Bachelor Buttons – Character Interview & Giveaway

Isn’t that cover art gorgeous?? Bachelor Buttons is a new novella by Kathleen L. Maher. You can get your hands on a copy on Amazon by clicking the link below 🙂

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Kathleen L. Maher—stories where every underdog has his day.
The author’s first crush was Peter Rabbit, and she’s loved conflicted heroes ever since. She has two novellas in BARBOUR BOOKS’ collections: Victorian Christmas Brides and Lessons on Love. Winner 2012 ACFW Genesis Award. Author of Sons of the Shenandoah Series: The Abolitionist’s Daughter and The Chaplain’s Daughter.
Kathleen and her husband live in an old farmhouse in upstate NY with their children and a small menagerie.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Kathleen-L-Maher/e/B00D8EXO80/
Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/KLMaherAuthor/
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/kathleenlmaher/boards/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2531698-kathleen-l
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/kathleen-l-maher

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Hi, Becca-Rae

Thank you for featuring my new release Bachelor Buttons on your blog today.

Some say Friday the 13^th is a portentous day. I say malarkey! As much as fortune is fun to think about this time of year, with St. Patrick’s Day and the luck of the Irish and all, the truth is, we find our blessings by faith in Him who always causes us to triumph, rain or shine.

And speaking of overcoming bad circumstances, I would like to introduce Rose Meehan. She is the heroine in my Irish Civil War story Bachelor Buttons. Rose lives in Manhattan’s lower east side, in 1863.

Hello, Miss Rose. Would you please tell us all a little about what’s happening in your world?

Top of the morning, and pleased I am to meet you all. *curtsies*. The War of the Rebellion is in its third year now, and President Lincoln has called up a troublesome draft. Many of the boys are a’feared of their names bein’ called. Seems they just got settled in their new homeland and took up their hard workin’ jobs to be uprooted again. T’is hard times, here, indeed.
Oh, my. I can understand the distress you must feel. How does this news affect your family?

Me Da won’t be called up on account of him being past the age. Me wee brother is still a babe, so he’s safe as well. My sister Kate and I pray that those we care for will be spared.
And who do you care for Miss Rose?

Now go on with you, that’s a leadin’ question. *laughs* A girl mustn’t tell all her secrets. But let’s just say that there are two fine young gentlemen who come callin’ and I haven’t the heart to turn either away just yet.

Naturally, the best choice will reveal himself in time.

I believe that to be so, yes I do. But in the meantime, I see nothin’ wrong with keepin’ respectable friendships. Even my dear Ma, godresthersoul, wouldn’t object to that

Losing your mother is hard for a girl, no matter what age you are. What is most important to you that has kept you through your difficulties so far in life? 

Ya have to have hope that your prayers are bein’ heard, that’s the most important thing of all. Without faith in the goodness of the Lord, what have ya got?

And after faith is family. Da works hard to provide, and Kate and I look after our brother as though he was our own.

Our neighborhood may be poor, but they’re honest and good family folk. They’re like a second family to me and me brother and sister.

What do you do to keep your mother’s memory alive?

Ma’s memory is everywhere I look. In her cooking pots and her recipes my sister and I make. In the faces of my siblings. In the few possessions she left… she never had much. But mostly in holdin’ to the things she taught us. Her stories of Ireland, and her life and family there. Tis a world I can only imagine. I keep a wee garden of flowers to remind myself that we didn’t come from the slums, and maybe before I die I will have a bit o’land to raise me own bairns and live as she did once. Under open skies and on green fields.

What do you want more than anything?

Who doesn’t dream of bein’ able to buy a new hat that doesn’t have a tattered ribbon? Or shoes that don’t have holes? For certain and sure I dream of such things, especially for wee Thomas, my brother. I would buy him the world if I could. But more than anything, I want him to know that I won’t ever be leavin’ him. I want him to know that he’s got a sister in his Rosie that will be as his mother would have been.

How does that affect your choices in the two young men who’ve shown you interest?

Me Da would say to marry the man who provides best. But what good is money if you find no joy in each other’s company? A man who shows kindness in his heart is the only treasure I need.

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Giveaway!

Thank you for being such a gracious hostess, Becca, to both me and my character Rose Meehan. As thanks, I am offering a giveaway to one of your readers of an e-copy of Bachelor Buttons.

The daughter of immigrants who fled the Irish Potato Famine, Rose Meehan longs for a better life than the tenements of New York City. Courted by two men–a young doctor who represents material security, and a poor violin instructor who has captured her heart–she must choose between the two. When Manhattan explodes in mob rule following Lincoln’s unpopular draft, Rose’s decision could mean the difference between life and death.

Purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0851WX4JC/

CONTEST ALERT: To enter, please share this post on social media.  The more shares, the more entries.  Tell me in the comments where you shared to claim your entry(ies). And a way for me to reach you if random dot org selects your name. (email is great.)

Also, I’m sponsoring a Rafflecopter giveaway with another Christian historical author. Please take a moment to enter for your chance to win one of these great prizes!

Raffle copter runs from March 9-18^th Grand prize is $50 Amazon GC, second prize is a $25 Ammy GC, third prize is an Irish goodie basket.
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0cc4b6534/?

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day. The luck of the Irish be with you!