Please welcome my guest author, Sofia Hunt!
Last summer I started toying with an idea for a ménage series based on a bit of Seattle history. First of all, to date I’ve been exclusively a contemporary author with 3 books published with Siren and 4 m/f books published under another pen name. I’d never tackled a historical, though I loved to read them, especially set in regency England.
The basic plot revolved around a group of 23 women who answered an ad in a Boston newspaper for brides wanted in 1860s Washington Territory. Washington didn’t become a state until 1889, so this was back when the area was first settled. My fictional town of Port Steele would be set on a beautiful bay on the east side of Puget Sound, literally across the water from Seattle. I pictured Bachelor Bay to be in the area of what is now Bremerton/Port Orchard/Silverdale. Since this series takes place during the Civil War era, men were scarce back east. The women who answered my hero’s ad were willing to leave civilization behind and journey to an unknown land in the hope of finding a new life and a new love. The Gallagher brothers, who owned a logging company and sawmill, placed the ad in order to pacify their lumberjacks who were threatening to leave because of the lack of women in the area.
Figuring there was safety in numbers, I talked to my good friends, Bella Grace and Eve Adams, to see if they’d be interested in joining me. The more we talked about the idea, the more excited we became. The three of us collaborated on characters, plots, conflicts, and threads that’d run through all the stories. I poured over old UW archives on historical logging and pioneer life in the Pacific Northwest.
Since Eve and I are currently published with Siren, we approached Siren/Bookstrand publisher’s with our idea. She loved it. I mean really loved it. Our publisher accepted the series into the Ménage Everlasting line, and Les Byerley did our gorgeous covers.
And The Brides of Bachelor Bay was born.
What started out as a three-book series blossomed into a six-book series. Depending on the sales, we might try for a nine-book series. The first three in the series has been released. We’re working on the next three books now.
I’m extremely excited about this series. Each book will average about 35,000 words and will feature one of the brides as the heroine. The heroes have various professions, such as lumbermen, lumberjacks, the town mayor, a Sioux Indian, a mercantile owner, and others. Of course, we have several villains, some who redeem themselves and some who don’t.
All in all, this series has been immensely satisfying to write. I hope you’ll pick up a copy and escape to Bachelor Bay for an evening or two.
BLURB
Determined to protect her sisters from a murderous uncle, Lizzie Prescott answers a brides wanted ad. She and her sisters journey to 1860s Washington Territory, a wild land of towering cedar trees and brawny lumberjacks.
Logan Gallagher brought the brides out west for his crew, not for himself, but he can’t get the red-haired beauty out of his mind. His brother, Gage, harbors his own desires for the opinionated redhead.
Can all three of them find love together in this untamed land?
CHAPTER 1
Port Steele, Washington Territory
We arrived in Bachelor Bay this afternoon. The relentless rain had obscured the shoreline ever since our ship entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca. But when we entered the bay, the sun peeked through the clouds, and the profound splendor of this place had us hugging the railing in awe.
Our ship docked at Port Steele, the small town perched on the edge of Bachelor Bay. We were greeted by a large contingent of townspeople. An overwhelming majority of them are men. And, oh, what men they are. I blush as I write this, but I have never seen such impressive men. Evidently, this land grows them as big and strong as the towering fir and cedar trees that dominate the landscape.
Despite the unfortunate circumstances that brought my sisters and me to this untamed land, I am looking forward to the challenge offered by this place of rugged beauty.
For the first time in her life, Elizabeth Mary Prescott was sorely tempted to abandon her vow to remain single. But entertaining such foolish notions as marrying again didn’t negate the truth of her situation. She’d signed on to this journey under false pretenses. No man would want her if he knew the truth. Nor would she trap an unsuspecting suitor into a marriage built on lies. Yet, there were other ways, though scandalous, to be with a man, ways which didn’t involve marriage.
Lizzie had never been the scandalous type. As the oldest of three children, all girls, she’d been the responsible, dependable daughter, despite her penchant for disregarding propriety at times. This land appealed to her sense of adventure and her disdain for the restrictions men placed on women. In an uncivilized land like this, a woman should be able to live by her own rules. Or so she hoped.
Lizzie hung back while the remaining female passengers, twenty-three young women, leaned over the ship’s railing. They gawked at the sea of men crowding the dock below. Potential husbands, every one of them, and plenty to pick from. These big, raw-boned men were dressed in their Sunday best. Their hair slicked back, their jaws freshly shaved. Big men for a big country. Hopefully, big hearts, too.
She shuddered as her wayward mind imagined the inappropriate and unacceptable things such men could do to a woman. It was not for her to find out. This trip was not about her. She would remain strong for her sisters and see that they secured marriages to suitable men of high moral standing and reputation, men with secure finances.
Once she completed her task, she’d fade into obscurity as a teacher in a rural school.
The sun peeked through the clouds, certainly a good omen. She could use some good luck.
The Civil War had decimated the male population back East. The few available men in her hometown paid her no mind. She stood too tall, lacked the fine-boned features men favored, and was a mite sharp-tongued and opinionated. Only one man had showed interest, but that nightmare was over.
Besides, she craved adventure. Yet, travelling from the East Coast to Puget Sound in Washington Territory proved to be more adventure than she’d bargained for, with the storms and whatnot.
But they’d made it. Every one of them. She glanced at each of her two sisters standing in front of her on the railing. Olivia, the shy middle sister who’d rather be reading a book, shrank back at the sight of all that masculinity and gazed up at Lizzie, obviously overwhelmed.
“I just want to sleep on a bed that doesn’t pitch and roll all night long.” Olivia pushed her glasses up with the tip of her finger and squinted at the crowd.
“As do I.” Lizzie patted her sister’s arm.
“I’ll never set foot on a boat again.”
“It doesn’t hold much interest to me, either. But we’re here, and look at the reception we’re getting.”
“It is disconcerting.”
Lizzie couldn’t agree more, but for once, held her tongue.
“It’s impressive. All these men. I could swoon.” Amelia, the youngest and prettiest sister, assessed the crowd. Her sharp eyes missed nothing. “I see several possibilities.”
“With your fair appearance, you’ll have your pick.” Lizzie smoothed her wrinkled dress and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, aware of what a fright she must appear. Not that it mattered. She wasn’t here to marry, only to find mates for her sisters, good, kind husbands.
“Yes, you will. They won’t even notice us.” Olivia let out a deep breath.
Amelia smiled and squeezed Olivia’s hand. “You, Olivia, will also have no shortage of suitors.”
Olivia turned to Lizzie. “And you, too.”
“I’m twenty-five, way past marrying age.” Her age was the least of her problems.
“I suspect if you’re a female and still breathing, you’re marrying age around here,” Amelia quipped and waved her handkerchief at one particularly enthusiastic man who’d climbed a tall pole to see over the crowd.
“She’s right, you know.” Olivia peered at the men over the rims of her reading glasses.
“I have no desire to be subservient to any man.” She didn’t add why. They all knew why.
“Yet you would wish that fate on us?”
“The both of you wouldn’t consider it fate, but a pleasant task.”
“Very pleasant.” Amelia leaned further over the railing. Her cleavage caught the men’s attention as she waved at the group with her lace handkerchief. Lizzie prayed she’d marry Amelia off before she soiled her reputation as a lady. Her bold approach to men and her inherent recklessness worried both older sisters. Amelia barely avoided scandal back in Boston.
Lizzie looked into the crowd. One man stood back from the group, leaning negligently against a tree. With a big, muscled body, dark wavy hair, and a ruggedly handsome face, he’d attract attention wherever he went. He oozed authority in the way of a stallion in a herd of mares. His gaze slammed into her with an intensity which almost sent her reeling backward. He trapped her with a look and held her captive. With a knowing smirk, he tipped his stained hat at her. Lizzie’s body heated, and her breath sat heavy in her lungs, making it hard to draw a breath. Moistness grew between her legs.
Lizzie forced her attention elsewhere, but she could still feel his eyes on her, almost as if he’d physically caressed her. Shaken, she busied herself by grabbing her bag and rummaging through it. When she stole a glance in the man’s direction, he’d disappeared into the crowd.
Sofia Hunt
The First Bride, Brides of Bachelor Bay 1, Available Now from Siren Publishing
Riding the Circuit, Available July 18
http://www.sofiahunt.com/
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