Pre-order book two in the Gears, Cogs, and Puppy Dogs series

It’s been a while coming, but a new book in Vesta and Henry’s world of the Republic of Texas is about to arrive. Currently, the ebook is in pre-order and will release April 21, 2022.

When last we saw them, they were just beginning to fall in love, and leaving Britain for Vesta’s hometown in Texas. Vesta also had a huge assignment for Queen Victoria. Where are they now? Let’s see….

Synopsis:

A year ago, Vesta Bartlett received a rather unusual assignment.
Now, as if perfecting her clockwork puppies for Queen Victoria weren’t enough, a surprise invitation to present them to the Texas Republic president makes Vesta question a number of things, including will the president accept the clockwork from a woman? Unsure, she agrees to allow Henry to go along, as her spokesman and husband, regardless of how her father may feel about a fake marriage.
But they have bigger problems than her father’s anger when an anti-alchemist group takes issue with her clockwork creations and decide they need to stop Vesta’s work. By any means, no matter how violent.

Snippet from Chapter One:

Henry paid for the supplies he’d come for, and once again drew the shopkeeper aside for a private word. When they finished, Henry led Vesta outside.
Here, they found two girls, one surely sixteen waiting impatiently for a sister younger than herself who ran after a brass-skinned dog, no taller than her ankle. The girls saw them and the youngest waved. “Thank you, Miss Vesta. I love my puppy.” She looked down at the brass dog. “Go on, girl. Go say hello.”
The automaton paused, then trotted up to Vesta and knelt down at her feet. Vesta smiled and patted the solid brass head, the small spines of brass that made up its fur tickling her palm. “Good afternoon, Moonbeam.” She looked to the little girl. “You decided to name it so, if I recall, Miss Shafer?”
“Yes, Miss.”
“And no problems with your pet?”
“None at all,” the girl said.
“Though,” her sister said, “Daddy wondered what to do if the tank goes empty.”
Vesta pulled a small pad from her reticule. “I’ll send some of its fuel over to you.”
Miss Shafer curtseyed, and ran off, the dog at her heels. Her older sister dipped her head. “I’m sorry my sister bothered you.”
“Oh.” Vesta waved a hand. “It’s no bother at all.”
The elder Miss Shafer nodded again before departing with a polite, “Good day, Miss Bartlett.”
When Vesta returned home, she handed her father the race flier. “I think I could win this, don’t you?”
“Are you going to keep one of your puppies back from the queen?”
Looking to their forge, she considered. Can I? No. “No, I can’t. I promised her fifty.”
“You’re right. She wouldn’t be happy with you if you send forty-nine.” He pulled out a carton where they kept their ingots. “I guess you’d better make one more.”

Iron Paws and the Tinker’s Forged Marriage (Gears, Cogs, and Puppy Dogs, book 2) will release on April 21. You can get it today for a special low price of $.99.