From the moment she set foot on the icy bank of the Yukon River, Samantha Perry realized it was no place for a woman alone. The legendary streets of gold were actually mud-caked trails, and the brave pioneers bore the hungry smiles of desperate scoundrels. She had traveled to the Great White North to marry the man of her dreams, only to find out that he didn't exist... The prospector who had sent for her was actually two men...and each wanted her as his bride.
Kevin Houseman was just a boy when he fled the troubled Pennsylvania mining town of his childhood and followed the fortune trail north. His tender touch brought Samantha a myriad of memories, sweet reminders of civilized society. But was he man enough to weather this merciless frontier?
Like a ferocious bear, Joel Gilchrist foraged the wilderness, taking what he needed from the lonely woods and icy rivers. Although Samantha scorned his roughhewn nature, his kisses kept her warm through the snowy Yukon nights. What sane woman could ever love a man so wild and untamed?
Please note, this author also writes under the name J.A. Ferguson, Jocelyn Kelley and Rebecca North. "One of my favorite memories is lying on the grass on a knoll on a late summer day and telling my sister stories I was making up," says Jo Ann Ferguson, who also writes as J.A. Ferguson, Joanna Hampton, Jo Ann Brown, and Rebecca North."There's something magical about being able to spend time with people you enjoy in your imagination. As a writer, I get to go with my characters to their time and place so I can share their adventures and falling in love for the first time…all over again."
She has had a few adventures of her own, including a stint as an Army quartermaster officer where she was the first and only woman in her unit. She still enjoys traveling to the locations of her books and learning all about those places and people. Researching her novels is part of the fun. Whether it's ghosts, calling cards, how to fire an antique gun, or traveling to a world that exists only in her imagination, she pays a great deal of attention to the details that delight her reader. She's even learned a bit of Russian, Arabic, Welsh, and a lot of Regency slang.
Her work has been honored with award nominations from Pearl, ROMY, Romantic Times, Rom/Con, and Affaire de Coeur magazine. Amazon Books chose her novels to showcase. And Romance Writers of America bestowed the two ARTemis Awards for Jo Ann's Zebra Regencies: The Counterfeit Count and A Christmas Bride.
Nonfiction also appeals to her, because it's where she got her start, seeing her first byline when she was twelve years old. She contributed to an encyclopedia of the English Regency period published by Garland Press. For all three editions of the New England Chapter's Now That You've Sold Your Book…What Next?, she has served as co-editor.
Believing in giving back, Jo Ann has served Romance Writers of America on both the local and national levels. She has served on the national board as president as well as a director and at term as vice president. For her volunteer work, she was given RWA's highest honor, the Emma Merritt National Service Award. She is also a creative writing instructor. She was awarded a Massachusetts Art Grant to teach creative writing and then established several creative writing courses at Brown University. Many of her students have gone on to publishing careers of their own.
She lives in Massachusetts, where her favorite hero—her husband, Bill—and their children and two cats. She's not sure which is the most spoiled.
I liked the plot. It had a lot of potential which was wasted, mostly ... Kevin was onedimensional and the resolution with him was rushed. I loved the descriptions the wit of the two main characters but I would have wanted an epilogue. Something to close the subplots of the home Sam yearnes for or the gold rush he does, or the reunion with Camilla, or her brother... Was way too long and some hundreds of pages were wasted in a dozen page conclusion.
1898 Samatha Perrry has just lost her paretnts and she knows she must leave her brothers house. She accepts Joel Houseman's proposal from the Yukon to wed. Problem is Joel is actually two different men and they both proceed to win her over for their bride. Love hearing of the nature and distant land and gold mining in such a desolate area. I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).