COTT: Karen Witemeyer’s Stealing the Preacher

ABOUT THE BOOK:

On his way to interview for a position at a church in the Piney Woods of
Texas, Crockett Archer can scarcely believe it when he’s forced off the
train by a retired outlaw and presented to the man’s daughter as the
minister she requested for her birthday. Worried this unfortunate detour
will ruin his chances of finally serving a congregation of his own,
Crockett is determined to escape. But when he finally gets away, he’s
haunted by the memory of the young woman he left behind–a woman whose
dreams now hinge on him.

For months, Joanna Robbins prayed for a preacher. A man to breathe life
back into the abandoned church at the heart of her community. A man to
assist her in fulfilling a promise to her dying mother. A man to help her
discover answers to the questions that have been on her heart for so long.
But just when it seems God has answered her prayers, it turns out the
parson is there against his will and has dreams of his own calling him
elsewhere. Is there any way she can convince Crockett to stay in her little
backwoods community? And does the attraction between them have any chance
of blossoming when Joanna’s outlaw father is dead set against his daughter
courting a preacher?

The author shares why she wrote the book:

“After the amazing response to the Archer brothers
depicted in Short-Straw Bride, I couldn’t wait to craft a stand-alone story
for Crockett, the charmer of the Archer clan. First, I had a gang of
over-the-hill outlaws steal him from a train then tangled him up with the
gang leader’s daughter, a heroine with enough sense to look beneath his
charm and sufficient spirit to fight for what she wants. Finally, since
Crockett is no ordinary preacher, but a gun-toting rancher with a gift for
doctoring . . . well, that meant a plot full of scrapes, trouble, and
untold shenanigans. But amid the adventure and romance lies a heartrending
tale of God’s pursuit of a single lost soul.” –Karen Witemeyer

About Karen:
After growing up in California, Karen moved to
Texas to attend Abilene Christian University where she earned bachelor and master’s degrees in Psychology. It was also there that she met and married her own Texas hero.

He roped her in good, for she has lived in Texas ever since. In fact, she fell so in love with this rugged

land of sweeping sunsets and enduring pioneer spirit, that she incorporates
it into the pages of her novels, setting her stories in the small towns of
a state that burgeoned into greatness in the mid- to late1800s.