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Writer's pictureKirsty Whitlock

Under A Gilded Sky by Imogen Martin. Extract.


Check out this absolutely fantastic looking and sounding book!!! I'm gutted I couldn't squeeze a review in but read on for an extract!


To learn more about this book, read more about Imogen and get your copy just keep reading.


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Book Description


In this epic and unforgettable love story, set in the wilds of Missouri and the glamour of high society

Boston at the dawn of the Gilded Age, one woman’s life changes forever the day that a stranger turns

up on her doorstep.


Missouri, February 1874: The last thing struggling homesteader Ginny needs is a scandal on her

hands. But when a badly injured drifter arrives at Snow Farm in desperate need of medical attention,

Ginny’s kind nature and good upbringing means she has no choice but to treat his wounds and care

for him until he’s back on his feet, no matter the danger he might pose.


Ginny’s been running the farm and looking after her fourteen-year-old sister Mary-Lou since their

papa died two years ago, each morning pulling on his old leather coat and pushing her feet into stout

boots that come up to her knees, before heading out to tend to the cattle. She’s determined to hold

onto the one thing that connects them to memories of their parents – whatever the cost. And when

their uninvited guest – Lex – is well enough he offers his help, and she surprises herself by accepting

it.


But not long after Lex moves on, Ginny realises that her heart has gone with him. And when the

farm’s fortunes take a turn for the worse, she faces her hardest test yet. Can she save the only home

she’s ever known, and everything she holds dear? And what if doing so means risking a chance at love

and happiness she never expected to come her way?


An utterly spellbinding story perfect for fans of Amy Harmon, Olivia Hawker and Kristin Hannah.


Readers will love this breathtaking and vivid historical novel of passion, destiny and divided family

loyalties.


"Captivating…will leave an indelible mark on your heart." Rachel Wesson





Extract


Intro:

This is end of the opening chapter. Mary Lou has brought an injured man to their isolated

rural homestead. Ginny is concerned that her 14-year-old sister doesn’t understand the danger

this man might bring them, given it is just the two of them who live there.


Under a Gilded Sky

By Imogen Martin


Snow Farm, Missouri—February 1874



“No wonder he’s tired.” Ginny bit her lip. “You keep that barrel fixed on him while I get

his gun.”

Mary Lou’s eyes widened, but Ginny shrugged. What else could she do?

With a racing pulse, she crept forward and lifted the man’s damp jacket. It was made

from a dark worsted fabric but had turned beige from the dirt. Ginny began to unbutton the

holster and the man’s hand clapped over hers. She froze and glanced up at his rugged face.

Their eyes met.

Ginny swallowed hard. “Fella, you want my hospitality, you gonna have to give this up.

You can always go back into that storm.”

His eyes, gray as the winter sky, held hers. He seemed to size up the situation, then he

slowly eased out his Colt and handed it to her. Ginny nodded and stood.

“You stay there. We’ll just be out in the hall.”

“I ain’t going nowhere,” he growled.

Ginny urged Mary Lou out of the door with a nod of the head and then she followed,

closing the parlor door behind them.

Mary Lou stood by the kitchen door, Papa’s pistol in her hand. “Have I gone and done

the wrong thing?”

Ginny paced up and down the passage. “No, honey. I just need to think.” She looked at

the gun in her hand. It was far heavier than Papa’s Smith & Wesson, with a long barrel. It

looked new. A giggle bubbled up. “Look at us both, like we’re going on a raid. Let’s hide this

thing in the kitchen somewhere.”

The kitchen was warm from the fire banked up to cook the evening stew. Ginny tucked

the gun behind a jar on a high shelf, while Mary Lou took the lid off the pot and gave the

vegetables a stir.

Ginny grabbed a rag to mop up the lamp oil and threw it on the fire. She went to the sink

and washed the smell from her hands, looking out of the window. The storm was whipping up

the debris in the yard and a barn door needed tying shut again.

“Did he tell you anything more? Where’s he come from?” asked Ginny.

Mary Lou shook her head.

“?Was he with anyone

Another shake.

Ginny cleared the lamps from the table, her task half-finished. “He looks like a farm

worker. Or a cowboy. Most like traveling one place to the next, looking for work.” She didn’t

voice the fears that were running through her mind. An outlaw on the run? A robber? Or worse?

She keenly felt the vulnerability of running Snow Farm by themselves. Papa had died

two years ago, but she’d been determined to keep the family homestead, the one thing that

connected them to memories of their parents.

“Now, Marie-Louise, you must do as I say.”

Mary Lou looked up at her, blinking her big brown eyes. Things were serious when

Ginny addressed her sister by her full name.

“We mustn’t let the stranger know it’s just us two here. We need him to think there’s a

man in the homestead.”

Mary Lou cocked her head, a line appearing between her brows.

“Trust me on this. We’re gonna pretend Papa is here. But he’s upstairs. Sick. We’re

looking after him in his bed, and any day now, he’ll be better.”

Mary Lou stared into the pot. “That’s easy. I pretend Papa is still around all the time.”

Ginny walked over to the fire and laid a hand on her sister’s head. Mary Lou had adored

their father, too young to see his faults. Their mother had died when she was a girl and Papa

had fallen into a stupor with the grief.

Ginny took Mary Lou by the shoulders and gave her a reassuring smile. “Right. Let’s see

what we can find out about this man.”





Author Bio


Imogen writes sweeping, historical fiction. Her first two novels are set in nineteenth century America.


As a teenager, she took the Greyhound bus from San Francisco to New York. Over those three days of

staring out of the window at the majestic mountains and endless flat plains, stories wound themselves

into her head: tales of brooding, charismatic men captivated by independent women.


Since then, she has worked in a coffee-shop in Piccadilly, a famous bookstore, and a children’s home.

She has run festivals, and turned a derelict housing block on one of the poorest estates in the UK into

an award-winning arts centre.


During 2020 Imogen was selected by Kate Nash Literary Agency as one of their BookCamp mentees,

a mentorship programme designed to accelerate the careers of promising new writers.


Married with two children, Imogen divides her time between Wales and Sardinia.


She hopes her books will bring you the tingle of a new love affair whilst immersed in a different time

and place.





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