Black Friday is here and we’re discussing the season with C.H. Admirand’s the Mulcahy Sisters from A Wedding in Apple Grove.
Welcome to Apple Grove, Ohio (population 597) where everyone has your best interests at heart… Love is in the air and the proof is in the painted proposal on the water tower. Every girl in Apple Grove looks forward to her beau following town tradition by getting on a ladder and making his love for her public.
When Daniel Eagan moves to town, his matchmaking neighbors direct him toward the Mulcahys. But when the petite and winsome Megan arrives on his doorstep in khakis and a tool belt, sparks start flying between the new guy and the hometown girl…
Make sure you stick around to the end. We’ll be giving away a copy of A Wedding in Apple Grove.
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The Mulcahy Sisters
The Mulcahy sisters live in the small town of Apple Grove, Ohio and run the family’s handyman business now that their father has retired. Megan, the oldest, is a whiz at plumbing; Caitlin, the middle sister, loves carpentry work; and Grace, the youngest, doesn’t like to get her hands dirty—she runs the office.
“Come on, Grace,” Meg Mulcahy pleaded. “I hate shopping.”
Grace rolled her eyes at her sister and tugged on her arm to get her moving. “You promised.”
Caitlin sighed. “If we’re going, we have to leave now. There won’t be any parking spots left.”
Meg groaned. “I only said I’d go because you gave me that look.” She hated that she’d been manipulated by Grace’s baby blues—again.
Feigning innocence, Grace asked, “What look?”
“I’ll be in the car and will only wait for another five minutes,“ Caitlin said. “Then I’m leaving without you.”
Meg gave in, after all she’d given her word and once a Mulcahy gives her word you could count on her to keep it. But she didn’t like it. “All right. I’m coming.”
Grace spun around, a look of horror on her face. “To the mall?”
“Yeah,” Meg said. “Isn’t that where you coerced me into going?”
Grace actually paled. “Dressed like that?”
“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”
“You’re wearing farmer jeans, your Guinness t-shirt, and crummy work boots. Was that a trick question?”
Meg wouldn’t smile, she had to fight to keep from chuckling at her sister’s expression. “I’m not going shopping if I can’t be comfortable.”
“But what if someone sees you?” Grace demanded. “They’ll think you’re right off the farm.”
Meg couldn’t hold back her laughter. “Close enough, we still live on the family farm, we just never farmed the land…we repair everyone’s farm equipment—and their homes.”
Grace was still sputtering when Meg dragged her outside. The ride to the mall took longer than normal and Caitlin was right the parking was next to non-existent. Finally Meg spied a spot and Cait pulled in.
“Where to first?” Cait asked, getting out of the car.
“Why couldn’t you wear a nice pair of jeans like Cait,” Grace grumbled.
“I don’t know. Maybe because I don’t own any?”
“We can fix that,” Grace said, marching off toward the side entrance to Macy’s.
“If we play our cards right,” Cait said, “we can get everything on our list and be out of here by five o’clock.”
“Oh. My. God.” Meg felt her stomach begin to roil. “I’m not spending the entire day stuck inside shopping when I could be home tinkering with the engine on the F1.”
Cait laughed. “Come on, you know Pop doesn’t really want you to touch the engine on grandpa’s pickup.”
“He said I could.”
“Really?” Cait asked, catching up to Grace at the door to Macy’s.
“Yeah.”
“If we divide and conquer, we can get out of here faster,” Grace said, surprising Meg with her willingness to cut her shopping trip short. Grace loved to shop…no, Meg corrected, her baby sister, lived to shop.
“Why did we have to come again today?” Meg asked.
“Fabulous sales everywhere the day after Thanksgiving,” Grace reminded her.
“But I hate shopping.”
“That’s because you never learned how to shop,” Grace told her.
“You’re whining, sis,” Cait said.
“Jeez,” Meg said. “I am and I hate it when anyone whines. Sorry.” And she was. She’d given her word, time to put on her big-girl panties and get it done. “All right. Where to first?”
Grace beamed. “Let’s start with Pop, his favorite flannel shirt is worn down at the elbows.”
Meg couldn’t resist asking, “Can’t we just buy him a tie?”
“Pop hates ties.” Cait said.
“I know,” Meg agreed.
“It’s tradition,” Grace reminded Cait.
“True,” Cait agreed, “to find the ugliest Christmas tie every year. “
It was the laughter and sense of purpose that was the glue that kept the Mulcahy family together. Arm in arm, the sisters headed to the men’s department in search of a perfectly ugly tie for their father, after all traditions should be honored.
“Oh, God,” Caitlin pointed to a display table in the middle of the men’s department. “We’ve got to get him that one.”
Meg held up a dark green tie in the shape of a Christmas tree and laughed. “Seriously? There are lights on this tie.”
Grace grabbed it from her sister’s hand and crowed. “It’s perfect!” Eyes alight with pleasure; she grinned at Meg and said, “Let’s go find Pop a nice plaid flannel shirt.”
“Now you’re talking,” Meg said. “You coming, Cait?”
“I’m thinking maybe I should pick up another tie for Mr. Weatherbee.”
“Great,” Grace said over her shoulder, “Cross him off the list. You see, Meg, we’re doing great. All you needed was to find your inner shopping goddess.”
Meg would rather be tied to a spit and roasted over a hot fire. “Don’t push it, Gracie.” The sound of her sisters’ laughter settled her stomach and had her looking forward to finding just the right shirt for their father.
“Maybe shopping’s not so bad.” As she looked at the lines waiting at the cashier, she grumbled, “We could finish shopping in five minutes and be stuck in line for an hour.”
“Ah,” said Grace, “But think of the money we’ll be saving.”
“I have an idea,” Cait said. “Next year, you ask Kate McCormack to go Black Friday shopping with you, sis.”
Grace huffed and Meg grinned and said, “I’ll be shopping on-line next year.”
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Meet C.H. Admirand!
C.H. Admirand has always had her nose in a book, has traveled the world over, and even tested the time-space continuum, thanks to the awesome power of the written word. One of her writing quirks is that she loves to include bits and pieces of her ancestors and ancestry in all of her books. Her second series with Sourcebooks, Small Town USA begins with A WEDDING IN APPLE GROVE, releasing November 1st. With 8 short stories and 14 novels to her credit, this award-winning, multi-published author’s books are available in paperback, hardcover, trade paperback, magazine, e-book, and coming soon…digital comic format!
Contact Info
Website: website
Blog: Blog
Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Fan page
Want to purchase C.H. Admirand’s novels?
Small Town USA
- A Wedding in Apple Grove
- One Day in Apple Grove (June 4, 2013)
- Welcome Back to Apple Grove TBA 2013
The Secret Life of Cowboys
Please help spread the word: Tweet: Celebrate the madness with 32 authors while #giveaways ensue during #BlackFriday (Nov23-Dec24) http://tinyurl.com/LEBlackFriday2012 #paranormal #fantasy
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Contest Time!
Thank you C.H. Admirand for taking part in Literary Escapism’s Black Friday!
C.H. Admirand is giving away a copy of A Wedding in Apple Grove. To enter, all you have to do is answer this one question: What’s the ugliest gift you’ve ever been received or have given? Remember, you must answer the question in order to be entered.
Even though I’m not giving the additional entries any more, you can still help support the author by sharing their article, and this contest, on your blog, Twitter, Facebook, or anywhere you can. After all, the more people who are aware of this fabulous author ensures we get more fabulous stories.
The winner must post a review of the novel someplace. Whether it is on their own blog, Amazon, GoodReads, LibraryThing or wherever, it doesn’t matter. Just help get the word out.
All Black Friday contests will remain open until December 31st at which time I’ll determine the winner with help from the snazzy new plug-in I have. Have you checked out the other Black Friday contests yet? Check out the Master List to see all the Black Friday giveaways
I have not been contacting winners, so you will need to check back to see if you’ve won.
I can’t actually think of any ugly gifts I got.
We scored a centerpiece at a dinner party we were at in the summer. It was a huge gaudy metallic peacock, and it was HEINOUS. I wish we could have been there to see my sister-in-law’s face when she unwrapped it that Christmas!!
What a fun little excerpt! :) Hmmm, the worst gift I’ve ever received? A couple of years ago, I received these hideous pair of socks. They were pink & purple with glitter & ponies on them. *shrug* I don’t have any young female relatives, so I actually ended up using them to dry dishes with. They did go to use, just not the one intended. :)
Thanks for the fun post. When I was 16, an aunt by marriage who for some reason hated me, gave me socks with cheap bead tassles and lace. Socks clearly intended for six and under and were the appropriate size. I don’t now what she was thinking!
I try not to give ugly gifts lol hopefully :) The last ugly gift I got was last year for Christmas, my husband who meant well, got me a bottle of parfume that smelled god awful. I didn’t have the heart to throw it out, so it sits untouched in our bathroom. I told him for now on, to please smell before he buys or check with me first and get something I actually like :)
I try to be grateful for every gift and honestly, and luckily I haven’t received an ugly gift yet. If I had to choose one it would be purse that wasn’t my style. It was round and shiny.
This sounds like a fun book with a great relationship between the sisters. I think the ugliest gift we’ve ever gotten was a horrible throw rug with a whale on it from my brother-in-law. We always joke that it’s not that he has bad taste, he just has a complete absence of taste.
That’s a toss up between a Disney’s Cinderella Pen from my nieces and a necklace from one of my good friends/ex-coworkers.