About the Book

Book: Dial V for Valentine Author: Linda Shenton Matchett Genre: Christian Contemporary Romance Release Date: February 14, 2022

Valentine’s Day is perfect for a wedding. If only the bride will agree. Being part of the military is not just a job for Fergus Rafferty, it’s a calling. He’s worked his way up the ranks and doing what he loves best: flying Apache helicopters. The only thing that will make his life complete is marrying Celeste. After he transfers to a unit scheduled to deploy in three months, he’s thrilled at the idea of marrying before he leaves so they can start their new life. Except Celeste wants to wait until he returns. Can he convince her to wed before he leaves? Celeste Hardwicke has just opened her law practice when she finally accepts Fergus’s marriage proposal. Not to worry. She has plenty of time to set a date, then plan the wedding. Until she doesn’t. But a quickie wedding isn’t what she has in mind. Besides, why get married when the groom will ship out after the ceremony? When she stumbles on her great-grandmother’s diary from World War II, she discovers the two of them share the same predicament. At an impasse, Celeste and Fergus agree to call into WDES’s program No Errin’ for Love. Will DJ Erin Orberg’s advice solve their dilemma or create a bigger divide? One they’ll both regret.

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About the Author

Linda Shenton Matchett writes about ordinary people who did extraordinary things in days gone by. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry (of Star-Spangled Banner fame) and has lived in historical places all her life. She is a volunteer docent and archivist at the Wright Museum of WWII and a former trustee for her local public library. She now lives in central New Hampshire where she explores the history of this great state and immerses herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors.

More from Linda

My mom was born on February 14^th, so when I was growing up, Valentine’s Day wasn’t about romance and falling in love. Instead, it was a celebration of my mother. When I was asked to participate in the multi-author project, You are on the Air, I was hesitant to accept because of having little connection to the holiday and the books in the series are contemporary romance. I primarily write historical romance. But I loved the concept: the stories revolve around couples who call into a Christian radio station for relationship advice. I spent about two weeks mulling over (and discarding) ideas, then I realized the plot was right in front of me. I had just finished putting together an exhibit with the curator at the museum where I volunteer. One of the display items was a wedding gown made from a parachute. Included with the dress was a photograph of the couple, and their names and wedding date, but nothing else. The lack of information got my mind going, and I wondered about their story. Why did they wait until the end of the war to marry? Why not wed before the groom shipped out? Did they regret waiting? I realized that members of today’s armed forces might deal with the same situation and decided to combine the two plot lines. (See? I can’t leave my historical roots behind!) In Dial V for Valentine, Celeste and Fergus struggle with the sacrifice that comes with true love. Not the you-can-have-the-last-cookie kind of love, but a love that puts another’s needs and wants above one’s own. What they learn is that we can only love successfully when we understand that love comes from God. We are capable of loving (mates, significant others, friends and the unlovely) because “He first loved us.” Love is an emotion, but it is also an act of obedience.

Interview with the Author

What helps you to write? Do you eat snacks, listen to music?

I am a plotter which means I outline my story chapter by chapter before I begin to write it. The outline is definitely the item that helps me most! During the writing time, I need total silence in order. I do my writing early in the morning before work and before my husband gets up. On Saturdays, if he is up, I put on headphones and listen to ocean sounds on YouTube to drown out noise. I don’t snack or do anything else that could distract me.

If you could travel back in time, what time period would you go to?

I would go back to the 1940s. It was a difficult time with the war, but it seems to have been a simpler era, and the country drew together like no other time in history. Opportunities for women opened up because of the war, and it might be interesting to be on the forefront of that.

What is your favorite book and why?

Without a doubt, Joanne Bischof’s The Lady and the Lionheart. The story is at the same time heart-wrenching and heart-warming, and touches me at a deep emotional level. The plotline is unique and the characters well-developed. I read it at least once a year since it was published in 2016.

What is your favorite hymn and why?

I love Horatio Spafford’s It is Well with My Soul. Knowing that he wrote the poem after losing his wife and daughters gives profoundness to the words and reminding me of God’s sovereignty. The music, composed by Philip Bliss, is very moving.

Share with me a few of your favorite things.

My husband.  The smell of a forest, especially in the fall. Boston Terriers. 1940s movies. Snowshoeing. Kayaking. Reading. Writing. Snuggling under a blanket on the couch on a rainy day.