FEATURED BOOK AND INTERVIEW: Cowboy Seeks a Bride by Louise M. Gouge

Courted by a Cowboy 

Marybeth O'Malley is everything rancher Randall Northam seeks in a wife…if she'd only say "I do." Although his family paid for her train ticket West with the understanding the two would marry, Rand won't pressure her to set a date. Especially since he suspects she's learned about his reckless past. Who would want to marry an untamed cowboy like him? 

Marybeth won't marry until she locates her long-lost brother. And when Rand agrees to help her with her search, she can't deny her surprisingly warm feelings toward her prospective groom. Could this honorable cowboy show her he's the husband she never knew she wanted?

INTERVIEW: 

How exciting to have Marybeth O’Brien, the heroine from Cowboy Seeks a Bride, by Louise M. Gouge, a January 2015 release from Love Inspired Historical Romance.

1.  Marybeth, tell me the most interesting thing about you.

Like many people in Boston, I’m an Irish immigrant. My parents, my brother Jimmy, and I all came to American to seek a better life. Unfortunately, our father was a cruel man. Jimmy ran away from home to seek his fortune in the American West. When our parents died, I decided to go to Colorado, from where Jimmy’s last letter had been sent eight years ago. Our sainted mother, Mam, gave Jimmy a silver locket and told him it held the key to a great treasure. I’m going to find my brother and claim my share of that treasure. Unfortunately, the only way I could pay my travel expenses to Colorado was to agree to marry the son of a nice couple from that state whom I met at church. When they described their son, Rand Northam sounded like a good man. Then I found out he was a killer, and I decided he wasn’t for me.

2.  What do you do for fun?

Like most Irish people, I love to sing. Mother helped me learn to play the piano, so that’s another of my enjoyments. And I won’t say no to a nice community get-together.

3.  What do you put off doing because you dread it?

I dread telling Rand Northam that I never planned to marry. My father was cruel, and I don’t want to live like my mother did.

4.  What are you afraid of most in life?

As I said above, my father was cruel. He beat my mother, my brother, and me. I fear marrying the wrong man and ending up just like Mam. She died of a broken heart, so I’m holding onto my heart so it won’t get broken.

5.  What do you want out of life?

I want to live without fear, to make my own way in life, to have friends who truly care for me as I will care for them.

6.  What is the most important thing to you?

Right now the most important thing is finding my brother Jimmy and making him share the treasure from Mam’s locket. That way I can pay back the Northams for my travel expenses and then go on to live a comfortable life without having to marry Rand or anyone else.

7.  If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

In the tradition of the Irish, I’m a good storyteller. The bad side of that talent is that sometimes I hedge the truth. I know it’s wrong, and I’m asking the Lord to change me. But what am I supposed to do when I’m alone in a strange town and fearing for my very life?

8.  Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?

Rand gave me an adorable black and white puppy. I named her Polly. She doesn’t get along too well with my landlady’s cat, Pepper, but I think the two of them have worked out a truce. Which sets a good example for Rand and me as we try to work out our differences. Even though I’m uncertain about marrying him, I do value his friendship.

9. Can you tell us a little interesting tidbit about the time period you live in?

After the Civil War, many people from both the North and the South migrated to the western states and territories. Colorado became a state in 1876 and thus is known as the Centennial State. By the 1880s, many areas of the state were settled and growing rapidly. Because of that rapid growth, lawmen sometimes couldn’t keep up with the bad guys. Stories of the wicked Wild West aren’t exaggerated, so oftentimes, good honest citizens had to band together and deal with outlaws to protect their homes, families, and communities.

On a lighter note, despite being far from the more civilized East, ladies managed to keep up with the fashions of the day. When the railroads made travel and transport of goods faster, people could order whatever they could afford and enjoy luxuries to match their eastern counterparts.