Sandra Ardoin is our guest today.

She wrote a story called, A Love Most Worthy.

Today, Sandra is here to share the story behind her story.

She didn’t know which was colder, an Arctic winter or her new husband’s heart.

Hallie Russell believes life should be lived to the fullest. For that reason, she sails to the gold rush town of Nome, Alaska to take her cousin’s place as the mail-order bride of a respected shopkeeper.

But when her aloof husband’s wedding-night announcement rocks her plans for their marriage, Hallie sees her desire for a family to call her own vanish as quickly as the dreams of hopeful miners.

Tragedy led Rance Preston to regret his rowdy ways and open a general store for the miners in Nome. He’s content in his bachelorhood, but his two orphaned nephews deserve a proper and serious-minded mother. Duped once by a vivacious female, he’s determined to never again let his heart overrule his head…until the high spirits of his new bride threaten his resolve. 

When a misunderstanding comes to light, will they allow the gale force winds of insecurity to destroy what they each need most?

Learn more and purchase a copy.

What inspired you to write this story?

Can you imagine picking gold nuggets off a beach?

When given the opportunity to create a proposal for a mail-order bride novella, I wanted a somewhat unique setting, one that might not be first on a reader’s mind. We tend to think wild west, don’t we?

As I pondered it, I was struck with the idea of a gold rush environment. At first, I explored the Klondike, hoping to use Skagway where so many would-be miners started their dangerous trek to the Yukon. The circumstances and historical timing proved wrong for this story, so I kept looking until my research led me to Nome, Alaska. From there, the ideas flowed.

Nome’s fascinating history, began in the fall of 1898 when the “Three Lucky Swedes,” discovered gold in Anvil Creek near Cape Nome on the Bering Sea. Once word reached Dawson in 1899, many of the Klondike stampeders left for the richer strike in Alaska, especially once it became known that gold could be picked up off the beach. Anvil City was born, and within a year, so many miners had flocked to what was now Nome District that the population swelled to over 20,000. Every kind of business was birthed, and even Wyatt Earp owned a saloon there. Tents lined the beach for over thirty miles, and miners established claims along the various creeks in the area.

So many people arrived that the small post office had trouble keeping up with all the mail. This odd fact became a key plot point in A Love Most Worthy.

Toward the latter part of August of 1900, the weather turned awful—cold, rainy, windy—climaxing in a whopper of a storm system in mid-September with gale-force winds that destroyed parts of Nome. How could I ignore that historical event that showcased the turbulence in the marriage of Hallie and Rance?

A Love Most Worthy is set in the summer/fall of 1900, so I haven’t even touched on the 1925 serum run, the sled dog Balta, or the finish line of the famous Iditarod.

Oh, the story possibilities.

Sounds like you really did your homework to create a captivating story that’s true to real life! Thanks for sharing your inspiration with us.

As an author of heartwarming and award-winning historical romance, Sandra Ardoin engages readers with page-turning stories of love and faith.

Rarely out of reach of a book, she’s also an armchair sports enthusiast, country music listener, and seldom says no to eating out.

Visit her at www.sandraardoin.com.

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Sandra is giving away a copy of A Love Most Worthy. Follow the directions below to enter the book giveaway contest.