In 1868, Otto Atwell has a 160 acre homestead near Abilene, Kansas and a limp as a result of a Cheyenne musket ball hitting his low back while he marched with the 16th Kansas Cavalry on the Powder River Expedition in 1865. What he doesn’t have is a wife. Then again, what woman would want to marry a cripple?
Libby Jones comes to Junction City as a mail order bride. Not only does the man who sent for her reject her, he tries to sell her to the local brothel to recoup his fee. Otto offers to marry her, but she rejects him in favor of a job with his relatives.
Will Otto’s offer still stand when trouble from Libby’s past catches up with her?
Otto’s Offer is a stand-alone book in the Lockets & Lace series sponsored by some authors of the Sweet Americana Sweethearts blog.
While they last, an ebook version of the series prequel, The Bavarian Jeweler, is available from the blog without charge.
~ Amazon ~ Amazon International ~
I have finished this book now and I'm so excited to share my review with everyone! This book was well written and engaging. The author lets us understand the situation and was able to even take us back into the history without losing us in the process. It was actually a very quick read as it takes you through the story and the situation. You feel for the characters and cheer them on too. This book does touch on a few hard topics that send a bit of a chill down your spine, but it is never descriptive or unclean, just the pain of knowing that someone had to go through something so miserable. And the bad guy was well written and made me look over my shoulder a few times (I was reading this out on a hike, so in the open I admit I looked around a few time) which made it seem so real, which really is the mark of good story writing. Overall I say well done - very well done!
Excerpt:
After it was all over and the dust began to settle, Otto decided the Atwell-
Palmer group driving cattle into his property was a sight to behold. He
had put his few cattle in his corral with feed and water and left the
pastureland next to the small creek open for whatever his visitors were
driving. Henry had cleaned and prepared stalls for a few extra horses,
but Otto knew the rest would need to be hobbled. Because he couldn’t sit
a horse for long, he didn’t know if he would be expected to help keep an
eye on the herd that night, or if his father and uncle had made other
arrangements. All he knew was, his barn, corral and pasture looked
full—how like he would eventually like it to be all the time with his own
cattle.
Mary Palmer had answered both Otto’s and Henry’s prayers. As
soon as she climbed down from the wagon she had been traveling in
while their neighbor, Shorty Sanders, drove, she headed for the kitchen
and started frying up potatoes and some ham she had brought to go with
the beans Otto had cooking. She also made biscuits, which pleased
everyone.
Henry especially felt gratified when Mary pointed to the loaf of
bread she had brought in the house.
“I have bread I baked for when we’re on the trail. But your Mama
sent that one for you, Henry. She says she misses you and will be happy
to see you home again. Now, you hide it in a cupboard, or it won’t last
until we leave.”
Henry smiled wide as he found a clean dishtowel to wrap around
his bread. “Thank you, Grandma Mary. Otto’s no baker, so it’s either
been hardtack or mush the last few weeks. You bet I’ll keep it hidden.”
“You’re welcome, Henry.”
Otto inhaled deeply as he entered the kitchen. “That ham and
fixings certainly smells good, Mrs. Palmer. It will be a pleasant break
from my usual fare.”
“Then maybe you ought to get you a fat sow about ready to pop out
a bunch of piglets instead of those chickens you plan on getting. I’d
druther take care of pigs than chickens any day.”
Otto scowled at his younger brother, who had made the suggestion.
“All in good time, Henry. Right now, eggs and an occasional chicken in
the pot will do me more good than a pig to be kept fed. Besides, we
already got the chicken coop built. I’d have to build a sturdy pen first
before I can consider getting a sow and a boar. you’ll be going home with
Pa once we get back, so it shouldn’t make much difference to you.”
Henry glanced at Mary’s face with her grin and a knowing twinkle
in her eye. He knew to not make a big issue of the matter, but he couldn’t
resist mumbling the last word on the subject. “Well, you just make sure
when you bring back those chickens, you bring back a wife to chase them
down and take care of them. I still want nothing to do with anything
having feathers and beaks.”
“What’s this about a wife?”
Otto shook his head, avoiding Mary’s probing gaze. “Nothing.
Henry is just being his usual ornery self.”
My name is Robyn Echols. Zina Abbott is the pen I use for my historical novels. I’m a member of Women Writing the West and I just joined Western Writers of America. I currently live with my husband in California’s central valley near the “Gateway to Yosemite.”
I love to read, quilt, work with digital images on my photo editing program, and work on my own family history.
I am a blogger. In addition to my own blog, I blog for several group blogs including the Sweet Americana Sweethearts blog, which I started and administer.
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