“Kate searched his dark brown gaze. It seemed to hint at feelings mysterious to
her yet amazingly familiar. A strange ache filled her heart, moving throughout
her chest. Something inside her begged for the freedom to dare to throw caution
to the wind…” — excerpt,
Unlawfully Wedded Bride (Love Inspired Historical)
Twenty-two-year-old Noelle Marchand, a senior at Houston Baptist University,
has thrown caution to the wind, following the dream that has beckoned her
since childhood–the dream to see her written stories become published literature.
Marchand– who is pursuing a dual major in mass communication and speech communication–is celebrating the publication of her historical Christian fiction book Unlawfully Wedded Bride (Love Inspired Historical).
Marchand has wanted to be a published writer since she was a child and was actively pursuing
the dream by the time she was 15. “I completed my first novel by the age of 16 when my sister encouraged me to see where a short
story I’d written might take me if I just kept writing,” Marchand says. “I’ve been writing novels
ever since.” She completed Unlawfully Wedded Bride when she was 18 and submitted the book
for publication in 2010.
The book follows heroine Kate O’Brien who is married by proxy to a man she has never met before,
Nathan Rutledge. The marriage was set up without Kate’s knowledge by her well-meaning
younger siblings. When Nathan shows up on Kate’s doorstep, the two adults must deal with the
fallout and determine whether–and how–to undo the marriage.
Marchand said the “take away” is that “everyone contends with something in the faith but we
cannot let our fears, failures, or foibles blind us to God’s plan for our lives.” She added, “Instead,
we must hope persistently, love courageously, and live joyously.”