Look for MERRY MARY this holiday season, a heartwarming story of the powerful connection between a caring soul
and an innocent child in need.
Title: Merry Mary
Author: Ashley Farley
Genres: Adult, Romance
Publication date: October 15th 2015
BLURB supplied by Xpresso Book Tours
A young woman longing for a child stumbles upon a Christmas miracle.
Investigative journalist Scottie Darden is photographing the homeless for her Lost Souls series when she makes a discovery that could change her life forever. Under a makeshift tent in subzero temperatures in a downtown city park, she finds a woman’s dead body with her infant child. Without her cell phone to call for help, Scottie makes the split-second decision to take the baby home. Her initial instinct is to provide the baby with food and shelter until her family can be located. But as her fondness for the baby grows, she finds herself facing a life on the run or worse—prison time for abduction.
Curl up with Merry Mary this holiday season. A heartwarming story of the powerful connection between a caring soul and an innocent child in need.
PURCHASE LINKS
EXCERPT
“Shh, don’t cry,” she said, rubbing the
baby’s tummy.
What would become of the baby? Scottie didn’t think the Commonwealth had
the authority to place the baby up for adoption without permission of next of
kin, which meant the baby would be placed in a foster home until the police
could track down the father. If the father even wanted the child. If the father
even knew he was the father.
The baby began to wail, presumably with hunger. “Don’t worry, little
one.” She picked the baby up and held her tight. “We’ll get it all sorted out.
In the meantime, I have plenty of formula and diapers to keep you comfortable.”
By the time Scottie got the baby inside, and mixed up a bottle from the
supplies in her baby cabinet in the kitchen, the little girl was screaming,
flailing her arms and legs in hunger. Scottie plopped down on the leather sofa
in the adjoining family room, propped her snow boots up on the coffee table,
and brought the bottle’s nipple to the baby’s mouth. The infant took the nipple
between her lips, then thrust it back out with her tongue. Scottie turned the
bottle upside down on her arm, letting a few drops of formula leak from the
hole in the nipple, before returning the nipple to the baby’s lips. When she
tasted the formula, the baby began to suck greedily.
“Careful now, baby girl. Don’t drink too fast or you’ll upset your
tummy.” The baby stared up at Scottie with bright eyes. “We need to give you a
name, don’t we?”
Scottie had been in the process of picking out names for her baby when
her daughter was stillborn at thirty-one weeks. She’d been torn between Kate
and Liza, after her grandmothers Katherine and Elizabeth. She ended up calling
the baby Angel, which seemed appropriate for an innocent child who never drew
her first breath.
Scottie’s eyes traveled the room, coming to rest on the nativity scene
on the mantle above the fireplace. “Why don’t we call you Mary after the Virgin
Mary?” She caught sight of the needlepoint pillow Brad had brought down from
the attic—a green background with Merry Christmas in curlicue script in red
across the front. “Or Merry, which seems appropriate for a spunky little girl
like you.”
The baby stopped sucking and smiled up at her.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ashley Farley is
a wife and mother of two college-aged children. She grew up in the salty
marshes of South Carolina, but now lives in Richmond, Virginia, a
city she loves for its history and traditions.
After her brother died in 1999 of an accidental overdose, she turned to writing as a way of releasing her pent-up emotions. She wrote SAVING BEN in honor of Neal, the boy she worshipped, the man she could not save. SAVING BEN is not a memoir, but a story about the special bond between siblings.
HER SISTER'S SHOES—June 24, 2015—is a women's novel that proves the healing power of family.
After her brother died in 1999 of an accidental overdose, she turned to writing as a way of releasing her pent-up emotions. She wrote SAVING BEN in honor of Neal, the boy she worshipped, the man she could not save. SAVING BEN is not a memoir, but a story about the special bond between siblings.
HER SISTER'S SHOES—June 24, 2015—is a women's novel that proves the healing power of family.
AUTHOR LINKS
Interview
Ashley Farley
by
Xpresso Book Tours
Could you tell
us about Merry Mary in one sentence?
Merry Mary is a heartwarming story about
the powerful connection between a caring soul and an innocent child in need.
What
do you think readers will enjoy most about your story?
I hope readers,
especially mothers, will identify with my protagonist’s desperate longing for a
child and empathize with the decisions she makes. I also believe they will
enjoy the close relationship Scottie shares with her brother, Will.
Are
you working on a new novel?
Yes, the sequel to Merry Mary, which I plan to
release in Spring 2016. My currently untitled WIP is a full-length romantic
political suspense starring Scottie, Will and the charming Guy Jordan.
Who or
what was the inspiration for your story?
I created my protagonist, photojournalist
Scottie Darden, out of my love for photography and my desire to see the world. Understanding
some of the technical aspects of photography adds credibility to my story. All
of my plots focus on familial relationships. My first novel, Saving Ben, which
I wrote as a tribute to my brother who died of a drug overdose in 1999, depicts
a college-aged brother and sister. Her Sister’s Shoes portrays three middle-age
sisters struggling to balance the demands of career and home while remaining
true to themselves. Scottie Darden shares a close relationship with her brother
In Merry Mary and the upcoming sequel. Certain aspects of their relationship remind
me of my brother and me, but mostly I created them out of the special bond between
my own children, who are close in age—21 and 20—as well as spirit.
What
is your favorite thing to do to get ready for the holidays?
Definitely
not shopping. Every year on the day after Thanksgiving, I put my small
artificial tree up in the corner of my kitchen, where I spend most of my time,
and decorate it with food-related ornaments. I enjoy this tree so much more
than the live tree I put up in the living room, which stresses me out and makes
me a bah humbug.
What
is your favorite holiday . . .
Movie?
I’ve seen The Holiday with Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, and Jack Black
at least a dozen times. Jack Black is lovable. Cameron Diaz wears the most amazing
clothes. And Jude Law steels my heart every time when he cries at the end.
Novel?
The Christmas Train by David Baldacci. Disillusioned journalist Tom Langon
meets a host of interesting characters as he travels from Washington to Los
Angeles by train for Christmas.
Song?
Mariah
Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You”
Tradition?
It’s all about the food for my family. We have many traditions for the
holidays, but our Christmas Eve meal is the most important. We invite the whole
family over for a formal sit-down dinner. Even though we have the same dishes
every year, everyone always raves about Emeril Lagasse’s Twice Baked Potato
Casserole, which I thought you might enjoy.
10 large russet baking potatoes (about 7
pounds total)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) plus 1
tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black
pepper
3/4 pound bacon, cooked until crisp and
crumbled
1/2 pound sharp white Cheddar, cut into
1/2-inch cubes
3/4 pound mild Cheddar, grated (3 cups)
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
3 eggs, lightly beaten
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Scrub the potatoes well and rinse under
cool running water. Pat dry with paper towels and prick the potatoes in several
places with a fork. Place the potatoes in the oven and bake for 1 hour to 1
hour and 15 minutes, or until tender. Remove from the oven and set aside on a
wire rack until cool enough to handle.
When the potatoes have cooled, cut each
potato in half and, using a spoon or a melon baller, scoop the flesh out of the
skins, leaving as little flesh as possible. Place the potato flesh in a large
bowl and add 1 stick of the butter, the sour cream, heavy cream, salt, and
pepper and mash until chunky-smooth. Add the bacon, cubed white Cheddar, half
of the grated Cheddar, the green onions, and eggs and mix thoroughly.
Butter a 9 by 13-inch casserole with the
remaining tablespoon of butter and reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees
F.
Place the seasoned potato mixture in the
prepared casserole and top with the remaining grated Cheddar. Bake for 35 to 40
minutes, or until bubbly around the edges and heated through and the cheese on
top is melted and lightly golden. Serve hot.
Great post! Thanks for hosting a release day blitz!
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