Dawn Comes Early (47 page)

Speaking of ideal men and chaste damsels, if you liked Kate and Luke's story, then you might want to keep a lookout for book two in my Brides of Last Chance Ranch series. If Miss Walker thought Kate was a handful, wait till she meets the feisty heroine of my next book.

Until next time . . .
Margaret

One Cow Away
from Hope

A
s you may remember, the Last Chance Ranch got its start when one grateful Englishman gave the Walker family a cow. This story is fiction, of course, but the reality is that Heifer International has been giving away livestock and changing lives for years. To celebrate the new series, I'm working with Heifer on a project to purchase two heifers. Would you join me in helping families in need achieve self-reliance and sustainable livelihoods by making a donation? You can access my Heifer page through
margaretbrownley.com
. If you make a donation here, leave me a note on Facebook for a chance to win a free book.

Acknowledgments

I
n 1863 fifty ladies of the First Church of Milford formed a Society of Old Maids. Each woman paid five dollars to join and had to vow never to marry. The interest from the money was to be used for an annual dinner and the principal to go to the last woman to marry. Thirty years later all but fifteen had married. I've never been able to find the name of the winner—and I sincerely hope there wasn't one—but I am truly grateful for this group for inspiring the idea behind The Brides of Last Chance Ranch series.

I'm also grateful to you, my readers, for your many letters and emails, which always seem to arrive when I most need an encouraging word or two.

Heartfelt thanks go to Natasha Kern—friend, agent, mentor, and all-around amazing person!

I can't say enough good things about my Thomas Nelson family. I'm especially grateful for my editor Natalie Hanemann for her insight and guidance; for Rachelle Gardner whose eye for detail makes me look good; and for Katie Bond and Eric Mullett for their creative talent and hard work. I'm also grateful for the privilege of knowing and working with Allen Arnold whose faith, wisdom, and love of story is an inspiration to us all.

I couldn't do what I do without my loving and patient husband by my side. It's not easy to live with a woman who talks to people he can't see and jumps out of bed at three a.m. to write something down. Finally, I thank God for bringing so many wonderful people into my life and for instilling in me the love of words and the need to write.

Author Bio

N
ew York Times
best-selling author Margaret Brownley has penned more than twenty-five historical and contemporary novels. Her books have won numerous awards, including Reader's Choice.

Though successful, Margaret decided to leave behind the secular publishing world to follow God's will for her: to write inspirational fiction. Since then she has published the Rocky Creek series, and
A Lady like Sarah
was a Romance Writers of America RITA
^©
finalist.

Happily married to her real-life hero, Margaret and her husband have three grown children and live in Southern California.