Today we’re hosting Jenny White, the heroine of A Courageous Betrothal, for a cup of tea. We catch up with her partway through her story as told in Book Two of the Scouts of the Georgia Frontier, the latest series launched by Denise Weimer and Wild Heart Books. Jenny is such a strong character, inspired by real-life Revolutionary War heroine Nancy Hart, that this short novella is written entirely from her point of view. It was originally released as Across Three Autumns in the Backcountry Brides collection.
Miss White, are you all right? I thought for a moment there you were going to drop your teacup.
Jenny: Sorry about that. We don’t have such fine dishes on the frontier. And my hands are especially rough this time of year after the harvest. My father is with Elijah Clarke’s militia, you know. Even my younger brother ran off to join them. That means most of the work falls to me. Ma’s not been strong since the birth of my youngest sister, Liberty, and my other sister, Hester…well, she’s best suited to needlework and such. I’m used to it. God made me big and strong so I could handle a plow.
I also heard you know how to handle a rifle.
Jenny: Yes, I’m a crack shot.
Does that have something to do with the nickname the Indians gave you? What was it?
Jenny: They call me Wahatchee. That means War Woman, on account of how I stood up to them one day Hester and I were cooling down in the creek. Now I have something of a reputation in the area. Folks come to our place to fort up when they hear the Indians allied to the British are stirred up.
That’s good, but it seems a lot to ask, for one woman to protect them.
Jenny: I’m not always alone. Militia often comes and goes from here and Woburn, Clark’s settlement. We’re determined not to give Middle Georgia to the British, even though the fighting’s so fierce folks are calling these parts “the Hornet’s Nest.” But our Patriot militia will prevail. They fight like the Indians. And a lot of them are Scottish, like my father’s friend, Caylan McIntosh, who I nursed back to health after the Battle of Kettle Creek.
Your father’s friend? Is he a veteran of many fights, then?
Jenny: Oh, he’s much younger than father, but they did fight together in Florida. And he comes from warrior stock the governor brought in to protect Savannah from the Spanish and Indians.
You seem quite impressed with Caylan McIntosh. Maybe he’s also a particular friend of yours?
Jenny: I don’t know what you’re implying. Caylan and I respect each other, is all. I don’t fall for his Scottish charm. My sister is the type of woman men look for…small and delicate and ladylike.
It seems to me that on the frontier, especially in the middle of a war, a man like Caylan would value a strong and skilled woman at his side. And you already saved his life, from the sounds of it.
Jenny: He was grateful for my herb lore. I also have some pretty strong acting skills. Not only did I capture a spying Loyalist once…I outwitted a passel of British soldiers when they were looking for my father and brother and Caylan. They were even going to make me cook them my last turkey! Can you imagine? I played a right smart trick on them, if I do say so myself.
I look forward to reading about that in your memoirs, Miss White. But it seems to me, you evaded the question just now.
Jenny: Well, maybe I did. I guess you’ll just have to read my story to find out if that knavish Scottish scout ever weasels past my defenses. I can tell you this—I’ll not make it easy for him!
More about A Courageous Betrothal – Book Two of the Scouts of the Georgia Frontier – Novella
1779
Red-haired, freckle-faced, and almost six feet tall, Jenny White has resigned herself to fame over love. Possessing the courage and wits to guard her younger siblings against nature, natives, and loyalists in Georgia’s “Hornet’s Nest” gives life meaning until she meets Caylan McIntosh, scout to Colonel Elijah Clark.
From the time Jenny nurses the young lieutenant back to health after the Battle of Kettle Creek, she can’t deny her attraction to her father’s comrade. It doesn’t help that the vexing Highlander seems determined to dismantle her emotional armor. But when Georgia falls to the British and Caylan returns to guide Jenny’s family on a harrowing exodus into the North Carolina mountains, will his secrets and the ravages of smallpox prove stronger than his devotion? Or will a love as tough as their backwoods home lead them to A Courageous Betrothal?
Author Bio:
Denise Weimer writes historical and contemporary romance from her home in North Georgia and also serves as a freelance editor and the Acquisitions & Editorial Liaison for Wild Heart Books. A wife and mother of two daughters, she always pauses for coffee, chocolate, and old houses.
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