Researching Stories 

by Marie Higgins

When I think about research, I become very excited. In my books (all 30 of them!) I have done some kind of research—from discovering how newspaper machines worked in 1912, to what kind of pistols were used in the old west, and I’ve also researched proxy marriages in Colonial times. Strange how I love researching now when I used to loathe it as a teenager doing it for homework purposes. 

In my latest release, Secrets and Lies, I researched many things…starting with when the Secret Service was first started. http://www.secretservice.gov/history.shtml This, of course, gave me the year I needed to start my romantic suspense. I also researched one of the scandals of that time – Whiskey Ring Fraud. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiskey_Ring I used this as a case my heroine, Nicole Bastian, was working on when she first met the hero in the first chapter.

I didn’t stop there. I needed to know how the railroads in that time frame were operated, since my hero, Ashton Lee, was a partner in one of the railroads. I researched small things like words used in American Victorian times, to what the inside and outside of a house looked like. Hopefully, I was able to write my descriptions clearly from studying pictures on the Internet.

I hope you enjoy my historical story about spies and love…

 

On secret assignment from President Grant, Nicole Bastian is tasked with investigating a string of train robberies in which government money was stolen. The stakes are high and she is utterly devastated when she uncovers information that indicates the man of her dreams, Ashton Lee, one of the wealthy owners of Conrail is the number one suspect. Desperate to remain cool and impartial, Nicole strives to keep her suspicions quiet until she learns what Ashton is keeping from her. At the same time, she’s determined to keep her own secrets from Ashton, hoping he never finds out.

Ashton Lee is immediately attracted to the woman he’d met at the masked ball. Unfortunately, there’s something not right about her, and he can’t put his finger on why he thinks this way. She’s mysterious, beautiful, but very secretive. Dare he allow her to soften his heart? And more importantly, will she understand why he keeps secrets from her?

Buy link – http://amzn.com/B00US3BKAI

Watch book trailer – https://youtu.be/2S-lIHgKTzM

Marie Higgins is a best-selling, multi-published author of Christian and sweet romance novels; from refined bad-boy heroes who make your heart melt to the feisty heroines who somehow manage to love them regardless of their faults. She’s published 30 heartwarming, on-the-edge-of-your-seat stories and broadened her readership by writing mystery/suspense, humor, time-travel, paranormal, along with her love for historical romances. Her readers have dubbed her “Queen of Tease”, because of all her twists and turns and unexpected endings.

 

Visit her website / blog to discover more about her – http://mariehiggins84302.blogspot.com

Find her on Facebook – facebook.com/marie.higgins.7543

And Twitter – @MarieHigginsXOX