Isn’t this a beautiful cover to begin a new series with? I love when the heroes are on covers instead of only the heroines. Welcome Jody Hedlund to the Index!
 Missouri , 1840s , 1820-1861 (US Antebellum) , Businessmen , Matchmakers , Illness , Hedlund-Jody |
|
Haunted by the death of her sister, Finola Shanahan has resolved that she’s not worthy of a family of her own and commits to spending her days caring for immigrants in the slums. When Finola sabotages yet another unwanted relationship her parents arranged for her, her father calls upon the local Irish matchmaker, who pairs her with successful wagonmaker Riley Rafferty. Finola quickly realizes her usual tricks won’t work on him, however, as she cannot outsmart or outwit the dashing, determined, and daring man. A candidate in the St. Louis mayoral election, Riley is confident a union with the wealthy Shanahan family will help solidify his chances of winning–and even more assured he and Finola can make a difference together. When a cholera outbreak begins to take St. Louis by storm, they must navigate a burgeoning attraction and growing danger testing all they know about love and sacrifice. |
|
|
**************************************************************************************
Questions about Jody’s Story
What inspired this story?
Since I love romance more than anything else, I thought the matchmaker idea would be a fun way to tie a series together. As I began researching matchmaker stories, I realized that there is a long tradition of Irish men being matchmakers. So, the Irish matchmaker takes the stage in all of the books.
Knowing I wanted to use the Irish, I researched places that had large Irish populations in the 1800s, and St. Louis was one of them. As the Gateway to the West, St. Louis was full of danger, disease, and disaster—all of the things that make for a great story and the perfect setting for the Shanahan family.
In particular, I chose the year 1849 as the starting point for this series because a number of tragedies occurred in St. Louis at that time, including a deadly cholera epidemic and a tragic fire along the riverfront.
What character in your book turned out to be your favorite?
Obviously I love the hero and heroine! But aside from them, Bellamy McKenna, the matchmaker, is one of my favorite characters in this series. He is in the process of beginning to take over the matchmaker duties from his father and has some different, less conventional ways of bringing about matches. He’s not only intuitive, but he’s also very clever. Readers will hopefully fall in love with Bellamy (and maybe, just maybe, he’ll get his love story eventually too!).
Why did you choose the year in which your book is set?
A story set in St. Louis in 1849? What’s so special about that? Why read a story set there?
Lots of reasons, actually! Let me tell you just a few:
• 1849 St. Louis was a year for DIVERSITY. As the “Gateway to the West,” people from all over the world were arriving every day, many with the hope of traveling to California to get rich from the gold that had just been discovered.
• 1849 St. Louis was a year for DEATH. A deadly cholera epidemic plagued the city for months and thousands died.
• 1849 St. Louis was a year for DISASTER. An enormous fire broke out among steamboats on the levee and destroyed large portions of the city.
**************************************************************************************
Jody is giving away either a paperback. (USA and CANADA Only). Enter the Rafflecopter below!
**If you don’t want to enter the Rafflecopter, tell me in a comment below: “I’m not entering the Rafflecopter, but please throw me in the hat” so I can manually put you in there for a chance.**