When I introduced the Meadowlark Trilogy last time, it occurred to me that it might be fun to ask some of my characters to tell their own stories.  I planned to have each heroine talk about her own book, but Becky was too shy, and Alaina was too busy having adventures. Angel rolled her eyes at the other two and volunteered to talk about all three books since she has a part in each of them. I shouldn’t have been surprised; she is perhaps the most outspoken of all my characters and has had a tendency to take over ever since the day she stepped fully formed onto page four of MEADOWLARK.  She’s standing here right now, tapping her foot and waiting for me to finish. So without further ado, I give you Angelica Brady….

Call me Angel. I haven’t been Angelica since I ran away from my father’s house at the ripe old age of seventeen. But I’m getting ahead of myself.  MEADOWLARK, which is Becky’s book, is the first in the series. In the first Meadowlark post, Carolyn gave you a short introduction to the main characters. Becky White, seventeen, pregnant and alone. Swede aka Garrick Swenson, a gentle giant with a dark shadow in his past. And last but certainly not least, Cameron Price, a handsome, dashing charmer who is the baby’s natural father, and the closest thing this book has to a villain.

 As the book opens, however, choosing between two such yummy men is as far from Becky’s reality as riding an elephant. In fact, her biggest difficulty is figuring out how to survive. As she tries to get up the nerve to seek a job on the seamier side of town, fate intervenes in the guise of a crumbling river bank, which plunges her into a raging torrent. If not for Swede’s timely intervention, she would surely drown. When he discovers her plight and that he has saved not one life, but two, Swede proposes a marriage of convenience, and the two begin a life together.

MEADOWLARK is perhaps the most romantic of all Carolyn’s books. Both Becky and Swede have gentle souls, and the love that grows between them is a thing of beauty. Their romance is not without its bumps, however. A mine disaster, a killer blizzard, an influenza epidemic, and an Indian attack are just a few of the challenges they face. Some of their problems, of course, are of their own making, mostly because they are both pig-headed, and stubborn. I’m frequently called upon to help straighten things out, with I admit, limited success.  

Then, just when it  starts to look like everything is going to work out for them, the past rears its ugly head and the life they’ve built crumbles around them. Without giving anything away, let me just say, the last few chapters had me on the edge of my seat. Even when those issues are finally resolved, happiness seems as though it is going to slip through their fingers. And that’s where I come in …again. I swear, if it weren’t for me those two would never have a Happy Ever After!

Post Script. I suspect you’re correct, Angel. Thank you for your unique perspective.