The Hickory Switch

Continuing the story begun in the "Evolution of Emma Adler," (ASIN: B00BIU2FT0), "The Hickory Switch" picks up Doris de Vris' tale.

At one time the beautiful Doris had it all; a wealthy and powerful father, the adoration of her fellow church members, and her choice of any young man in town. Everything seemed to be going perfectly until her relationship with another young woman in town went sour, setting events into motion that would turn her world upside down.

Now her father is a despondent drunk, the good people of town shun her, and even the lowliest of the town's young men consider her damaged goods. After begging her pastor to help her, she is introduced to Connor O'Neill, a handsome but brooding widower with a dark past newly graduated from the seminary and on his way to Kansas to his future congregation.

Despite his better judgment, Connor tries to give Doris a second chance, just as Pastor Baldwin once gave him. Believing he is incapable of loving again, he offers to marry her anyway, agreeing to be a good and faithful husband if she will return in kind. Desperate to get out of town, Doris accepts the odd proposal, but her petty barbs and spoiled nature quickly resurface, testing his resolve until finally he is forced to treat his new bride as the spoilt child she insists on being, beginning with introducing her to the hickory switch.

From rude and insulting behavior, lying, reckless spending, and finally a final outrageous act of shameful rebellion, Doris proves to be a tempestuous force that pushes Connor to the edge of his endurance. As her backside continues to pay a heavy price for her willful disobedience, the ghosts of Connor's past return, torturing him with midnight reminders of his own shameful past, and causing him to question what right he has to discipline Doris. Only time will tell if they will find forgiveness and finally move beyond the guilt that threatens to destroy them both.