Help me welcome author, Kathy Otten to Five on Friday. Today, she shares one of her books, A Place in Your Heart. I love the cover! Be sure and check out her other novels. You’ll find them and more info about Kathy at her website link listed below.

Gracie McBride isn’t looking for love; she’s looking for respect. But in this man’s world of Civil War medicine, Gracie is expected to maintain her place changing beds and writing letters. Her biggest nemesis is the ward surgeon, Doctor Charles Ellard, who seems determined to woo her with arrogant kisses and terrible jokes.
Charles is an excellent surgeon. He assumed he would be well received by an army at war. He was not. Friendless and alone, he struggles to hide the panic attacks that plague him, while the only person who understands him is a feisty Irish nurse clearly resolved to keep him at a distance.
But, Charles is sent to the battlefield, and Gracie is left with a wounded soldier, a box of toys, and a mystery which can only be solved by the one man she wishes could love her, both as a woman and a nurse.

Excerpt 

“No. I want you to go home before the death of that ten-year-old boy becomes so ordinary, that one day you wake up and realize you no longer have the ability to feel.”

She squared her shoulders and stepped toward him. “Me own husband was a doctor, sir. I’ve birthed babies and stitched wounds. I stood by William’s side during surgeries and passed him instruments. I helped him clean the intestines of a man gored by a bull, before putting it all back inside that man’s belly. Me delicate sensibilities did not send me into a swoon then nor will they here. I thank ye for yer concern, Doctor Ellard, but ’tis who I am. And by the saints, as long as I have breath in me body, I will feel, and I will care.”

Their gazes locked in that moment and something flickered in his icy depths, overshadowing his usual cynicism with what she suspected might be admiration.

The harsh lines of his face softened. “Saint Jude must indeed be watching over you, Mrs. McBride.”

“That he is, Doctor Ellard, that he is.” He gave her a brisk nod and opened the door.

“You’re not going home then, are you?”

She turned. “Ye know us Irish, Doctor Ellard. We don’t know what we want, but we’ll fight to the death to get it.”

Kathy Otten is the published author of multiple historical romance novels, novellas, and short stories. She is also published in contemporary romance and historical fiction. She is a Northwest Houston RWA Lone Star winner and Utah/Salt Lake RWA Hearts of the West finalist. A Place In Your Heart is her fourth full-length novel . Currently, she is putting the finishing touches on a contemporary young adult novel.
She teaches fiction writing online and at a local adult education center, and is a regular presenter at area events. Kathy also does manuscript assessments and editing. She lives in the rolling farmland of western New York where she can often be found walking her dog through the woods and fields. She has been married for thirty-four years and is the mother of three grown children and one grandson.

Kathy can be contacted at [email protected]
Web site https://www.kathyottenauthor.com
Face Book http://www.facebook.com/kathyottenauthor.com
Amazon Buy Link https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKYZ61M

Five on Friday

You open your front door and find a penguin wearing a cowboy hat. What does he say?
“Hi, my name is Leo.”

Ann: Leo the penguin!!

If you had to describe yourself in one word, what would it be?
Procrastinator

Ann: I don’t believe that because you got your information to me early!!!

What’s the one thing you do every day that you enjoy the least, but do it anyway?
Clean the kitty box.

Ann: I don’t have Kitty’s, but my son does, and I refuse to clean the litter box! I feed the cats, but draw the line at the stinky stuff!

Do you belong to a critique group?
Yes, three of them, maybe four, sort of. One is a Round Robin through the mail, with some older ladies uncomfortable with emailing files. One weekly group, which digs deep into the nitty gritty. Another once a month near home, which is more of a pay-it-forward group of newer writers, and another monthly group, which if I can get the day off from work, I try to bring pages, because they are all thorough critiquers. I don’t think I’d ever get published without their intuitiveness of characters, understanding of plot, and technical grammar skills.

Ann: I yell a hardy AMEN to critique groups!!

What would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
For my spirit animal I would choose a river otter. When people used to ask how to spell our name, my dad would say, “Spell otter, then put a tail on the r.” I grew up in Vermont and Otter Creek was the major waterway through the area, which flowed into Lake Champlain, and had otters in it when I was a kid. I went to Otter Valley Union High School. When I got to college my nickname was, “Otter,” because I used my dad’s explanation when people asked me how to spell my name. I had a button from school clipped to my purse, which had a picture of an otter and said, Otter Power. People still send me pictures and videos of playful otters.

Ann: That’s funny. Because I’m a Texan, my answer is always the same to this question. I’d be an armadillo!!