The Doctor's Lady

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing The Doctor's Lady Bethany House (September 1, 2011) by Jody Hedlund



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jody has written novels for the last 18 years (with a hiatus when her children were young). After many years of writing and honing her skills, she finally garnered national attention with her double final in the Genesis Contest, a fiction-writing contest for unpublished writers through ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers).



Her first published book, The Preacher’s Bride (2010 Bethany House Publishers), hit the CBA Best Seller list on two different occasions and has won multiple awards.



Her second book, The Doctor’s Lady, released this September. She has completed a third book which will be released in 2012. She’s currently busy researching and writing another book!



ABOUT THE BOOK

Priscilla White knows she'll never be a wife or mother and feels God's call to the mission field in India. Dr. Eli Ernest is back from Oregon Country only long enough to raise awareness of missions to the natives before heading out West once more. But then Priscilla and Eli both receive news from the mission board: No longer will they send unmarried men and women into the field.



Left scrambling for options, the two realize the other might be the answer to their needs. Priscilla and Eli agree to a partnership, a marriage in name only that will allow them to follow God's leading into the mission field. But as they journey west, this decision will be tested by the hardships of the trip and by the unexpected turnings of their hearts.



If you would like to read the first chapter of The Doctor's Lady, go HERE.



Watch the book trailer:





The Doctor's Lady by Jody Hedlund is the compelling story of the first white woman to cross the Continental Divide. Priscilla White has known since a bout with the mumps left her barren that she was meant to work in the mission field for God's glory. She is determined to go to India, but the Mission Board refuses her because she is unmarried. Dr. Eli Ernest is facing trouble with the Mission Board of his own. He wants nothing more than to return to the Oregon coast and serve the Nez Perce Indian tribe, but the Board is insisting that he also must marry. Eli has seen too many friends lose their wives on the mission field, and he is desperate not to do that to any woman, but his desire to help the Nez Perce and Priscilla's to serve God put them together in a marriage of convenience, a business arrangement that will allow them to both achieve their desires. But as Eli pushes his team harder and harder, Priscilla pushes herself, unwilling to ever let him consider her a burden. Along the way they face raging rivers, a mountain lion, double-crossing trappers, and a nest of flies that will test their courage and determination again and again, while throwing them together and forcing them to face their growing feelings for each other. This is a good traditional romance, and while it lacks the power of Hedlund's first novel The Preacher's Bride, it will keep readers hooked to finally see Eli and Priscilla admit their love for each other. According to the author's note, this was based on a true story, including some of  the most unbelievable, and that gives the book extra depth.