Meet Josh Harper

Today we welcome Vickie McDonough and the hero of her novel, Call of the Prairie. 

How would you describe yourself? 

My name is Josh Harper, and I’m the middle-born of the three Harper brothers. I mostly grew up on a stage stop that my family runs in Kansas, along the Santa Fe Trail. It was a remote place, but it wasn’t too lonely, because stage travelers stopped regularly, so Ma could fix them a hot meal while we caught up on all the news before they traveled on. We also got to see folks when travelers or wagon trains would stop at our place. I enjoyed it, but I was more bookish than my two brothers and always had a hankering to live in town. I got my chance after the train went through and our stage business dwindled. Now I manage my uncle’s bank in Windmill, a small Kansas town. I miss my close-knit family, but at least my young niece and nephew are here with my while they attend school.

What is your profession? 

I’m a rancher-turned-bank president, although my secret desire is to build finely crafted furniture. 

What is the most interesting thing about you? 

Hmm…not sure you’d call it interesting, but I’m much different than my brothers. They’re both taller and more brawny than me, not that I couldn’t take one of them down if I had to. I’m not embarrassed to say I like flowers. I’ve grown a big, colorful garden of them in my back yard. My interest started at the ranch when I got an empty journal for Christmas one year. I started drawing pictures of flowers and then looking up the scientific info on them, when I got the chance. The women of the family love my book, although my brothers still tease me about it every now and then.

What you put off because you dread doing it or don’t want to do it? 

Lately, it’s been dropping off Corrie and Toby, my niece and nephew, at my neighbor’s. Miss Maudie, the elderly lady who watches them after school and on days I have to go in early to work before school starts, had a bad fall. Her niece came to help, but I have my doubts about the tiny woman. I’m not sure the citified gal is up to the task of caring for an ill woman and a houseful of rowdy young’uns. If I had any other place to take them, I would do so. 

What is your most important goal in life or what do you hope to accomplish? 

I’ve already accomplished one of my major goals, which was to leave the ranch and to live and work in town. I love my close-knit family, but I also like being around other people and attending church, which a town offers. The next thing I’d like to accomplish is to start my own furniture-building business. I enjoy working at the bank, except for having to foreclose on struggling farmers and ranchers, but it doesn’t give me the satisfaction at the end of the day that crafting things from wood does. I’d also like to marry and start a family before too long.

What causes you the most fear? 

The thought of something happening to Corrie or Toby. I’ve never been a father, so it’s sometimes been a challenge to keep them inline and on-task, especially with Toby. The children belong to my older brother, Aaron, and he already lost his wife in a tragic event. I don’t know if he could handle losing one of his children, so I feel extra pressure to make sure nothing happens to them, and that’s only increases my anxiety at leaving them with my neighbor.

What thing(s) are most important to you? 

God first. Family second. Then others.   

What do you want others to see in you? 

That I’m an honorable and hard-working, godly man. 

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I don’t have much free time with the children living with me but there are three things I prefer to do when I get a little time to myself: read, work in my wood-working shed, or spend time in my garden. Lately though, I’ve been looking for way to spend time with Sophie, my neighbor’s niece. She’s starting to grow on me—and she has the most incredible brown eyes I’ve ever seen.10.  What gives you the most pleasure in life? A job well done, an inspiring church service, sitting down with my whole family to one of Ma’s fine-cooked meals, and lately, spending time with Sophie Davenport. Did I mention I’m a bit attracted to the pretty woman? Who knows where that might lead? 

Thanks for stopping by with Vickie today, Josh. You certainly have a full life, and it sounds like it's going to get a lot more interesting very soon.

Book 2 in the Pioneer Promises series. Read more about the book on Amazon.

Call of the Prairie

Sophie Davenport fears life is passing her by. Her strict, overprotective parents have kept her close to home because of the severe asthma attacks she sometimes endures. She longs to live a normal life and hopes to marry, but that dream seems impossible. When her aunt has a tragic accident and requests someone come to Kansas to help her, no one is available except Sophie. Her father, tied up with business, reluctantly agrees to let her go. Sophie is ecstatic and sees this trip as her one chance to prove to her parents—and herself—that she’s capable of living on her own. But things in the small town of Windmill are not as her aunt portrayed. And her aunt’s handsome neighbor, guardian of two of the children her aunt cares for after school, obviously doubts her abilities. Will the Kansas dust, the drama, and difficulties prove too much for Sophie? Or will she lose her heart to her neighbor and succumb to the call of the prairie?

http://tinyurl.com/lzhnool

Tell us what traits are most important for a hero in a romance and be in the drawing for copy of Call of the Prairie. 

Be sure to leave your email address so I can contact you in case you win. Limited to the U.S. only at this time for the free copy of the book.