inspiration

I’m Super Excited to Announce that …

/ Dora Hiers / 4 Comments

Pelican Book Group has contracted my Harmon Heritage Series, where three grieving siblings struggle to find healing and peace.

Rori’s Healing ~ Book 1

Still stinging from the publicity surrounding her father’s death, social phobic Rori Harmon prefers the solitude of her animal sanctuary, accepting that marriage isn’t in her future. Racecar Driver Graham Decker refuses to be wrangled into a relationship by another money-hungry female. On a philanthropy mission, he arrives just in time to assist Rori with a llama birthing, but his appearance thrusts her into the media spotlight again. Has Graham found a woman who doesn’t care how deep his wallet extends? Has Rori finally met a man who will stick around when times get tough? Is healing for a hurting heart finally within Rori’s reach?

Burn survivor Savvy McCord doesn’t blame her best friend for running away. She can’t even look at her scars without wincing. When Beck’s disappearing act spans years, she relinquishes dreams of love and marriage. Unable to face Savvy’s expectations of happily-ever-after, Beck Harmon deserts her, far away from the rumors that he’s just like his father. When the wanderer returns, dreams of forever blossom in Savvy’s heart, but she worries he’ll leave again. Can Beck convince Savvy that her true beauty comes from her inner strength and faith? Will his idea to help burn victims regain their self-confidence restore Savvy’s trust in him? Will love be what the wanderer needs to find peace for his hurting soul?

Deputy City Manager Burk Harmon has always been the strong one for his family, but recently those responsibilities have dwindled. When Lacie Heatherton, Assistant Director for Parks and Recreation, ropes him into a city-sponsored trip to the mountains with fifty seniors, Burk has two things on his mind: considering a possible promotion and wooing Lacie past friendship and into a future. Lacie has emotional scars and a thirteen-year-old daughter to remind her that men can be cruel and unforgiving. Can Burk convince Lacie to relax her “no dating” policy or will he surrender his dreams of family and love?

If you click the links on the titles, you can peek into the stories by heading to my Pinterest boards. 🙂

I’ll be sure to keep you posted with release dates and cover reveals.

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Have you read A BRIDE FOR KEEPS by Melissa Jagears?

/ Dora Hiers
Purchase Link

About the book~
Everett Cline will never humiliate himself by seeking a mail-order bride. Not again. He’s already been jilted by three mail-order brides and figures a wife just isn’t in his future. However, a well-meaning neighbor hasn’t given up on seeing him settled, so she goes behind his back to bring yet another woman to town for him.

Julia Lockwood has never been anything more than a pretty pawn for her father or a business acquisition for her former fiance. A mail-order marriage in faraway Kansas is a last resort, but she’ll do anything to leave her life in Massachusetts and the heartbreak she’s experienced there.

Although Everett doesn’t see how a beautiful, cultured woman like Julia could be happy sharing his simple life, he could really use a helpmate on his homestead. Determined to prove she’s more than just a pretty face, Julia agrees to a marriage in name only. Faced with the harsh realities of life on the prairie and hesitant to explore the tentative feelings growing between them, can Everett and Julia ever let each other in long enough to fall in love?

Sharing my thoughts~
Wow! A Bride for Keeps is one of those books that I wondered if the hero and heroine would actually find their happily ever after!

Poor Everett. Mail order brides never chose him, and he’d given up after four tries. So when his too-helpful neighbor persuaded her friend Julia to travel all the way from Boston to wed, Everett practically ignored her. Not only is he scared of rejection, but she’s so beautiful. She’d never make it through a Kansas winter, and he doesn’t want to give the town more reason for gossip.

Julia Lockwood’s father and ex-fiance were only concerned about her good looks, and used her as a commodity, with no regard for love or her feelings. When she arrived in Kansas, Everett’s features remind her of her ex-fiance, almost frightening her off. But she’d traveled all this way, and her friend wouldn’t lead her astray. Besides, without any other living relatives, she has no other options.

He needs help on the farm. She needs protection and a roof over her head. They strike a deal, and along the way Everett decides he wants this bride for keeps. This book is so much bigger than the romance, although it’s sweet, and at times, frustrating. A Bride for Keeps shows us that no matter the dark shadows of our past that continually rise up and taunt us, with God’s help, we can overcome. God covers us with forgiveness and healing, and breaks the chains of fear so we can move on with our lives. It’s about a loving God who never gives up on us and showers us with grace. A Bride for Keeps is a definite keeper for my kindle shelf!

Disclosure: Sending a big thanks to NetGalley and Bethany House Publishing for providing me with an advance review copy. The opinions expressed in this review are my own, and I received no monetary compensation.

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H is for Hanging

/ Dora Hiers

It’s been loads of fun hanging out with new friends on the AtoZ blog hop and checking out their blogs! I’m still with limited Internet access, so I can’t link up, but if you’d like to hop on, you can do so here. 

This week’s letter is…H….for … Hanging

Not as in dangling from a rope, but as in being left hanging. Or leaving things hanging, suspended, or unfinished.

During my auditor years, I visited schools on a daily basis to ensure they followed safe accounting practices. For each of the three different types of audits we performed, I knew how to schedule my work week. Some audits lasted days, some weeks, but for each, I enjoyed the satisfaction of wrapping up an audit and turning in the report.

When I switched to working special audits, my calendar might be blocked out with the same task for months. Although I adjusted, I never really liked this aspect of my job. You see, I value accomplishment, and I appreciate checklists and enjoy checking tasks off as I complete them. 

Since writing a book takes months, to help me overcome this negative vibe, I created an Excel spreadsheet to track my forward progress for every book. Not only does the spreadsheet offer me a sense of accomplishment by entering my daily word count, it also gives me an ending date, something tangible so that I don’t feel as if I’m hanging forever.

Sometimes leaving things hanging is unavoidable. Like now. We booked our cruise months ago, not knowing our son would accept a job in Washington DC, about 10 days before our sailing date. We promised to help him move his stuff to DC when we return.

As a writer, sometimes I leave my characters hanging, whether it’s in a particularly intense scene or, like now, because I couldn’t give them their happily-ever-after before I hopped on that airplane. I tried, I really did, but life got in the way. That, and latching on to every available minute with my son. My characters will be there when I return home. My son won’t.

Our son and grandson
What about you? How do you feel about being left hanging? Or leaving things hanging?


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