The Reading Spot Blog: Pleasance's First Love by Kristin Holt

Kristin Holt

USA Today Bestselling Author

I recall the winter of my first grade year, basking in the heat from our fireplace in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Dad read aloud Madeline L'Engle's A WRINKLE IN TIME and Mom peeled orange segments for us to enjoy. That was the definitive moment I fell in love with fiction.

I write frequent articles (or view recent posts easily on my Home Page, scroll down) about the nineteenth century American West–every subject of possible interest to readers, amateur historians, authors…as all of these tidbits surfaced while researching for my books. I also blog monthly at Sweet Romance Reads, Sweet Americana Sweethearts, and Romancing the Genres.

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His worst mistake was letting her go.

His second-worst mistake? Bringing her home.

No one will ever know how badly Pleasance Benton’s abandonment threw Jacob Gideon. He landed hard, hard enough he didn’t care to find a replacement. Now that he needs a woman, he figures the safest way is to order one from a catalog.

Pleasance is back to reclaim her rightful place at Jacob’s side. One way or another she’ll remind him theirs is a match made in heaven…once the shock wears off. The teensy-weensy problem? Jacob doesn’t know that she—his first love—is his catalog bride..

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Q&A With the Author

1. Describe yourself in 50 words or less.

I'm a wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend. I believe kindness matters, people matter, and "nice matters". Mail Order Bride Collection: A Timeless Romance Anthology recently made the USA Today Bestseller's List--I'm honored! I'm a Christian who writes secular Sweet (clean) Victorian Westerns, Romance Appropriate For All Audiences.

2. What do you love most in the world?

Outside of incomparable, irreplaceable individuals and my relationships with them, I'd have to say I love quality fiction most in the world. I love to immerse myself in reading.

3. What do you fear most?

Is it acceptable to admit I genuinely don't fear? Sure, I'd rather not find myself a (relatively) young widow. I'd rather not experience another allergic reaction to bees. But in the big perspective, my faith in God is the antidote of fear.

4. What is your largest unfulfilled dream, and what are you doing to reach it?

I had to think about this one for a good long while. For so many years, seeing my books in print and enjoyed by people outside my immediate circle of family and friends would have been my largest unfulfilled dream. Now that I've achieved that benchmark, (and the pleasure of the USA Today Bestseller list) I guess, as of today, my largest unfulfilled dream is to make the NYT Bestseller list. In order to reach it, I simply need to keep writing, keep learning the craft of fiction, continue working hard, and refuse to settle for anything but my personal best.

5. What is the hardest thing you've ever done?

I've conquered a personal "Mount Everest"...or three: I lost 70 pounds and kept it off for many years, I survived the deliveries of my four children (including one C-section), and many highly personal and emotional catastrophes. More important than the difficulty quotient or what, precisely, I did, are the lessons learned: I am more resilient than I believed possible, and my faith in God is never misplaced.

6. Now that we've gotten to know each other, tell me a story. It can be long or short. From your childhood or last week. Funny, sad, or somewhere in between. Just make sure it's yours. What's your story?

Once upon a time, a woman lived in the Rocky Mountains of the West. She was neither old nor young, fat nor thin, stylish nor plain. She loved to sew, to make everything from dresses to suits to men's shirts to tote bags for books.

One day this lady went to the local fabric store to buy more fabric. She'd heard that She Who Dies With The Most Fabric Wins. Though she had no idea what prize the champion would win, she determined to attempt to take her cloth-buying hobby to infinity and beyond.

In her desire to save a few dollars, thus increasing her capacity to purchase more cloth and notions, the woman brought her adult daughter along on the shopping trip. This daughter, a high school math teacher, was the proud owner of a perpetual 15% off discount at the fabric and craft store. This magical discount was available to all in the teacher's household, as long as the teacher was present.

At the check-out, the lady's adult daughter presented her teacher's discount card to obtain the much-desired discount.

The clerk--a girl who was definitely more young than old--took one look at the lady who must have appeared more old than young with her hair of silver and white and gray and with a great deal of confusion announced, "But she gets 20% off today."

The silver-haired lady (in constant pursuit of more fabric, zippers, thread, and buttons) had no idea what the young clerk meant. The lady shared a surprised moment with her daughter the math teacher, hoping the math somehow made sense to one who thought in numbers rather than English. 15%? 20%?

The mysterious 5% made no sense to the lady until in the heat of the parking lot where it suddenly made a great deal of sense. The silver-haired lady laughed. "The clerk thinks I qualify for the Senior Discount!"

That shopping day happened to be a Wednesday, the one day when Senior Citizens received a 20% discount, just for being old. "She didn't bother to check my I.D. or she'd see I'm only forty-nine. Six years too young to qualify--if and only if (a math term) Seniors, in her world, are 55 and not 65."

That day, the silver-and-gray haired lady decided she could be cranky that the young clerk misjudged her age or she could laugh about the extra 5% savings. Neither young nor old, the lady with the gray hair decided to laugh and smile and share her story.

Just like fabric, a lady can never have too much laughter. So the lady decided, too, that the ageless advice should go like this, instead: She Who Dies With The Most Laughter Wins.

And the silver-haired lady lived, happily ever after.

THE END