FOREVER FREE. GUESTPOST.

About the Book

Title: Forever Free
Series: Forever #4
Author: Hope Toler Dougherty
Publisher: Scrivenings Press
Release Date: January 29, 2024
Genre: Christian Contemporary Romance

Phoebe Sinclair combines her love of flowers and teaching to nurture a cut flower business on her grandfather’s land. She’s got her hands full growing the farm, growing her customer base, and dealing with her growing attraction to the aloof man who’s volunteered to help make her farming dream come true.

Can she focus on her main job, or will a pair of yearning eyes and a hurting heart divert her worthy goals?

Heath Daniels has resigned himself to a life of singleness as he watches his siblings couple up and set wedding dates. Tracking their happiness, however, is more difficult than he expected. A real struggle, in fact.

Feeling the old troubles creep back to tempt him—troubles from the bad time when he dropped out of college to explore less-than-noble pursuits—propels him to volunteer for manual labor that leaves him exhausted at the end of every day and out of trouble.

His additional hours of agri-business, however, lead to more struggles with an intriguing farmer. Does he have the strength to resist old temptations as well as a beautiful new one, too?

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More Books In This Series

 

GUEST POST

Forever Free is set on a fictional cut-flower farm in North Carolina. My husband and I live on land my great-grandfather owned, and I’m the product of a long line of farmers on both sides of my family. Setting this story on a farm was important to me because I wanted to highlight farmers and their crucial contributions to human existence.  

For research, I visited two local cut-flower farms a few times to get a clear picture in my mind. Having grown up on a farm, I had ideas, but I wanted to see how my ideas meshed with a different kind of farm. I also interviewed one of the owners who shared tips and trials from her early years selling flowers as well as a master gardener who helped with planting tips and plant knowledge. At one point, I emailed her to ask, “What can the characters do instead of planting more seeds?” She shared lots of tasks for Phoebe and Heath, the two main characters.

Another helpful resource was Our State Magazine. A recent article showcased these kinds of farms located all over North Carolina. Researching these farms’ websites provided ideas for programs and events and even the process of supplying customers with flowers.

Two years ago, I was also a client for a cut flower subscription service. Originally bought for my mother, the service became mine as a default when she passed away before it began. Through the program, I received a lovely bouquet every week from the end of February through the beginning of November. We have a long growing season in North Carolina!

One difference in Honeysuckle Farm, the farm in Forever Free, and other cut-flower businesses is the education piece. Some farms are wedding venues or event spaces, but Phoebe Sinclair is a former teacher who misses teaching. She wants to share the joy of gardening to others by offering classes from cooking and canning to flower arranging.    

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Surprisingly, I like both parts of writing, creating the rough draft and the editing process, too. As a pants-er writer, writing the rough draft is almost like reading a story for the first time. I don’t always know what’s going to happen in the upcoming scene.  

For me, editing is like putting a puzzle together—finding the way words in a sentence or sentences in a paragraph fit together better, fixing plot holes, and making the story better.  

What I don’t enjoy about writing, like most authors, is marketing my books. I enjoy engaging with readers, but I don’t enjoy the selling part. Ugh. That’s difficult for me.

Thank you for hosting me on your blog!

About the Author

Hope Toler Dougherty holds a Master’s degree in English and taught at East Carolina University and York Technical College. Her early novels are Irish Encounter, Mars…With Venus Rising, and Rescued Hearts. Her Forever series includes her latest, Forever Free, Forever Music, Forever Home, and the novella, “A Hatteras Surprise.”

Connect with Hope by visiting hopetolerdougherty.com to follow her on social media and sign up for email updates.

Tour Giveaway

(1) winner will win print copies of all 4 books in the Forever series, a $25 Amazon card, and a bookmark!

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight March 4, 2024 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on March 11, 2024. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

Enter Giveaway

Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!