<p style="text-align:center;">Happy Release Day to  Jody Hedlund for Unending Devotion!</p>


[caption id="attachment_1057" align="aligncenter" width="150"]<a href="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/devotion.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1057" title="devotion" src="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/devotion.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="232" /></a> If you like historicals, you'll love this one![/caption]
<p style="text-align:center;">High-Stakes Drama Meets High-Tension Romance</p>
<p style="text-align:left;">In 1883 Michigan, Lily Young is on a mission to save her lost sister, or die trying. Heedless of the danger, her searches of logging camps lead her to Harrison and into the sights of Connell McCormick, a man doing his best to add to the hard-earned fortunes of his lumber baron father.</p>
Posing during the day as a photographer's assistant, Lily can't understand why any God-fearing citizen would allow evil to persist and why men like Connell McCormick turn a blind eye to the crime rampant in the town. But Connell is boss-man of three of his father's lumber camps in the area, and like most of the other men, he's interested in clearing the pine and earning a profit. He figures as long as he's living an upright life, that's what matters.

Lily challenges everything he thought he knew, and together they work not only to save her sister but to put an end to the corruption that's dominated Harrison for so long.

Author Bio:
<strong>Jody Hedlund</strong> is an award-winning historical romance novelist and author of the best-selling books, <em>The Preacher's Bride </em>and <em>The Doctor's Lady</em>. She received a bachelor’s degree from Taylor University and a master’s from the University of Wisconsin, both in Social Work. Currently she makes her home in Michigan with her husband and five busy children.

To celebrate the release of Jody's book I’m paying tribute to my dogs who have given me their unending devotion in exchange for so little—food in their bowl and a pet on the head or rub on the belly every now and then.

My love affair with Old English Sheepdogs began with <strong>Obadiah</strong>  who never quite understood he was a dog.

<dl class="wp-caption aligncenter"><dt class="wp-caption-dt"><a href="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/obie-w-stef.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-1058 " title="Obie w Stef" src="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/obie-w-stef.jpg?w=150" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a></dt><dd class="wp-caption-dd">My daughter treated him like the little brother she never had.</dd></dl>Next came Micah.

[caption id="attachment_1060" align="aligncenter" width="126"]<a href="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/micah1.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-1065" title="micah" src="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/micah1.jpg?w=126" alt="" width="126" height="150" /></a> A furry bundle of energy for Christmas.[/caption]

He joined my granddog <strong>Bernie</strong>, a terrier mix, who came to live with us when our son went off to seminary. <strong>Rhinestone </strong>was our rescue OES.The three of us made quite a spectacle walking in the neighborhood.

[caption id="attachment_1061" align="aligncenter" width="150"]<a href="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/micah-bernie-rhinestone.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-1061" title="micah-bernie-rhinestone" src="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/micah-bernie-rhinestone.jpg?w=150" alt="" width="150" height="118" /></a> Micah, Bernie and Rhinestone[/caption]

As happens with large dogs, Micah’s hips played out. We lost him and Bernie (at age 17) about the same time. Rhinestone became even more attached to me. When we emptied our house to have hardwood floors installed, I worried the stress would be too much for her.

She went to live with my sister-in-law who had never married.

<dl class="wp-caption alignleft"><dt class="wp-caption-dt"><a href="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/keta-and-rhinestone.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-1062 " title="keta and rhinestone" src="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/keta-and-rhinestone.jpg?w=140" alt="" width="140" height="150" /></a></dt><dd class="wp-caption-dd">Two lovely ladies who found one another.</dd></dl> The two became best buds. I wrote about their story in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dog-Next-Door-Other-Stories/dp/080073419X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1346506030&amp;sr=1-3&amp;keywords=judythe+morgan" target="_blank">The Dog Next Door</a>.

For the first time ever we were dog-less.

I hated it.

<dl class="wp-caption alignleft"><dt class="wp-caption-dt"><a href="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/toby-arrival1.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-1064" title="toby arrival" src="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/toby-arrival1.jpg?w=141" alt="" width="141" height="150" /></a></dt><dd class="wp-caption-dd">It was love at first sight.</dd></dl> So we found <strong>Tobias (Toby)</strong>.

<dl class="wp-caption alignleft"><dt class="wp-caption-dt"><a href="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/buster-on-my-lap2.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-1072" title="buster on my lap" src="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/buster-on-my-lap2.jpg?w=143" alt="" width="143" height="150" /></a></dt><dd class="wp-caption-dd">Helping me write.</dd></dl>A couple of years later <strong>Buster, </strong>a twelve pound Maltese, came to live with us.

And once again we’ve become a big happy family.
<a href="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/family-for-blog4.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1082" title="family for blog" src="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/family-for-blog4.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="247" /></a>

You can read all about a sister's uneding devotion in Jody's book. Available on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Unending-Devotion-Jody-Hedlund/dp/0764208349/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1346507184&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=jody+hedlund" target="_blank">Amazon</a>.

What about about you? Do you give or receive unending devotion for someone or pet?