THE OLD GIRLS’ NETWORK by Judy Leigh is an emotional roller coaster of a women’s fiction story with romantic elements featuring a trio of septuagenarians; two very different sisters and the man they befriend after hitting him with their car. I enjoy reading these small village British stories to compare and contrast with small town American stories.
Barbara and Pauline are sisters in their seventies who have never been close in location or attitude. Barbara is strait-laced, opinionated, and bossy, while Pauline is a friendly, open-minded, and homey. After a health scare, Barbara tells her sister she is coming to convalesce at her home in the small village of Winsleigh Green. The two soon begin to have trouble with each other.
When Pauline accidentally knocks down an apparent vagrant, Bisto, with her car, she invites him into her home to recuperate. Now as the three get to know each other they learn to embrace each other, let go of the past, and possibly make the changes they need to embrace fresh starts and new loves.
This is a charming story with three protagonists that will make you laugh, cry, and want to hug them all. And while I loved the main characters, the village members were just as eclectic and fun to follow. To read the changes brought on by both pain and/or love in all the characters’ interactions made this heart wrenching, heartwarming and ultimately very satisfying. It was also nice to see these characters in their 70’s find their HEAs and demonstrate that is never too late to change and find happiness and love.
I recommend this delightful women’s fiction.
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About the Author
I’m Judy Leigh. I’ve lived all over the UK from Liverpool to Cornwall, but currently I live in Somerset. After teaching theatre, writing lyrics for a punk band and setting up Shakespeare Festivals, I completed an MA in Professional Writing. Since then, I have been writing novels and having the time of my life doing it.
I write ‘golden’ stories that feature characters of all ages, but focus on the lives of older people.
These novels celebrate communities, fun and friendship, love and the power of laughter, the belief that everyone should have another chance at happiness.
I also write under the name of Elena Collins, who was my grandmother. These are dual timeline historical stories, slightly spooky. Writing in this genre gives me the opportunity to focus on history and the lives of women then and now. Please take a look at my Elena Collins author page. I love writing in this genre and I know you’ll enjoy the stories.
I also write cozy crime under the name of JR Leigh. The Morwenna Mutton ‘Seal Bay’ series is set in a beautiful coastal town in Cornwall, and Morwenna is a sixty-something sleuth who gets into mischief solving local crimes.
In my second series, set in beautiful rural France, DI Archie Darling and his trusty Dalmatian companion Juno set off in their camper van to explore the surrounings, but uncover more than they expect.
.Please check out these books – I know you’ll love them.
When I’m not writing, I’m often on the beach or on the moors, walking, doing yoga or travelling. I’m a Reiki healer, a vegan, an interpreter of dreams and an animal lover. I have three black cats and I enjoy sunshine, conversation, laughter, travelling, live music, theatre and football.
In December 2000, Derwin Brown, the newly elected sheriff of DeKalb County, Georgia, was ambushed and murdered in his own driveway just days before taking office. He had run on reform—promising to clean up corruption and restore integrity to the sheriff’s department—defeating the powerful incumbent in a bitter runoff.
The case fell to J.Tom Morgan, then the county’s elected District Attorney. Working alongside local, state, and federal law enforcement, Morgan pursued the case through months of dead ends, mounting pressure, and intense public scrutiny. It became a national media sensation, combining political intrigue with revelations of government corruption, murder-for-hire plots, and a never-before-tried legal strategy in the Georgia criminal justice system. Then the case became personal: Morgan learned that his own name was next on the killer’s hit list.
In A Rainy Night in Georgia, Morgan gives readers something almost no one else can—a first-person account of power, danger, and integrity from inside the justice system. What began as a baffling, unsolved murder evolved into one of the most extraordinary political assassination cases in modern American history after a shocking discovery.
A RAINY NIGHT IN GEORGIA by J. Tom Morgan with John Capouya is an engrossing true crime book told in the first person by the then District Attorney of Dekalb County Georgia, J. Tom Morgan who was tasked with bringing the murderers of Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown to justice and proving the corruption in the current Sheriff’s office. This book is written with an excellent balance between personal observations and emotions, investigative facts and deals, and courtroom strategy and drama.
In December 2000, the newly elected sheriff, Derwin Brown, was gunned down in his home driveway. Derwin Brown had run on cleaning up the corruption in the sheriff’s office and accused his successor in public. A corruption investigation had already begun six months previously, but Derwin Brown’s murder brought every alphabet agency into the investigation.
District Attorney J. Tom Morgan worked with local, state, and federal agencies, and while the corruption investigation moved along, the murder investigation hit dead ends at every turn until J. Tom was forced to make a controversial deal and learns his name was next on the hit list.
I love true crime, so I followed this case on the national news, but I lost track of it due to 9/11. While I heard about the verdict later, this book brought me back to that time and filled in all the facts and added the personal views and emotions of J. Tom Morgan. The writing brings this story to life once again with the clear and concise step-by-step retelling of the murder, investigation, and trial. It is a sadly often repeated story that shows how absolute power corrupts and, in this case, results in a senseless murder that results from that corruption.
I highly recommend this captivating true crime book!
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About the Authors
J.Tom Morgan served as the elected District Attorney of DeKalb County, GA, from 1992-2004. He was the first recipient from the United States to be awarded the Special Achievement Award from the International Association of Prosecutors in 2003. Prior to his time as DA, Morgan served as an Assistant District Attorney in DeKalb County for nine years and was the first prosecutor in Georgia–and one of the first in the nation–to specialize in the prosecution of crimes against children. As a nationally recognized expert on criminal justice, he has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show, CNN, Court TV, and 48 Hours, among others. Morgan has lectured to prosecutors and law enforcement officials in more than 30 states, Puerto Rico, and Europe, and served on the faculty of the National College of District Attorneys.
John Capouya has written and edited for publications including the New York Times, Newsweek, SmartMoney, and Sport, among others, over his 25-year career in journalism. He taught journalism and nonfiction writing at the University of Tampa, and his developmental editing clients include New York Times bestselling authors. He is the author of Gorgeous George: The Outrageous Bad-Boy Wrestler Who Created American Pop Culture, among other books on yoga and music.
The House for Lost Children and The German Sisters by Marty Wingate take readers on an emotional roller coaster ride. People will realize how kindness, compassion, and security can help in restoring hope to those who have experienced severe trauma and heartache.
The plot of The House for Lost Children has divorced Lady Louisa Brightford and her best friend/cook, Iris, alone in a countryside mansion. David, her son, is away flying Spitfires for the British Air Force. Trying to keep relevant, she learns of a group of children and their two teachers displaced by a bombing in London. Realizing Oxburrow Manor can be a boarding school for the nine evacuee children, she calls the family lawyer and asks for his assistance in moving them to the mansion.
One of the children, Gracie, is traumatized to the point of becoming mute after being buried in the rubble with her dead mother. Louisa adores all the children and does everything she can to give them a good home but takes a special interest in Gracie. She has not spoken since she lost her mother, but clings to Louisa who continues to offer her love. Louisa also finds herself becoming closer to Jack Barry, one of the teachers. So, when the governors of the charity that run the school threaten to take the children away because she is a divorced woman, she will do everything in her power to keep them.
The second book in the series, The German Sisters, was inspired by the true events surrounding Kindertransport. It’s a bitter- sweet story. The girls, Dagmar and Heike, were sent to an unknown country, England, to escape the horrors of the Nazi persecution of the Jews yet while at Oxburrow with Louisa they have fellowship, love, and begin to heal.
Louisa and Dagmar form a bond and offer each other love and understanding, drawing from each other’s strength. Dagmar realizes as the older child she must be responsible for Heike, but once at Oxburrow a lot of that responsibility is no longer needed. Now Dagmar must try to find out what happened to her parents and does so with Louisa’s help.
These stories seem very realistic. They are both heart wrenching and heartwarming. Readers will take the emotional journey with the endearing characters. The only fault with these books is that there are no more books to read in the series.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Did you do research about the evacuees?
Marty Wingate: I had read about the evacuees while doing research for my other book Glamour Girls. I had also, in my own reading that I’m interested in, come across references to evacuees and where they went. I’ve seen stories on television about it. There’s one of my favorite wartime series, “Foyle’s War,” a British series which had a boy featured, who was an evacuating. So, I knew about the evacuees. And I thought this would be fun having her take in a bunch of children and animals. The idea where a lot of different people stuffed in one house is always fun. In the second book, The German Sisters, readers will see how the children adapted during the book. There are a couple of them that stayed including Gracie, Athena and George.
EC: In the first book, The House for Lost Children, there was a scene where Louisa, the female lead, was worried about losing her mansion. Please explain.
MW: I knew houses had taken in evacuees, and some country houses could be used for any purpose in the war. Sometimes the army would take them. That was what she was afraid of. Her ex-husband would want to burn the place down so he could get it back again, get the land back. They could also be used for hospitals as well.
EC: How would you describe Louisa?
MW: She is a very generous person and considered herself a part of the village. She was not a snobby entitled person. When the children came to live with her, she had welcoming arms along with her cook who happened to be her best friend, Iris. Both women were generous, loving people. Her mom had died and her father was not around a lot because he had to work, so she was pretty much left on her own. She missed having that home life. I think that Louisa was always looking for an opportunity to have that big family that she always wanted. The way she fulfilled the need of hers was to invite all these children and adults to stay at Oxburrow Manor.
EC: How would you describe the setting of Oxburrow?
MC: The village Debden Ash is made up, but Suffolk, of course, is not made up. Suffolk is a real county. And a lot of it is very flat. I love Suffolk. We go to England a lot, and we are always staying, either at the coast in Suffolk or in, western Suffolk inland. I saw a manor and like some characters, the setting just came to me. I pictured it as a country house, but early Victorian, and after several generations of not having a whole lot of money around, getting to be a little shabby. Also, there’s a book by Robert Bly titled Akenfield, which is about a village of the same name. There was a reference in that book of how Akenfield was really hidden away, because it wasn’t on the main road, but a Roman road running by it. Where there was a little fold of land, and so people almost didn’t notice it. People wouldn’t even realize they were passing it because it wasn’t on the main road. So that’s how I created my vision of Oxburrow.
EC: What was the impact of Oxburrow?
MW: It was a place to heal, where children could thrive in both books. It became a home and a family to the children. It helped them with their trauma. And it was mystic. The children felt safe and protected there. I wrote how not only the children, but the adults as well, were disparate people who have their own stories and their own secrets and how they interacted within Oxburrow.
EC: What about Louisa’s relationship with one of the children, Gracie?
MW: The House for Lost Children is Gracie’s story too. Her backstory is that in the bombing, several of the children’s mothers died. Gracie and her mother were buried for two days before they were found in the rubble. This was an actual news story I read of the time. It was just heartbreaking, because they find Gracie’s mother dead, and there’s Gracie holding her hand, and will not let go. Obviously, Gracie has an enormous amount of trauma, thinking her mother’s death is her fault. When she first comes to Oxburrow she is not talking. And of all the children, Louisa sees the trauma in her more clearly. The other children miss their mothers, and they act out a little bit in other ways, but Louisa realizes she can help, and that’s how she and Gracie bond.
EC: Did Louisa in Gracie’s mind become her new mom?
MW: Gracie wears Louisa’s clothes because it soothes Gracie and helps her feel safe. Gracie’s mother loved her daughter and now that love, that support, and that security is gone. She knows her real mother died, but has a good replacement in Louisa, realizing she has security and love once again. I can’t say that Gracie would ever get rid of all that guilt, but it becomes understandable, just like grief does after a while, it doesn’t hurt as much.
EC: Why was divorce considered so bad?
MW: I turned in the first draft of the manuscript I had a conversation with my editor who is younger than I am. She said, ‘I don’t understand why that’s bad.’ I realized that I had to paint a better picture about what divorce looked like during those times. Louisa couldn’t get remarried in the Church of England at that time. There was still a huge stigma. Louisa and Jack grow close but she was afraid to commit to marriage. I think she did not face up to her hidden fear. that maybe she was the one that wrecked her marriage. She questions if it was her fault. We take on guilt that we shouldn’t a lot of times, and that’s what had happened to her.
EC: Divorce played a role for Mrs. Harrison, the children’s guardian and head mistress. Do you agree?
MW: Mrs. Harrison did not look beyond the person, because Louisa divorced. I think that she acts in that way because believes she is right. I think she’s a very caring person. She’s a very good teacher and always good with the children. She could not imagine letting the children share a house with a woman who had broken the rules, whether they were moral rules or the rule of law. She’s just too strait-laced, and it was very difficult for her to get through that. She did, but it was very difficult.
EC: What about Jack Berrie?
MW: The First World War was an awful war, where he lost friends, and was traumatized. He got married, had a baby, and his wife died, which certainly didn’t make it any better for Jack. He had a rough life, until he ended up falling into what he had always wanted to do in the first place, and that’s be a teacher. He’s a diamond in the rough.
EC: The second book, The German Sisters, has a powerful scene about the children having to leave their parents. Please discuss this.
MW: There’s a wonderful documentary from a few years ago called “Into the Arms of Strangers.” There were interviews with adults who had been part of the children’s transport coming out of Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Germany. They told amazing stories of how children had to say goodbye to their parents. The scene on the platform and on the train, came from one of those actual stories. The parents were devastated in having to give up their children and send them to a foreign country, England, but they wanted them to be safe. They wondered if they will ever see each other again.
EC: In the second book, Louisa eventually takes in two Jewish German evacuees. Can you describe the older sister, Dagmar?
MW: Dagmar and her sister Heike were two children who were part of the British rescue operation known as the Kindertransport. She’s responsible. She grows up too soon. She’s calm, fearful, a worrier, feels guilty, an observer, and is afraid for her parents. At the beginning of the story, she is ten years old when her parents say goodbye to them on the platform. The parents explained, ‘We must do this, we must get you out, but don’t forget to write the letters.’ Well, Dagmar took this on, literally, feeling she was the only one that could do this. And so that’s what follows her through the story.
EC: How would you describe the younger sister, Heike?
MW: She is sociable, attentive, sweet, happy, and rambunctious. She just bounces back. She’s tearful at first. She misses their parents, yet she thrives at Oxburrow. I think the two sisters are quite a contrast. She just fell in with Gracie and Athena, the two girls from the first book. It’s like, they are a threesome now, that she’s just that kind of girl.
EC: How would you describe George?
MW: I love George. He’s a bookworm. He was quiet in the house when there were a lot of children, but in the second book he gets a bigger part. He and Dagmar both have a way of ordering their world. They want things in the right place. I was so pleased that George had a friend. He and Dagmar are both inquisitive and love to learn, especially about maps. George and Athena have their mothers die in the bombing in the first book, but their fathers are still alive. Athena’s father is a jazz musician in London. Sometimes she thinks she hears him on the radio playing in his orchestra. And George’s father is in the merchant navy on some ship somewhere. They have that hope that they will be a family, but in the meantime, they are quite content to be with Louisa.
EC: What role does Rebecca play in the story?
MW: She has secrets and is too direct at times, can be abrupt. She works for the Jewish Refugee Committee. Her sister, Mrs. Gedge, is a Quaker and Rebecca is not. She is caring and responsible.
EC: Next book?
MW: I got a two-book deal for the historical fiction. So, it looks like these are going to be the only two. I’ve really enjoyed writing them, and I love writing about World War II.
My next book is a Christmas mystery, titled A Murder is Rehearsed, coming out in November. Its set in England and Scotland, maybe in Wales too. There is a tradition going back to early Victorian times to put on a pantomime at Christmas. They’re comedy parodies that are hugely popular even today in theaters at Christmas time. I’ve decided to set this murder mystery at a production of Cinderella in a little town in Kent in England, in 1952. Cinderella’s coach, is on a fly rigging, up above the stage and then comes down when it’s time for Cinderella to look as if she’s getting in her coach to go to the ball. But someone releases the brake on the fly rigging and it falls and hits the actor who is playing the fairy godmother and kills him.
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Avery Sunshine might not have a soul mate of her own, but she still believes in happily ever after—for her clients. Making dreams come true is her business at Sunshine Bridal, which she runs with her two sisters. When her best friend announces her engagement, Avery is thrilled to take charge of the giddy bride-to-be’s big day. Less thrilling? Her best friend’s arrogant and demanding brother, who just so happens to be the man of honor.
Carter Ross’s first instinct: call 911. He promised to always take care of his impulsive little sister, and he honors that vow. Even if it means taking over her wedding, where he is sure Avery will fail. At best, Avery is unpredictable. At worst, if she’s anything like the spitfire of a college girl he remembers, the main event could run wild.
With Avery and Carter wrestling for control, tempers heat up. So does the spark of attraction they’re fighting with every kiss. As the wedding draws near, it’s time to reconcile a rocky past and make a decision that could change everyone’s lives. Because what they’re rebelling against looks a lot like love.
LOVE ON BEACH AVENUE (The Sunshine Sisters Book #1) by Jennifer Probst is the first contemporary romance in a trilogy featuring the Sunshine sisters who own and run the top Jersey Shore bridal planning business located in Cape May. This first book is an enemies-to-lovers romance with the eldest workaholic Avery always believing her forever love is out there somewhere. An emotional, fun, and sexy start to the trilogy.
Avery Sunshine is excited when her college BFF, Ally, calls with the news she is getting married and she and her fiancée hope Avery can fit them in with little notice for her dream beach wedding. Avery is constantly busy, but she is determined to give Ally the wedding of her dreams. What she does not plan on is Ally’s staid older brother being her man of honor.
Carter Ross has been Ally’s guardian since the death of their parents. He has always put her first and wants her to have the best wedding ever, but he believes hiring Avery is a mistake. Avery and Carter butted heads during her and Ally’s college years and he still sees her as an impulsive and unpredictable influence.
As Avery and Carter battle over every decision and control of the wedding, sparks begin to fly and they discover they want more than just Ally’s happiness.
This is a wonderful introduction to the very different Sunshine sisters. Avery steers the company with an optimistic personality, but her life has become more work than play. Carter knows just how to get her ire up and he becomes just what she needs, for a while, but he has an emotional wall that is difficult to bring down. It is a great back and forth over Ally’s wedding and all the emotional baggage in-between. The secondary characters are funny, supportive, and are a bit of a peek into what I hope are the future sister matchups. I absolutely adored Lucy, Carter’s pampered dog. The dialogue, especially the intense banter between Avery and Carter, is great. The sex scenes are explicit and smokin’ hot while believable to the romance.
I really enjoyed this enemies-to-lovers romance and am looking forward to following the other Sunshine sisters to their HEAs.
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About the Author
Jennifer Probst wrote her first book at twelve years old. She bound it in a folder, read it to her classmates, and hasn’t stopped writing since. She holds a masters in English Literature and lives in the beautiful Hudson Valley in upstate New York. Her family keeps her active, stressed, joyous, and sad her house will never be truly clean. Her passions include horse racing, Scrabble, rescue dogs, Italian food, and wine—not necessarily in that order.
She is the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of contemporary romance fiction. She was thrilled her book, The Marriage Bargain, spent 26 weeks on the New York Times. Her work has been translated in over a dozen countries, sold over a million copies, and was dubbed a “romance phenom” by Kirkus Reviews. She has over fifty books published.
Retired secret service agent Ron Eldon hunts his daughter’s killer, taking on the role of detective in a case that everyone says is suicide. Aided by his ex-colleague Yolanda Reddy, they are confronted by official obstructions, plagued by red herrings, confounded by false information, and tricked by a Russian spy who has history with Eldon from the Cold War. Leaving behind him a trail of bodies and a minefield of revelations, Eldon is beaten and captured before escaping to continue his crusade across London, Bristol, Cornwall, and Yorkshire. Ending with a shocking twist that reframes the story in a new and defining light, this spy thriller delves into Britain’scolonial past, present-day slavery, and Russia’s dirty tricks, uncovering truths that dare not speak their names.
JOVE: A Novel by Jack Davies is an engrossing British espionage/crime thriller mash-up that gives the reader an exciting, action-packed story of a retired secret service father seeking justice for his daughter, Jove, the deception and double cross of British and Russian spies, and a far-right criminal conspiracy.
Retired secret service agent Ron Eldon is sent to identify the body of a young women who is believed to have committed suicide by jumping off the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol. The young woman is his daughter, Jove, who is currently a secret service asset who followed her father into service. With the help of an ex-colleague, Eldon searches for information, but with official obstructions, kidnapping, murders, and a Russian spy from his past, Eldon will have to use all his experience to discover the truth and survive.
This novel is written with such intimacy and intrigue it is difficult to put down. As we meet and follow our protagonist, retired secret service Ron Eldon you feel as though he could walk right off the page. Eldon is not a super spy caricature, but a very human man. As you follow him throughout the story, the plot contains many red herrings, twists, and surprises that continue through the end of the book. Being a novel of spies, deception, and misinformation, I was continually guessing if what I was reading and being led to believe was true. The tie-in of the historical subplot of Bristol’s part in England’s slave trade is interesting and added to the questions and suspicions around Jove’s investigations into historical slave holders’ compensation, BLM, and right-wing extremists.
I highly recommend this smart and surprising British espionage/crime thriller mash-up!
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About the Author
Jack Davies is an award-winning writer/director/producer based in London. Writer of published short stories, film scripts and poetry, he was shortlisted for the York Poetry Prize in 2020. He lives in London, UK.
The Cowboy’s Accidental Bride by Melinda Curtis not a single but a home run. All of Melinda’s books blends romance, humor, and relationship issues.
Book Description
Hayden Bennett is done with love. After being left at the altar, the Montana rancher returned home determined to protect his heart and honor his grandfather’s final wishes. But dividing the family ranch five ways, managing a wandering grandmother, and holding everything together alone is more than even a stubborn cowboy can handle.
Single mom Eve Atkinsonis done with marriage, too. Recently divorced and rebuilding her life in Bentwood Creek, the licensed vocational nurse is juggling long shifts, a spirited toddler, and an ex-husband who uses custody threats to control her future. Becoming a registered nurse feels like a dream she may never reach.
When childhood friends Hayden and Eve strike a marriage-of-convenience bargain, it solves more than one problem. She gains stability and protection. He gains the help he desperately needs.
But sharing a home brings buried feelings to the surface. What begins as a practical arrangement soon tests their guarded hearts.
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Elise’s Thoughts
In The Cowboy’s Accidental Bride, Hayden Bennett has returned home after years away to settle his grandfather’s estate. Along with that chore comes the very real concern for his grandmother’s fading memory, especially when she manages to wander off and needs closer supervision. Then he is stunned when Eve Fisher, desperately said that Hayden was her fiancé and that she and Katie would be living on his ranch. She did it to escape her controlling ex-husband who wants her and Katie to return home. Yet, it soon becomes apparent that a marriage of convenience would benefit them both, and she would help him with his grandmother and he would help her deal with her selfish ex-husband. There is also the problem that he was jilted by Evie’s sister at the alter and she had a huge crush on him that she is trying to hide.
The Cowboy’s AccidentalBride is one of those special books where readers will be disappointed when it is over. These characters leap off the page and face real-life situations that need answers as they struggle with their emotions about each other. Katie stole every scene she was in, and Hayden’s grandmother’s situation felt realistic. In all, this is an excellent start to the new series.
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Winning The Bull Rider’s Heart is a fun, second chance romance story. It is a sweet, uplifting romance full of banter, humor, and drama.
Book Description
Bull rider Noel Emerson left Clementine, Oklahoma—and the girl he loved—to chase his rodeo dreams. When his foster mom’s birthday brings him home four years later, he’s stunned to find that his beautiful ex Sophie Jean is a bigger part of his family than he is. His jealousy chafes worse than a new pair of chaps. But what starts off as a fierce rivalry turns into a sweet reunion. Beautician Sophie Jean Shearer has turned into a fine cowgirl thanks to her ex’s family. And she’s found her own dreams, but will she saddle up for a second chance at forever with her unpredictable cowboy?
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Elise’s Thoughts
Winning The Bull Rider’s Heart story is emotional, full of laughter and tears, assumptions and revelations as they rebuild their relationship. The plot begins with bull rider Noel Emerson coming home to Clementine, Oklahoma, four years later, for his foster mother’s birthday but he is really coming home because of a bad concussion. He tries to keep it a secret but there is no hiding it from his former girlfriend Sophie Jean. They thought their past romance would go the distance, but their opposing views on his career pulled them apart. He struggles with how to fit Sophie Jean and his bull riding career into the same orbit, while Sophie Jean has other ideas. Although she too still loves Noel, she wants him to commit to settling down in Clementine, TX before the bulls he loves to ride end not just his career but his life. Now he must decide which is more important to him, Sophie or his career as a bull rider.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for The Cowboy’s Accidental Bride?
Melinda Curtis: I hadn’t written a marriage of convenience in a long time, and I like them. I was trying to figure out how I could get a marriage of convenience, and I thought, ‘Oh, well, it would be fun if she had a crush on him, a taboo crush, so how could I do a taboo crush?’ Then I thought, ‘he needs to date her sister, her older sister, and what if they didn’t get married?’ This is the way it kind of started. I enjoy that trope, and I really wanted to do another one.
EC: How would you describe Hayden?
MC: He felt jilted. He has grudges. He’s organized. He broods. He’s cool. Um, He’s a teaser and guarded. He let that one event define him, for 10 years, what happened with his grandfather.
EC: How would you describe Evie?
MC: Evie, is a chatterbox, brazen, naive, impulsive, determined, brave, compassionate, and lonely. She comes home to start over and kind of lay that foundation where this is going to be the one place I can put a stake in the ground against her ex.
EC: Speaking of Evie’s ex, Steven, how would you describe him?
MC: Steven is a workaholic. He seems indifferent to his wife and daughter, selfish. He is sharp tongued, never really gave compliments to Evie, and was possessive. I did not like him although he was unhappy with his choices. But he was a jerk. I wanted to show how managing divorces and child custody, all that stuff is messy, and I didn’t want to gloss over it too much.
EC: What was the role of Katie, Evie’s daughter, and Hayden’s grandmother, Irene, in the story?
MC: Katie kind of worshipped Hayden and she appeared sometimes like she was the boss. Katie is such a girly girl pistol as the boss being an only child. And then the grandmother, she kind of pushed Hayden. The grandmother had a stroke and was trying to recover. It was sort of based on my mother-in-law, who had a stroke and then dementia, but she has not come back. I wanted to write a character where she came back from dementia because it’s been so draining on all of us with my mother-in-law. The doctor kept saying, ‘You know, we’re going to give it another six months.’ Well, it’s been a year now. And I just needed, for myself, to write a character that has hope, and I find that Irene was so plucky, with this love of her chickens. It’s been fun to write a continuing character that has dementia that is managing it with drugs. You know how I love my humor. And so, I do like to have an older character that says unexpected things. She is my outlet, because of the thing in real life that I can’t fix, and then, my, my need to have humor.
EC: What about the relationship between Evie and Hayden?
MC: Hayden and Evie were soulmates who maybe got along better now than when Hayden was dating her sister. They just needed to come back together at the right time, and now were forced into it. He doesn’t believe in love, and that upsets her, because she had a crush on him and realizes when they had to get married, it was based supposedly on friendship. He did not want to get too close because he was afraid of a broken heart again after what happened with Evie’s sister.
EC: In Winning the Bull Riders’ heart, how did you get the idea for the story?
MC: Well, funny enough, I was talking with my editor about what the next series would be. And we talked about the bull riding teams, which are getting more popular. The Bull Riding Association decided to be like other professional sports and find a way to train their athletes along with having them make money. So, they’ve created these bull riding teams that had a draft. And it’s kind of fascinating., Winning the Bull Riders Heart, had these coaches of these bull riding teams that were retired bull riders. So, this book is kind of the prequel to the new series, and I did stay in Clementine. This allowed me to have a bridge between the two series, even though I have two more books that are coming out in the series.
EC: How would you describe Noel?
MC: Family oriented, cool, has composure, a perfectionist, competitive, cutthroat, witty, and humorous.
EC: How would you describe Sophie?
MC: Fearful of opening her own business, and scared to make choices.
EC: What about the relationship between Sophie and Noel?
MC: They would probably still have been together if she hadn’t put her foot down and said, ‘I need I need you to commit’, and that ended things. And I think they had lots of unresolved issues. There was a lot of time spent on kind of feeling their way back to each other.
EC: Next books?
MC: The next book in “The Bennetts of Brentwood Creek Series” will have Irene, the grandmother, playing a key part in book two, and a key part in book three. Book two will be Cult’s story because I’m doing them in order of their age. So, Cult is the next oldest brother, and he’s a Bronx rider that’s injured, so he comes back to town, and he’s going to discover that he has some kids that he didn’t know about, having made promises to come back, that he didn’t keep. And then I’m just finishing up Rhett’s book now. Colt’s book comes out in October, and Rhett’s book comes out next April.
The next book in the bull riding series is Cowboys Christmas Twins that comes out in October. In December, I have Snowed in with the Cowboy.
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
