HOLDING THE FORT
The Fort Reno Series, Book 1
by
REGINA JENNINGS
Genre: Historical Western Christian Romance
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Date of Publication: December 5, 2017
Number of Pages: 353
Scroll down for the giveaway!
With Miss Bell as the Teacher, Everyone's Bound to Learn an Interesting LessonDance hall singer Louisa Bell has always lived one step from destitution. When she loses her job at the Cat-Eye Saloon, she has nowhere else to go but to her brother, a cavalry soldier stationed in Indian Territory. But he's run afoul of his commanding officer. Unsure what she can do to help him and desperate for a job, she doesn't protest when she's mistaken for a governess at the fort. How hard can teaching really be?
Major Daniel Adams has his hands full at Fort Reno, especially raising two adolescent daughters alone. If this new governess doesn't work out, his mother-in-law insists she'll raise the girls herself--far away from the fort. Miss Bell bears little resemblance to Daniel's notion of a governess--they're not supposed to be so blamed pretty--but he finds himself turning a blind eye to her unconventional methods. Louisa has never faced so important a performance. Can she keep her act together long enough to help her brother and to secure the respectable future she's sought for so long?
PRAISE FOR HOLDING THE FORT & THE FORT RENO SERIES:
"The first book in Jennings' new Fort Reno series is a delightful read that helps solidify what a wonderful and imaginative writer Jennings is. She manages to create unique stories with interesting and well-developed characters while combining humor, mystery and a sprinkle of faith."
--RT Book Reviews
"In this character-driven series launch, Jennings offers a powerful lesson on the freedom of truth and forgiveness wrapped in a delightful story of love against the odds."
--Publishers Weekly
"This series launch is a charming historical romance set in 1880s Fort Reno, OK. . . . Jennings kicks off a new series with a light and enjoyable tale that will delight her fans as well as lovers of historical romance."
--Library Journal
CLICK TO PURCHASE
EXCERPT: CHAPTER ONE, PART ONE
FROM
HOLDING THE FORT
BY REGINA JENNINGS
June 1885
Wichita, Kansas
The
fumes of the gaslights at the foot of the stage protected Louisa Bell from the
more noxious odors of her audience. On hot nights like tonight, the scent of
unwashed bodies in the Cat-Eye Saloon could be overwhelming. Braving a deep
breath, Louisa delicately placed her hand against her beribboned polonaise and
crescendoed her way into the next stanza. She lifted her head and sang to the
rafters so she didn’t have to meet the eyes of her overly interested, overly
intoxicated, overly male audience. Their approval meant she had a place to live
and food to eat. And while she knew that performing on stage carried certain
undesirable associations, it was the only path open to her.
She
held the final note while Charlie resolved the chord on the piano. The applause
exploded immediately. Whistles and hoots filled the air.
“That
was dandy, Lovely Lola.” Slappy flopped his loose hands together in
appreciation.
“Lovely
Lola, will you marry me?” She didn’t know his name, but the cowboy was there
every summer when the cattle made it up the trail.
“You’re
an angel!” Rawbone cried.
Louisa
might not be the youngest, most coquettish performer at the saloon, but the
purity and emotion of her voice couldn’t be denied. She curtsied elegantly,
holding her flounced skirt to the side. Cimarron Ted held up a glass to toast
her. She returned his smile as she prepared for her last song of the night.
Charlie started the intro on the piano, and Louisa mentally recited her
pre-song mantra.
I am Lovely Lola Bell. They will be
enchanted by my performance and will love my show.
She
caught movement out of the corner of her eye. It was Tim-Bob, the owner of the
Cat-Eye Saloon. With his hand wrapped firmly around Persephone’s white, shapely
arm, he was marching through the stage curtains and onto the stage, right in
the middle of Louisa’s nightly performance.
“Hey,
Charlie,” Tim-Bob called, “cut off that music. I have an announcement to make.”
The pianist wasted no time in stopping and
taking a swig from his bottle. The crowd wasn’t as quick to simmer down.
“Let
Lovely Lola sing!” a man hollered.
“It’s
Saturday night! Can’t have Saturday night without Lovely Lola.”
Whatever
was going on, Louisa wished it didn’t have to happen in front of a rowdy mob.
Persephone showed promise as a performer on Tuesday nights—that was Louisa’s
night off—but she showed more promise as Tim-Bob’s next ladylove. So why was
she here now?
Persephone’s
blond hair—Tim-Bob always preferred blondes—had been arranged to swoop
dramatically over one eye. That same eye was kept carefully trained on the scarred
stage floor, but there was a self-satisfied twist on her tinted Louisa’s
stomach twisted, too, and it had nothing to do with stage fright.
Tim-Bob
held up the hand that wasn’t busy touching Persephone. “If y’all would settle
down and listen. It’s not often that an establishment is graced with two such
talents as Lola Bell and Persephone, but when it is, then it owes its customers
the opportunity to appreciate both.”
“It’s
Saturday. I came to town to hear Lovely Lola!”
Through
the smoke-filled room, Louisa could make out Cimarron Ted shaking a fist. Tim-Bob
shaded his eyes, then dropped his hand as he recognized the complainer.
“I
understand we have some old admirers of Miss Lola’s, and that’s just dandy, but
they’ll soon grow to appreciate the charms of a new face . . . a younger face.
I’m thinking of you, my friends, knowing how you’ll thank me after you hear
Persephone perform the finale tonight.”
Persephone
fluttered her eyelashes and smiled up at Tim-Bob. He gazed deeply into her eyes
as Charlie jumped into action and played the opening notes to the song.
Louisa’s
song.
The
audience, those traitors, barely noticed as Louisa backed away into the
shadows. No one interrupted Persephone’s slightly flat opening to call for
Louisa’s return. No one tried to stop Louisa from disappearing into the poorly
lit hallway. No one except Tim-Bob.
“Lola,
we need to talk.” He stood next to a wall sconce. The gaslight flicked
distorted shadows over his face. “Persephone’s talent deserves a bigger
audience, and she’s young. With more experience, there’s no limit to how she
could develop.”
Louisa
pulled her cascading hair over her shoulder. Tim-Bob had said that about her at
one time, but then she’d refused his advances. She’d thought her voice was
enough to keep her job. Had he been looking for her replacement all this time?
“Is
she taking every Saturday performance, then?” Louisa relied on her stage skills
to keep her voice level—cheerful, even. “I suppose I could use the break from
the daily—”
“Lola,
just stop. It’s best just to say this and get it over with. The Cat-Eye doesn’t
need two singers. Now, that doesn’t mean I’m just going to dump you out on the
street. You can keep your room while you find another job, or at least for a
few weeks. I was a friend of your mother’s, after all.”
Her
mother hadn’t had any friends. Not in the end.
“Thank
you,” Louisa mumbled, and her feet moved toward her room at the end of the dark
hallway. She ignored his weak excuses as they faded behind her.
This
couldn’t be happening. What would she do? Where could she go? She fumbled
blindly with her door, and when her eyes focused again, she was sitting at her
vanity stand. Reaching for a cool rag, she began wiping the rouge off her
cheeks.
Chapter One continued on the 12/26/17
stop of the
Holding the Fort tour with Lone Star Book Blog
Tours.
Regina Jennings is a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University with a degree in English and a minor in history. She's the winner of the National Readers' Choice Award, a two-time Golden Quill finalist and a finalist for the Oklahoma Book of the Year Award. Regina has worked at the Mustang News and at First Baptist Church of Mustang, along with time at the Oklahoma National Stockyards and various livestock shows. She lives outside of Oklahoma City with her husband and four children.
-------------------------------------
GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!
December 18-22 & December 26-30, 2017
(U.S. Only)
VISIT THE OTHER GREAT BLOGS ON THE TOUR:
12/18/17
|
Excerpt 1
| |
12/19/17
|
Review
| |
12/20/17
|
Notable Quotable
| |
12/21/17
|
Author Video
| |
12/22/17
|
Review
| |
12/26/17
|
Excerpt 2
| |
12/27/17
|
Notable Quotable
| |
12/28/17
|
Review
| |
12/29/17
|
Top Ten List
| |
12/30/17
|
Review
|
blog tour services provided by
No comments:
Post a Comment