Widower Robert Winthrop and his sister were raising his two sons in New York City. His sister had dropped everything to come and be a mother to his two sons when his wife died in childbirth with his youngest son. He recently became aware of his terminal illness, but before his death he had to find a man to be a father to his two sons, a man he could trust, a man of character. He also needed to be a man worthy of his sister. She needed a husband just as much as his sons needed a father. He found that man in Jacob Taylor. Jacob lost his wife in childbirth with their third child. He was left with two little girls and an invalid mother to care for in addition to trying to farm his three hundred acres in the Midwest. Robert had sent out Pinkerton detectives and found Jacob to be a man to be trusted, just the sort of man he was looking for. In their correspondence, Jacob found that Robert’s sister might be the wife he needed to care for his family. Now Robert just had to convince his sister, Grace, that this was the answer to all his prayers. Grace wasn’t so sure that traveling a thousand miles across the country to marry a man she had never met was the answer, but she would do just about anything to give her brother the peace he needed before he died. But was she making the right choice? Could she marry and find security and even happiness with a virtual stranger?
Meet Marcella DiPaolo
Marcella (Marky) DiPaolo was raised as a farm girl in Moro, Illinois. She was one of six children, and they all interacted daily with their loving parents and grandparents who served as ideal role models for them as they grew up on the farm. Upon graduating from high school, Marcella started her career in business. She also went to college, initially to become an accountant. It was in the business world that she met the person with whom she wanted to share the rest of her life. It didn’t take long for the young couple to start filling up their home with children. It was in the raising of her own that she realized that working with kids was her passion. She decided that teaching was the direction she wanted to go. During the early years, she was the one that stayed home to watch the kids while her husband worked during the day and went to school at night to complete his education. Once finished, he spent his evenings with the children, so she could go on and complete her BA in Elementary Education and later getting a Masters with a concentration in mathematics. After more than thirty-five years of teaching, she recently retired but continues to teach from time to time as a substitute at a local parochial school. Over the years, Mrs. D., as she is referred to by her students, was recognized for her teaching accomplishments having received several awards and other forms of recognition. ‘Mrs. D’ has certainly had a very special effect on a lot of young people, all of whom she still considers members of her ‘extended’ family. Marcella has a lot of other interests as well. In addition to a voracious appetite for romantic plots and characters, she is also fond of adventure stories and mysteries. She also loves to watch sports, play golf, eat chocolate, and spend as much time as possible with her family. Marcella’s love of reading began at a very early age. However, she never dreamed she might become a writer until much later in life. Being somewhat addicted to historical romances, both in books and on the screen, she has been exposed to a lot of writing styles. This experience and her time on the farm, raising a family, and all those years in the classroom have provided her with a wealth of ideas to apply to her writing career.
