Friday Feature & Guest Post: The Wrong Brother’s Bride by Allison Merritt

The Playlist for The Wrong Brother’s Bride

Music is an important part of my writing process. I may get so deeply involved in a scene that I don’t realize the songs I’ve been listening to have zipped passed, but I like that rhythmic noise in the background.

It’s kind of an odd mixture of pop and scores, but it worked for me.

1) Buy the Space farm composed by Michael Giachhino on the Star Trek Into Darkness score. I hope by now everyone knows there’s a major character death in that movie, so it suited my novel because the book starts with the August O’Dell contemplating his brother’s death and it haunts him throughout the novel.

2) Almost Home composed and sung by Jono Manson on The Postman soundtrack (everyone hated that movie, but I loved it). You’ll find this one cropping up on my playlist for several of my books. The Postman and August have a lot in common–they both fall for a woman who doesn’t think of him as someone she could love immediately.

3) Stay sung by Rhianna featuring Mikky Ekko. It’s the line that says “it’s not something you take, it’s given” that really caught my attention, because of August’s unrequited love for Loyal. He hoped he’d win her over, because she was always his brother’s girl since they were children, but he knew he’d never be able to force her to love him.

4) Home composed by Hans Zimmer on The Lone Ranger soundtrack. Like I said, I loved the movie, I loved the score. This 6+ minute song has soothing tones that work during the emotional parts of the
story.

5) Distance sung by Christina Perry. I know, I’m making August sound kind of desperate, but I promise he’s not. He’s just a man in love who’s trying to do the right thing by his brother’s former fiancée. It’s a little too awkward for him to mention, “By the way, I’ve loved you for a long time”, and much easier to try to prove it through his actions. The line “call it anything but love” suits him in the first part of the story.


brothersTitle: The Wrong Brother’s Bride by Allison Merritt
Publisher: Kensington
Imprint: Lyrical Press
Genre: Historical, Romance
Word Count: 61,214

Summary:

A haunted past, a marriage of convenience…a love for a lifetime?

After a tragic accident leaves Loyal Redfearn alone and pregnant, she writes to her deceased fiance’s ne’er-do-well brother, August OíDell. Her hope is he’ll help save her beloved home. What she doesn’t expect from him is a proposal so soon on the heels of his brother’s death. Although they grew up together, she’s never thought of August as the man she would marry, even as a means to save face with her family and friends.

Although returning to the township where August spent his troubled youth means facing the past, he sees an opportunity to redeem himself in the eyes of the woman he’s loved since boyhood. They agree the marriage is in name-only, but August works to earn Loyal’s trust and waits for the day she’ll see his hard work as proof that she didn’t marry the wrong brother after all.

When evidence from a crime committed years ago points to August as the culprit, he and Loyal must face the reality that their newly forged family may be torn apart.

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Excerpt

She hugged Jeremiah’s pillow, breathing his lingering scent. The aching wound left by his loss gaped wide.

In the kitchen, she heard a floorboard squeak. Loyal choked back another sob, holding her breath as she waited for August to return to his room or come to hers. The curtains fell against the window as the breeze died.

“Loyal?”

August’s soft call made her tense. She could ignore him, pretend she hadn’t heard, but too many nights she’d been alone. Grief brought with it some puzzling emotions. It had been a relief when their friends left her alone at the farm after the funeral. And so lonely she thought she’d go mad if she didn’t hear another human voice. Trying to sort through what she felt now made her long for the sleep she’d missed the last week.

“I know you’re awake. I heard you crying.”

She sniffed, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands. “I thought you were asleep. I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“No. May I come in?” His voice was muffled through the door. “I’d like a word with you.”

“Just a moment.” One of Jeremiah’s flannel shirts draped across the foot of the bed where she’d left it this morning. She drew it over her shoulders and slipped her arms through the sleeves, pulling the loose ends around herself. Striking a match, she lit the lamp on the bedside table. “Come in.”

The door opened and August filled the frame. In the lamplight, his eyes seemed bluer than she remembered, like the sky after rain. Both O’Dell brothers had gotten their looks from their father, but August stood straighter than his old man ever had. His wide shoulders strained against his tan shirt. He scratched the scruff shadowing his jaw.

“I can’t sleep.”

She frowned. There must be something she could do to make him more comfortable. “Is it the bed? Do you need different blankets? Or maybe it’s because you didn’t eat.”

He shook his head. “Wandering mind. It’s partly because we got off on a bad foot. It isn’t easy to admit I’m wrong. I shouldn’t have acted like you don’t belong here. Seeing you brought back memories about the way your daddy treated us. And how Jeremiah stopped having time for me when he met you.” August swallowed. His Adam’s apple jumped in his throat. “Even if you don’t think marriage is right, there’s a place for you here. I’d like to help raise your son or daughter the way he would have wanted. That’s all.”

Loyal couldn’t speak. Surely the world was ending if August was apologizing for his actions. His father had never admitted his wrongs in his life. Her worry that August would follow his father’s path faded.

“That’s all,” he repeated and backed into the hall.

“Wait.” She swung her feet to the floor and padded across the room, craning her neck to look at him. “Thank you, August.”

“I heard you crying and I thought…”

He must have been sitting in the kitchen before he knocked on her door. She waved her hand, dismissing his reasoning. “I wasn’t crying because of you. Lately I can’t help it.”

He seemed a little more at ease, though he would probably grow sick of her tears before a week had passed. She had.

She reached out, slipping her hands beneath his arms. He didn’t move for a moment, even when she clasped her hands behind his back. Her cheek pressed against the soft material of his shirt and she closed her eyes. August wrapped his strong arms around her shoulders, and his breath stirred her hair. She clung to him as though she was a leaf and he was the root, an anchor in the storm.

For a moment, everything was alright. She had the farm, a child growing beneath her heart, and a strong partner to care for her. She stepped back, knowing what she had to do now.

August’s arms fell at his sides. His face changed and she was sure she saw the briefest flash of disappointment.

“Good night, Loyal.”

A knot formed in her throat. Jeremiah was gone, but his brother was offering to take his place. She inhaled, catching a faint whiff of leather that clung after his long ride and a scent that was all his own.

“Wait.”

He stood unmoving, watching her with a bemused gaze.

“August, I’ll marry you. For the baby. As long as we’re clear that Jeremiah is the father and we’re just friends.” Her throat scratched as she forced the words out.

“In name only.” His face was guarded.

“Yes.”

“Alright. Is your daddy—”

She dug her fingernails into her palm. “He won’t perform the ceremony, much less come.”

He nodded. “I’ll ask someone else.” For a moment he was quiet. “It’ll be alright, Loyal. I’m here.”

When he turned, she didn’t stop him. Tears rolled down her face. He couldn’t know Jeremiah had said almost the same words when she told him she was pregnant.

7 Comments

Filed under Excerpt, Friday Feature

7 Responses to Friday Feature & Guest Post: The Wrong Brother’s Bride by Allison Merritt

  1. Eileen

    I don’t know why but i’m drawn to these type of books. Like your playlist. I like to go to Spotify and check out these songs.

  2. Thanks for having me today, Kathy!

  3. I love that Rhianna song. Don’t really know the others. Always interesting to know what people listen to. I tend to listen to country music radio when I’m writing cowboy scenes especially.

  4. Cathy Phillips

    Hi, Allison! I haven’t heard any of your songs. I loved the blurb from THE WRONG BROTHER’S BRIDE. I’ll have to check it out.

  5. Timitra

    I like the sound of this book