New Book Release: January 2021

A cowboy, a mail-order bride, and a marriage of convenience?

 

Those are the ingredients for a fun and sizzling romance! And A Cowboy for Keeps is just that! It’s the first book in my newest series, Colorado Cowboys, and is now available! 

 

No, I’m not switching genres and writing westerns! This new series is another historical romance with my trademark plot twists, vibrant settings, and deeply emotional characters. But this time the package includes hunky cowboys! 

 

For as much as the story delivers a satisfying and entertaining romance, the book is much more than that. It’s also a journey into the McQuaid family saga. After losing both of their parents and their family farm, four brothers and a sister move to Colorado Territory and the Wild West to begin a new chapter of their lives. The series explores what it really means to be a family, to look out for each other, remain loyal, learn to forgive, and stand together against adversity. 

 

A Cowboy for Keeps starts with Wyatt McQuaid the oldest of the brothers. Wyatt is attempting to make a go of homesteading and ranching in Colorado’s high country in South Park. But with all the obstacles he faces, he’s having a hard time making a new home. When Fairplay’s mayor offers him a deal, one that involves taking a bride in exchange for cattle, Wyatt can’t resist. 

 

Already readers are falling in love with Wyatt and the rest of the cast of endearing characters. Here’s what a couple of readers had to say in early reviews: 

 

“The characters are well drawn, there are plot twists to keep you on the edge of your seat, and plenty of swoon-worthy kisses. I really enjoyed reading the book, and look forward to the next in the series!”

 

“This book truly has it all: historical fiction, romance, suspense, a wonderful character cast, and an enthralling narrative that was addictive and entertaining until the end.” 

 

To find out more about A Cowboy for Keeps visit my website at http://jodyhedlund.com/books/a-cowboy-for-keeps/

 

 

New Book Release: November 2020

 

Do you like Sleeping Beauty retellings? BESOTTED, the third and final book in The Fairest Maidens, is now available and is a unique retelling of the old classic fairy tale.

 

Each book of the series is fashioned after a fairy tale BEHOLDEN (September) is loosely tied to Cinderella,  BEGUILED (October) is developed around Snow White. And, as mentioned, BESOTTED (November) is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. 

 

While the heroines in this series are strong and daring and take center stage, the heroes are also very important young men. They are three brothers, princes, who are competing against each other for a chance at becoming the next king of their country. 

 

As part of the competition for the kingship, each of the princes must travel to a foreign land, live in obscurity for six months, and prove they have the character necessary for being a king. In order to do that, they each are given an individual challenge that is written onto their swords. A scribe (who is also a body guard) accompanies them on the journey and is tasked with writing down everything that the princes do during the six months so that a special council can determine who is worthiest of the crown.

 

So how do readers feel about this conclusion to the series? Here are just a few things early readers said:

 

“Like the other two books in the series, Besotted was an extremely clever twist to a classic fairytale. All the adventure and intrigue from the first two books come to a suspenseful conclusion.”

 

“The perfect title for this story because I was totally besotted with it. Wonderful conclusion to this fairytale series. I loved Aurora and Kresten’s story. The plot is well developed and keeps you on the edge of your seat. So many twists and turns.”

 

“The characters grew, matured and developed so much during the story that by the end they were my favorite couple of the three! Perfect is the only word I can use to describe the ending to this book and series!”

 

“What a wonderful conclusion to a beautiful Fairy tale series! Besotted is a book that leaves you with all the feels! I loved each book in this series but I particularly loved how Besotted wrapped up all the loose ends from the first two books leaving every reader very satisfied.”

 

If you love fairy tales, I invite you to give the series a try and let me know what you think!

 

To find out more about BESOTTED head over to my website page here: http://jodyhedlund.com/books/besotted/

 

 

 

New Book Release: October 2020

Are you ready for a Snow White retelling? If so, then dive in to BEGUILED, the second book of my Fairest Maidens series!  It’s now available in both paperback and ebook!

 

To be honest, Snow White is one of my least favorite fairy tales, particularly the Disney version, mainly because the romance feels underdeveloped. After all, Snow White barely meets the prince at the beginning and then doesn’t see him again until he gives her true love’s  kiss at the end.

 

The brief interactions just aren’t enough. Their relationship is too shallow. I never understand why they like each other and what qualities draw them together. They don’t have enough time together to get to know each other much less fall in love. And at the end, I’m left feeling like the prince is attracted to her primarily because of her beauty.

 

So, in rethinking the Snow White story, I wanted to give the hero and heroine plenty of time to get to know each other, develop a friendship, and learn to appreciate each other’s inner qualities more than the outer.

 

Here’s what a few readers said about how those things play out in BEGUILED:

 

Friendship: “Romantic novels that include a solid foundation of friendship between the two main characters are elevated stories in my eyes, and Pearl and Mikkel’s friendship is strong and deep.”

 

Friendship: “The notion that you should marry your best friend is very appealing to me and so the fact that Mikkel and Pearl are friends first then later become romantically interested in each other is very sweet and fulfilling.”

 

Beauty: “I loved the underlying message that the beauty on the inside of a person is what truly matters and not outward appearances.”

 

Beauty: “The theme of looking past outward appearances and finding a person’s worth in their heart and character is both timeless and timely. Pearl’s hope that her veil would cause others to love her for her heart and not her beauty, and Mikkel’s growing hope to see her as she was, even though he expected her to be scarred or damaged, were beautifully portrayed.”

 

I invite you to give this retelling of Snow White a try! To find out more about BEGUILED head over to my website page here: http://jodyhedlund.com/books/beguiled/

 

 

New Book Release: September 2020

Do you like fairy tales? I’m a huge sucker for them! I’ve watched just about every fairy-tale retelling out there, including Disney’s latest version of Mulan.

 

It should come as no surprise, that with my love of fairy tales, I wanted to give them my own spin, and I did just that with my newest series, The Fairest Maidens!  The first book, BEHOLDEN (just released!) is loosely tied to Cinderella. BEGUILED (releasing in October) is developed around Snow White. And BESOTTED (releasing in November) is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. 

 

After reading and watching so many fairy-tale retellings over the years, I realized I had a huge challenge ahead of me in making The Fairest Maidens series unique enough that the books would stand apart from other retellings. Now that reviews are coming in, readers are weighing in on how the first book, Beholden, compares.

 

One reader said: “With sweet romance, powerful sacrifice, and amazing inspirational characters and lessons, Beholden is a wonderfully unique take on the classic Cinderella story.”

 

Another said: “Containing many elements from the classic fairytale Cinderella, Beholden goes above and beyond adding adventure and plot twists while keeping the love-conquers-all theme that we all love.”

 

And here’s another: “Cinderella is not my favorite fairytale, but this story is a completely new take on the classic tale and is better for it.”

 

If you love fairy tales, I invite you to give the series a try and let me know what you think!

 

To find out more about BEHOLDEN head over to my website page here: http://jodyhedlund.com/books/beholden/

 

 

 

New Book Release: August 2020

ALMOST A BRIDE, the fourth and final book in my bride-ship series, is now available!
I’ve loved hearing what early readers are saying about the series:

“I am sad to see the series come to an end, because I’ve enjoyed them all so much. Almost a Bride is no exception.” ~Alyssa

“I have to admit the arrival of this final book in the Bride Ship Series was bittersweet for me. Jody Hedlund has done a fabulous job telling stories of young woman leaving England to find a new life but I wasn’t ready for these stories to end.” ~Jennifer

“When I end a book in tears, I know it's a good one! I've read all the Bride Ship series, and Almost a Bride was just as engaging as the first three.” ~Kate

After the many, MANY hours of work I put into crafting, writing, and editing the book, I’m happy (and relieved!) to know that readers are breathing a satisfying sigh when they close the last page of the last book.

Thank you to everyone who has gone on the bride-ship journey with me over the past year! It’s been a delight to share this voyage into the past with so many awesome readers!

If you haven’t yet read the previous books in the series, A RELUCTANT BRIDE, THE RUNAWAY BRIDE, or A BRIDE OF CONVENIENCE, what are you waiting for?!? ;-)

To find out more information on ALMOST A BRIDE, visit my website here:    http://jodyhedlund.com/books/almost-a-bride

New Book Release: June 2020

A BRIDE OF CONVENIENCE, the third book in my bride-ship series, is now available!

In A BRIDE OF CONVENIENCE, my hope is to show the perspective of one of the brides who came on the second bride ship that sailed to Victoria. This ship, called the Robert Lowe, left approximately four months after the Tynemouth (the bride ship highlighted in the first two books in the series).

While the women aboard the Robert Lowe were sponsored by the Columbia Emigration Society the same as the Tynemouth women, a distinct difference exists between the two groups. The group on the first ship came largely from the London area and was comprised of wealthy middle-class women as well as the poor plucked from orphanages and slums

The Robert Lowe women, however, were from the cotton manufacturing districts in Manchester, England. The calamity in the midlands was widespread, with tens of thousands of cotton-mill workers suffering from unemployment as a result of the cotton shortage brought about by the American Civil War. The women chosen to immigrate aboard the Robert Lowe were among the many who’d lost their jobs. In light of the bleak conditions in their homeland, the three dozen Manchester mill girls were happy to be offered the chance at a better life in the colonies where work and husbands awaited them.

The Robert Lowe arrived in January after three months without any stops. After spending a weekend of rest and quarantine aboard the Robert Lowe, the women were ferried to Victoria aboard a steamship. Before they could go to shore, however, two ill women were taken to the hospital with what was believed to be consumption or Mill fever, an illness common among mill workers. Since the lung ailments can lie dormant, the women may have already had the disease, and the damp sea voyage may have allowed it to progress. Whatever the case, the two women died shortly after arriving in Victoria.

The rest of the brides came ashore to great fanfare. With the arrival of another bride ship, the excitement of the men in the colonies escalated. With not nearly enough women for all the eager men, the women (similar to the Tynemouth women) had to run a gauntlet through the mobs hoping to find brides. While the heroine of the book, Zoe, isn’t based on any real person in particular, I did hope to portray her bride-ship experience through the eyes of a mill woman.

If you haven’t yet read the previous books in the series, A RELUCTANT BRIDE and THE RUNAWAY BRIDE, don’t worry. A BRIDE OF CONVENIENCE can be read by itself as a standalone (although I do encourage you to read it as well for the perspective of one of the poor working class women aboard the bride ships).

To find out more information on A BRIDE OF CONVENIENCE, visit my website here: http://jodyhedlund.com/books/a-bride-of-convenience/

New Book Release: March 2020

THE RUNAWAY BRIDE, the second book in my bride-ship series, is now available!

Bride-ship series, you might be asking? What exactly is that?

In the 1860’s dozens of women sailed from England to the Pacific Northwest with the destination of Victoria in Vancouver Island (which was at that time still a colony of England and not yet part of Canada). As strange as it may seem to us today, these women went for the purpose of getting married to the men who lived there on what became known as “bride ships.”

When I first heard of the concept of bride ships, I was utterly horrified and fascinated by the idea that women would actually willingly leave everything they’d ever known behind and sail to a strange land in order to become a bride.

I couldn’t help but ask myself what kind of woman would do such a thing and why?

Before we can answer that question, we need to know a little bit about what was going on in England at that time. In the decades before the bride ships, thousands upon thousands of young men had left England because of a depression. By the early 1860’s, one statistic stated that there were 600,000 more women than men in England.

With the shortage of men, many young marriageable women, even among the wealthy middle class, had no chance of finding a spouse. Such women also had almost no employment opportunities since wealthy, educated women generally did not work outside the home. With so few options, many women were destined for a life of spinsterhood.

The possibility of traveling to one of England’s colonies must have held some appeal to spinsters, especially those in their mid-twenties and older, who’d already passed the ideal marriageable age.

In addition, an 1861 census of Vancouver Island and British Columbia revealed that females comprised only 11% of the total population, which meant that men out-numbered women approximately 10 to 1. With this ratio, it seemed only reasonable to begin sending England’s surplus of marriageable women to the colonies to provide wives for the many men who wanted them.

Imagine being one of those women. Imagine arriving to Victoria after months at sea to find the shore lined with hundreds of men waiting and cheering and eager to pick a bride. And imagine walking through the crowds of men, knowing you’re expected to choose a husband from among the hordes.

How would you feel? Overwhelmed? Frightened? Excited? I know I’d feel all of that and more!

I invite you to read about the experience through the eyes of one bride, Arabella Lawrence, the heroine of A RUNAWAY BRIDE. I invite you to join her as she arrives in Victoria and begins the process of trying to pick her husband from among the many men vying for her attention. Although Arabella is fictional, her account mirrors those of real women aboard the bride ships.

If you haven’t yet read the first book in the series, A RELUCTANT BRIDE, don’t worry. THE RUNAWAY BRIDE can be read by itself as a standalone (although I do encourage you to read the first book as well for the perspective of one of the poor working class women aboard the bride ships).

To find out more information on THE RUNAWAY BRIDE, visit my website here: http://jodyhedlund.com/books/the-runaway-bride/