Celebrate Lit / August 14, 2019

Meghan’s Choice

Celebrate Lit Book Tour

About the Book Meghan’s Choice

Book: Meghan’s Choice

Author: Donna L. H. Smith

Genre: Christian Historical Western Romance

Release Date: November 2017

Meghan Gallagher complies with her father’s demand that she work on her own for a year by choosing to tutor eight children in a wild Kansas railroad town. But she had no idea just how wild it was until she was rescued by a local dance hall the day she arrived, and soon after hit by a stray bullet. In short order, she meets a dark, handsome cowboy and a wholesome, attractive doctor who both vie for her heart. As things heat up around town, Meghan’s love life catches fire as well. Is she scandalous to allow both men to court her at the same time? And—how close a relationship with God does Meghan want? Will she draw near?

Meghan’s Choice (pre-published) was named a semi-finalist in the 2014 Operation First Novel by Jerry B. Jenkins and an honorable mention for the Golden leaf Award in 2015. Since publication, Meghan’s Choice was a Selah Award finalist and also in the Will Rogers Medallion Award.

Published in connection with Hartline Literary Agency, serving the Christian book community. Visit us at www.hartlineliterary.com.

Click here to grab your copy.

My Thoughts on Meghan’s Choice

This is a great debut novel from an up and coming author. At first, the book is a bit slow-moving. Meghan is so spoiled and doesn’t really have many thoughts worth hearing. She’s from the South and transplants herself to Kansas. The wild west in all its glory!

I really enjoyed how relatable the characters were. You get drawn in and just can’t stop reading. This was a very quick read for me. Not a lot of mystery or anything. It’s really just a feel-good type romance story.

Meghan gets thrown over by someone she thought was her soon to be fiance. Then her father tells her she must get a job because she has no idea how to manage money. So off she goes to take the first job she can find as a teacher. Because she doesn’t want to work at her father’s bank or as a governess.

So the first job is a teacher for eight children in a small railroad town. More saloons and “bad” than families and good this town in Kansas offers nothing that Meghan is used to.

Can Meghan succeed as a teacher? Will she learn how to manage money and grow up as her father wished her to?

What about love? In this new town within a few days, she has two suitors. Oh and she gets shot.

I loved watching Meghan come into her own. “Cowboy” is definitely my pick for top suitor but I won’t tell you if he wins or not. Go have a read to find out!

Finding out more about the man she likes to call “cowboy” is also a fun part of the book. He was definitely my second favorite character and I enjoyed hearing his story.

My favorite character is the soiled dove Rosalie. She has so many facets and dimensions. I’d love to see a book on her come out next.

I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from Celebrate Lit. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.

About the Author of Meghan’s Choice

Donna L.H. Smith is a Kansas prairie girl transplanted to Lancaster County, PA. She is a graduate of Christian Writer’s Guild Craftsman program and holds two college degrees, both B.S. and M.A. in Mass Communication. She’s been married to a wonderful man named Kirby for thirty years.

Her debut novel, Meghan’s Choice, made the finals of both the Selah and Will Rogers Medallion Awards. Rose’s Redemption, the sequel, was just released. She blogs speaks at workshops and retreats and although she is at an age where many begin slowing down, she wouldn’t think of it.

Recently, she took on the role of Managing Editor of Almost an Author.com and serves as ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) Mid-Atlantic Zone Director. She is also a member of AWSA’s Protégé program (Advanced Writers & Speaker’s Association).

More from Donna

Back in 2012, I wrote “Zorro” stories for Fan Fiction. I had an awful lot of fun with them, and people seemed to really like them. So, the thought came, what could I write for ‘real?’ I contemplated, prayed, and after a couple of weeks or so, an idea came floating across my brain.

“Gunfight at Hyde Park.” Huh? I thought about it and realized it was an obscure history lesson from my hometown in Kansas. I had Google it to get the details. I thought, well, I’m not gonna write a Christian romance novel just about a series of gunfights that killed and wounded more people than the OK Corral.

But I did think that the beginning of the gunfights could be the climax of the story.

Now, who should my heroine be? And the hero?

I started with that and took Christian Writer’s Guild’s Craftsman and the novel was completed in 2013—but only published in late 2017.

I’m proud of Meghan’s Choice. Pre-published it made the semi-finals of the last Operation 1^st Novel that CWG held and placed in a couple of smaller contests. Last year, it made the finals of the prestigious Selah Awards for published books through the BRMCWC and the finals of the Will Rogers Medallion Award.

My hope is that you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I loved writing it.