Kathy Nye

Any successful scholar will make personal sacrifices to enhance his research. But most are never expected to include a suspect marriage to a barefoot hill girl. Musicologist J. Monroe Farley hopes to prove that the wilds of the Ozark Mountains preserved the language and music of an era gone by. Hill girl Meggie Best only hopes for a handsome prince to make her dreams come true. Neither expects to have life suddenly upended by a jar of bad piccalilli and a skunk.

From the first moment she met her new Texas neighbor, Prudence Belmont was in love. When she was old enough for marriage, Gidry Chavis promptly presented her with an engagement ring, and all her dreams seemed to have come true. But the hellraising Gidry disappeared before the wedding, leaving only a brief note in explanation. "My dear Miss Prudence, I have determined that it is best that we do not wed. Please forgive me and recall me with fondness."

The last thing widow Althea Winsloe wanted to do was remarry. Unfortunately, her meddlesome mountain neighbors had other plans. So, one autumn night they banded together and gave Althea a shocking ultimatum: she was to find herself a husband by Christmas...or the town would do it for her! Althea knew she had her choice of any single man in Marrying Stone, Arkansas. Yet the only one she felt truly comfortable with was Simple Jess. Sweet, gentle Jess wasn't as smart as your average man.