers?

Margaret:

I love writing about the old west. That was when men were men and women were women but, as the old song goes, a cowboy wasn’t a cowboy unless he was wild, wooly and full of fleas. Of course, the heroes I write about are more likely to be tall, dark and handsome. I’m also fascinated by how the westward movement affected women and forced them to reinvent themselves to survive and even flourish.

When you think of the old West, you probably don’t think of jewelers, but most towns had at least one jeweler or watch shop. Since no standard time existed before 1883, local time was usually determined by the jeweler. Some towns, like the fictional town of Two-Time in my story, had more than one jeweler and this often resulted in more than one-time zone. A town in Kansas reportedly had seven. Talk about confusion!   

In Left at the Altar, there are two feuding jewelers who each insist that they alone have the right time. A marriage was supposed to bring the two families together, but everything that could go wrong, does.

What type of research did you do for this book?

Margaret:

I did tons of research on clocks, watches, and breach of promise lawsuits. I was surprised to learn that prior to 1883, there were more than a hundred different time zones in the America. That didn’t matter when traveling in a covered wagon, but it became a major problem when traveling by train.

The cover is lovely. Did you have any input into its design?

Margaret:

The cover was my idea, but the art department gets full credit for turning my vision into something that absolutely captures the essence of my book.

What was the most fun about writing this book?

Margaret:

I loved writing about the town of Two-Time and how one wedding (or rather non-wedding) could cause such an uproar. And what could be more fun than writing about two people falling in love?

What can readers look forward to next from you?

Margaret:

Left at the Altar is the first in a three-book series. Book two, A Match Made in Texas, will be out in the summer of 2017 and it will be followed by How the West Was Wed. I’m currently working on a Christmas novella for next year and starting a new series. 

Margaret, thanks for joining us today and sharing this insight into your writing. I never realized jewelers held so much power in the old west.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Margaret, here’s a bit of background on her.

Author Margaret Brownley

MARGARET BROWNLEY penned her first novel at age eleven and has been writing ever since. She’s now a New York Times and CBA bestselling author and has written thirty-five novels and one nonfiction book.

Margaret and her husband have three grown children and make their home in Southern California.

For more on Margaret and her writing, you can connect with her on Twitter and Facebook.

This giveaway is for one print copy of LEFT AT THE ALTAR by Margaret Brownley. The giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. only and will end at 12 a.m. (EST) on Tuesday, Nov. 22.

To enter the giveaway, just click on the Rafflecopter widget below and follow the instructions. The widget may take a few seconds to load so please be patient. A winner will be selected by the Rafflecopter widget and I’ll send an email with the subject line “Thoughts in Progress Giveaway.” The winner will have 72 hours to reply to the email or another winner will be selected.

PLEASE be sure to check your spam folder from time to time after the giveaway ends to make sure the notification email doesn’t end up there. If you win and you’ve already won the book somewhere else or you just decided for whatever reason you don’t want to win (which is fine), once again PLEASE let me know.

Thanks for dropping by today during Margaret’s visit. Did you know about the jewelers’ having so much power in the old west? Can you image living in a town that has two or more time zones?

a Rafflecopter giveaway