Mary J. McCoy-Dressel

Beth Marconi is the heroine in Whispers of Forever: Mending Christmas and the next heroine in my Meet Our Heroines mini-series.

Beth dragged Jake into the picture for this post. Model portrayal- Ben and Gezzi from Period Images

What can I say about Beth? I published the book in November, so I’ll have to give her some thought. One thing I can say is she pined for Jake for…well, since she was fifteen years old when she met him in the high school detention room. Yep, Beth went to detention. Jake says:

What could’ve been better to a seventeen-year-old bad-boy? A hottie with a bad bone to send her to detention had fit his bill.

• Beth is a compassionate woman. She’s sexy. Fun. A bad-bone still lurks beneath her calm, grown-up exterior. Bad in a good way, of course.
• She has always been close to her mom, and Beth is  concerned for her mom’s future.
• Ah, but Beth is pretty with coppery hair and green eyes. She is now my youngest heroine since the other ladies keep aging as all the series move on.
• Beth is a whiz at math, but she doesn’t use it in her job.
• This lady wants to be treated as an equal.
• In high school, she got along better with the guys than the girls, but she had one close girlfriend. The girls bullied her because of her relationship with an older, popular guy in school…Mr. Jake Lawton.

She’s strong-willed. I repeat…strong-willed. But she can be hurt easily. Give her a line she doesn’t like, and she’ll damn well give it right back… Proof? Jake’s POV:

Before speaking, he shook his head. If he wasn’t already buzzed, he’d put a damn shot into the coffee. Ross had not acted like the type who’d hire call girls. “Come on. This isn’t the nineteenth century.”

“Stop making fun of it. This happens more than you think. You don’t know his grandmother. Being the one who raised him, she had a lot of power over his life and future.”

“Figures. What a wuss! How the hell did you meet Ross? No, wait, don’t you dare tell me you were—” Had Beth been a…a call girl—the way she’d met Ross? God almighty. He sank against the sofa back. Somebody shoot me right now.

“Shut up. No, I wasn’t! Damn you, Jake Lawton.” Beth rose abruptly, stomping. She stomped not once, not even twice, but three times. “Damn you. How dare you. I don’t know you.” She turned toward the door, came back to shove his shoulder hard, then she took a step.

“Don’t go. I’m sorry. But dammit, Beth. Have you listened to this story?”

“I should slap your handsomely, sick-looking face, but it’s apparent someone already took care of the deed for me. Humph!” She sat back down, folding her arms. “Yes. I know how it sounds.”

End of snippet. Oh, I love this girl!

Have you met the other heroines? Judy Carlson, the matriarch of the Double Dutch Ranch can be found on the main page too! Her book will be out in 2019. Click here to find the other heroines.

Y’all have a real nice weekend.