Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Summer on the Island by Brenda Novak

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for SUMMER ON THE ISLAND by Brenda Novak on the HTP Books Winter 2022 Women’s Fiction Blog Tour.

Below you will find an about the book section, a mini-book review, an excerpt from the book, an about the author’s section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

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About the Book

Marlo Madsen has just been through a global pandemic that turned her life—and the lives of almost everyone she knows—upside down. Her beloved father has died from COVID. Helping her mother, who has MS, handle his estate means returning to the small coastal Florida town where she was raised.

Having just left her job as a divorce attorney—which paid well but showed her too much of the worst in people—she’s invited two friends to join her for a seaside summer. The two friends are also facing huge life changes after the worsening California wildfires took everything from them, and need to decompress and recuperate. And travel has long been forbidden, so they are beyond appreciative for the ability to escape.

Unfortunately, a restful summer doesn’t seem to be in the cards, especially when Marlo learns about a special provision in her father’s will that reveals he has a love child with Rosemarie, the housekeeper who’s worked for the family for years. Rosemarie’s son was around while Marlo was growing up, but she never suspected a thing. Nobody did. And once the news is revealed, the fallout will cause waves big enough to topple two families and a whole community.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57873335-summer-on-the-island?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=nYKhtkC18M&rank=1

Summer on the Island : A Novel

Brenda Novak

On Sale Date: April 5, 2022

9780778311850

Trade Paperback

$16.99 USD

400 pages

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My Mini-Book Review

RATING: 3 out of 5 Stars

SUMMER ON THE ISLAND by Brenda Novak is women’s fiction and romance combined in a family drama quick read set on an island off the Florida Coast. This is a standalone story.

The characters are realistic and while I did not always agree with their decisions, they are believable because of the diversity of people. The plot had some surprises, that should have surprised, but did not. It was easy to anticipate. Several plot points were overly repeated while at other times, I felt some could have used more time. I did enjoy the setting of this story and the descriptions of the island.

This was an O.K. read for me. Usually, I enjoy this author’s books, but this one emotionally missed the mark for me.

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Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE

Teach Island looked exactly the same as Marlow Madsen remembered it. Since the entire world had been disrupted by the pandemic, the comfort and familiarity of this place nearly brought tears to her eyes. Part of that was how strongly she associated it with her father. John “Tiller” Madsen, who’d gotten his nickname because of his love for sailing, had died a month ago. But the island had long been his escape from the rat race of Washington, DC, where he’d served as a United States senator for thirty years.

“I can’t believe I’m back. Finally,” Marlow said as she rolled down the passenger window to let in some fresh air.

Part of the archipelago of forty-five hundred islands off the coast of Florida, Teach was only seven square miles. Marlow loved its homey, small-town atmosphere. She also loved its white sand beaches and its motley collection of bars, restaurants, bait-and-tackle stores and gift shops, most of which, at least in the older section where they were now, had kitschy decor. Because the island was named after Edward Teach, or Blackbeard, one of the most famous pirates to operate in this part of the world in the early eighteenth century, there was pirate stuff all over. A black skull-and-crossbones flag hung on a pole in front of the most popular bar, which was made to look like a colonial-era tavern and was named Queen Anne’s Revenge after Blackbeard’s ship.

In addition to the Blackbeard memorabilia, there was the regular sea-themed stuff—large anchors or ship’s wheels stuck in the ground here and there, fishing nets draped from the eaves of stores and cafés, and lobsters, crabs and other ocean creatures painted on wooden or corrugated metal sides. Her parents had a house in Georgia, a true Southern mansion, as well as their condo in Virginia for when her father had to be in Washington. But this was where they’d always spent the summers.

Now that Tiller was gone, her mother was talking about selling the other residences and moving here permanently. Marlow hated the sense of loss that inspired the forever change, but since Seaclusion—her father’s name for the beach house—had always been her favorite of their homes, she was also relieved that her mother planned to keep it. This was the property she hoped to inherit one day; she couldn’t imagine it ever being out of the family. And after what so many people had experienced with the fires in California, where she’d been living since she graduated college, and all the hurricanes in recent years that had plagued Florida, she had reason to be grateful the house was still standing.

“Sounds like you’ve missed the place.” Reese Cantwell, who’d been sent to pick up her and her two friends, had grown even taller since Marlow had seen him last. His hands and feet no longer looked disproportionate to the rest of his body. She remembered that his older brother, Walker, had also reminded her of a pup who hadn’t quite grown into his large paws and wondered what Walker was doing these days.

“It’s a welcome sight for all three of us,” Aida Trahan piped up from the back. “Three months by the sea should change everything.”

Claire Fernandez was also in the back seat, both of them buried beneath the luggage that wouldn’t fit in the trunk. They’d met at LAX and flown into Miami together. “Here’s hoping,” she said. “Even if it doesn’t, I’m looking forward to putting my toes in the water and my butt in the sand.”

“You’ll get plenty of opportunities for that here,” Reese said.

Claire needed the peace and tranquility and a chance to heal. She’d lost her home in the fires that’d ravaged Malibu last August. To say nothing of the other dramas that’d plagued her this past year.

Marlow looked over at their driver. Apparently, since her father’s death, Reese had been helping out around the estate, in addition to teaching tennis at the club. His mother, Rosemary, had been their housekeeper since well before he was born—since before Marlow was even born. Marlow was grateful for the many years of service and loyalty Rosemary had given the family, especially now that Tiller had died. It was wonderful to have someone she trusted watch out for her mother. Eileen had multiple sclerosis, which sometimes made it difficult for her to get around.

“Looks as casual as I was hoping it would be.” Claire also lowered her window as Reese brought them to the far side of the island and closer to the house. Situated on the water, Seaclusion had its own private beach, as well as a three-bedroom guesthouse and a smaller apartment over the garage where Rosemary had lived before moving into the main house after Tiller died so she could be available if Eileen needed anything during the night.

“There are some upscale shops and restaurants where we’re going, if you’re in the mood for spending money,” Marlow told them.

“When have I not been in the mood to shop?” Aida joked.

“You don’t have access to Dutton’s money anymore,” Claire pointed out. “You need to be careful.”

Claire had lost almost everything. She had reason to be cautious. Aida wasn’t in the best situation, either, and yet she shrugged off the concern. “I’ll be okay. I didn’t walk away empty-handed, thanks to my amazing divorce attorney.”

Marlow always felt uncomfortable when Dutton came up, and sometimes couldn’t believe it wasn’t more uncomfortable for them. The way Claire and Aida had met was remarkable, to say the least. It was even more remarkable that they’d managed to become friends. But Marlow twisted around and smiled as though she didn’t feel the sudden tension so she could acknowledge Aida’s compliment. Although Marlow was only thirty-four, she’d been a practicing attorney for ten years. She’d jumped ahead two grades when she was seven, which had enabled her to finish high school early and start college at sixteen. A knack for difficult negotiations had led her to a law degree and from there she’d gone into family law, something that had worked out well for her. Her practice had grown so fast she’d considered hiring another attorney to help with the caseload.

She probably would’ve done that, if not for the pandemic, which had shut down every aspect of her life except work, making her realize that becoming one of the best divorce attorneys in Los Angeles wasn’t everything it was cracked up to be. No matter how much money she made, she didn’t enjoy dealing with people who were so deeply upset, and the richer, more famous the client, the more acrimonious the divorce. She hoped she’d never have to wade through another one. If a marriage worked, it could be wonderful. Her parents had proved that. But after what she’d witnessed with other people since passing the bar, she was beginning to believe Tiller and Eileen were the exception.

“All I did was make Dutton play fair,” Marlow said. “But at least you have some money you can use to get by while you decide what to do from here.”

“I liked being a trophy wife,” Aida grumbled. “I’m not sure I’m cut out for anything else.”

Like so many in LA, she’d been an aspiring actress at one time, but her career had never taken off. After she’d married Dutton, she’d spent more time at the tennis club, where she and Marlow had met, than trying out for any auditions.

“Don’t say that,” Marlow told her. “You can do a lot more than look pretty.”

Claire remained conspicuously quiet. She’d been subdued since they left, so subdued that Marlow was beginning to wonder if something was wrong.

“We’ll see.” Aida shrugged off the compliment as readily as she had the warning. “But before I have to make the really hard decisions, I deserve a break. So where’s the expensive part of the island again?”

Reese chuckled. “We’re almost there.”

“We’ll be able to play tennis, too,” Marlow told her. “The club’s only a mile from the house. And Reese is our resident pro.”

“No way! You play tennis?” Aida’s voice revealed her enthusiasm.

“Every day,” he replied.

“Can he beat you?” Aida asked Marlow.

“He was just a kid the last time we played, and he could take me about half the time even then. I doubt he’ll have any problem now.”

“I can see why you talked us out of renting a car,” Claire said, finally entering the conversation. “Considering the size of this place…”

“Like I told you before,” Marlow said, “most people walk or ride a bike.”

“You only need a car if you’re going off island,” Reese chimed in. He was driving them in Eileen’s Tesla.

Marlow was anxious to ask how her mother was doing but decided to hold off. If she questioned him while her friends were in the car, she’d probably get the standard “Fine.” But she wasn’t looking for a perfunctory answer. She wanted the truth. What he’d seen and heard recently. He was the one who’d been here. Marlow hadn’t been able to visit, not even when her father died. Thanks to the pandemic, they hadn’t been able to give him the funeral he deserved, either.

Reese glanced into the rearview mirror. “Are the three of you staying all summer?”

Marlow suspected he was hoping Aida, in particular, would be on the island for a while. Although Aida was thirty-six, fourteen years older than he was, she was a delicate blonde with big blue eyes. The way she dressed and accessorized, she turned heads, especially male heads, wherever she went.

“We are,” Aida said, and the subtle hint of flirtation in her voice told Marlow that she’d picked up on Reese’s interest.

“We have some big decisions to make in the coming months,” Marlow said, hoping to give Reese a hint that this wasn’t the opportunity he might think it was. Aida was on the rebound. She needed to put her life back together, not risk her heart on a summer fling.

“What kind of decisions?” he asked, naturally curious.

Claire answered for her. “Like what we’re going to do from here on. We’re all starting over.”

Reese’s eyebrows shot up as he looked at Marlow. “Meaning…what? You won’t be returning to LA?”

“I’m not sure,” she said. “I sold my condo and closed my practice before I left, just in case.”

His jaw dropped. “Really? But your mom said you’re one of the most highly sought-after attorneys in Los Angeles.”No doubt her mother talked about her all the time. She’d heard a few things about Reese’s family, too, including the fact that he hadn’t finished school because he’d let partying come between him and a degree. But Marlow didn’t know Reese that well. She’d spent more time with his much older brother, Walker, when they were growing up. “It’s not that it wasn’t working out. It was. I’m just…done with divorce.”

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About the Author

Brenda Novak, a New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author, has penned over sixty novels. She is a five-time nominee for the RITA Award and has won the National Reader’s Choice, the Bookseller’s Best, the Bookbuyer’s Best, and many other awards. She also runs Brenda Novak for the Cure, a charity to raise money for diabetes research (her youngest son has this disease). To date, she’s raised $2.5 million. For more about Brenda, please visit www.brendanovak.com.

Social Media Links

TWITTER: @Brenda_Novak

FB: @BrendaNovakAuthor

Insta: @authorbrendanovak

Goodreads

Purchase Links

Brenda Novak Store: https://brendanovakstore.com/collections/home-shop-all/products/soti

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/books/summer-on-the-island-9780778386377/9780778311850

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0778311856/?tag=brennova09-20

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/summer-on-the-island-brenda-novak/1139352753?ean=9780778311850

Books A Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/product/9780778311850

Indigo: https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/summer-on-the-island-a/9780778311850-item.html

Indie Bound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780778311850 Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Summer-on-the-Island-Paperback-9780778311850/821066975

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Cowboy Meets His Match by Melinda Curtis

Book Description

She could never love a cowboy
Until she does…

Racing boat captain Olivia Monroe never imagined breaking up with the ocean and starting a fake relationship with too-charming cowboy Rhett Diaz. Now her family’s insisting Olivia and Rhett take an adventurous road trip as a “couple.” Only somewhere between zip-lining and rappelling down a waterfall, Olivia’s rediscovering her courage—and dangerous new feelings for Rhett. But how can a sailor love a landlocked cowboy…especially one with secrets?

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Elise’s Thoughts

The Cowboy Meets His Match shows why Melinda Curtis writes great wholesome romances with a lot of humor. Besides romance, this story is about family, second chances, love, compassion, and finding oneself by making new beginnings.

All three main characters, Olivia Monroe, Rhett Diaz, and Sonny are struggling with the direction of their futures, which is why they agree to go on a road trip together.

It all started after Olivia, a famous racing boat captain and champion, had her boat capsized. She is now hiding out with her cousins in Second Chance, Idaho, struggling to find her courage and leave her fears behind. She has hired Sonny, a sports psychologist, to help her regain her self-confidence. But things do not go as planned after she impulsively kisses a handsome former rodeo star turned rancher, Rhett. Her cousins see this and fall for the pretense that Rhett and Olivia are a couple. They promise to invest in a new extreme sports company if he takes Olivia and Sonny on a road trip.

Together the three go on a trip to try out different adventures. Because of a bet between Sonny and Rhett, Olivia is forced to make choices of which extreme sport they will try. This includes zip lining, mountain bike trails, hang gliding with eagles, and rappelling down a waterfall. After each thrill ride it appears that the fake relationship between Olivia and Rhett is turning real.

Per usual, Melinda Curtis does not disappoint. This story of finding one’s inner strength and overcoming fears whether physical or emotional is a great read.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for this story

Melinda Curtis: I knew that I wanted to write about a racing boat captain who had a near death experience and then lost her nerve. She needs to rebuild and retool her life. I wanted a hero that was a good match to her. I did not see her recovery helped by a regular rodeo or ranch cowboy. I added the thrill seeker element to test her courage and limits.

EC: Did you do any of the extreme adventures you wrote about?

MC: No way! In my youth I was a bit more courageous. But as I grew older, I find myself being more careful. I literally married someone who does not like horror movies or roller coasters, so I have stopped even going on them when we go to amusement parks. This is how far I have fallen.

EC: How did you chose the adventures?

MC: I did some research and had some friends who mountain bike. My children have done zip lining, so I asked them about their experiences. I did Google thrill seeking and found rappelling down a waterfall, which I thought was nuts. I found it fascinating to get into the psychology of people that do it. I thought about putting in hang gliding from the times I was younger and flew with my father who piloted small planes.

EC: How did you write the scenes about “getting back into the saddle?”

MC: I was in a car accident when I was eighteen where I was hit by a drunk driver. The car turned over and landed on top of a fire hydrant. I was amazed that nothing happened to me. Thankfully, I had my seat belt on. Yet, I could not drive for a while. I did not have a scratch on me but mentally it was horrifying.

EC: How would you describe Olivia before and after the accident?

MC: Before: She was a little too full of herself. I have heard elite athletes talk and wondered where is their humility? This is how she was. She had the feeling nothing will happen to her. In a previous book she was not a very good sister. Olivia was headstrong, only thought of her career, determined, independent, and assertive.

After: She was lost and was searching for her old self. She was going through a process that in the next stage of her life who was she going to be and who did she want to be, having a character growth. She got in touch with her softer side and was able to relate to people better. Olivia did doubt herself.

EC: How would you describe Rhett?

MC: A headstrong cowboy who decided to step back. He is also searching for his future. He is willing to compromise his morals to get what he wants out of life. He took Olivia on this trip on a misdirection. Rhett is kind, caring, protective, a risk taker, teaser, and an adrenaline junky. He tried to charm ladies.

EC: What about the relationship?

MC: It is alpha to alpha. She was a very strong powerful woman. On some level they understand each other. She is his platform where he can spring from. He encouraged her to go and do these adventures. She gave him a sense of a true partnership. He liked to push her buttons because she constantly put-up fences that he wanted to tear down.

EC: What about Sonny, her sports psychologist?

MC: He is a whack-a-doodle. Like Rhett and Olivia, he is trying to reinvent himself and find his next act. He decides to express his softness through his love of baby goats. Sonny is her surrogate, father-figure, cheerleader, and mentor. He pushes her also.

EC: Why goats?

MC: Growing up I did live on a sheep ranch. I was looking for something enduring, yet, comedic. I wanted something warm and cuddly where Olivia would hold it and have a breakdown moment with tears falling.

EC: Next book?

MC: It is called Healing the Rancher that comes out in May. It is a “Beauty and the Beast” type of story. The heroine is a social media manager who wants to land an account with a beef supplier chain, like “In and Out.” She is a princess type that needs to be with the client on a ranch. The hero is gruff on the outside.

In August will be my next Harlequin. It is going to be a Thanksgiving book titled A Cowboy Thanksgiving. It is book twelve in the “Monroe series” that wraps everything up. There are a lot of themes of family. The bounty of the harvest is upon us. Also, in August due to come out is the third in an anthology I write with three other authors.

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.

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Sweet Home Cowboy Anthology

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review on the HQN blog tour for SWEET HOME COWBOY – an anthology.

Below you will find an author Q&A, a book summary, my book review, an excerpt from the book and the authors’ bios and social media links. Enjoy!

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Author Q&A with Maisey Yates

· 1. How many genres do you write in?

I write Women’s Fiction and romance, and within romance I write high fantasy romance for the Presents line, and Western romance.

· 2. What is your favorite genre (or subgenre) to write? Why?

I don’t really have a favorite, I love to change it up, it keeps everything fresh. I love the twists and family relationships in women’s fiction, and I love digging deep into the characters in western romance, and I love getting to do over the top angst in Presents.

· 3. How do you decide who to collaborate with for anthologies?

I did a publisher led anthology once, but the books weren’t connected. The Jasper Creek anthologies very much came out of my friendship with Nicole, Caitlin and Jackie, just something we brainstormed together, and now it’s taken on a life of its own! Three books – and more on the way!

· 4. What book/genre have you not yet written that you would like to write in the future?

I love historical and mystery elements in WF, a historical mystery would be really fun.

· 5. Which of your characters would you most like to sit down for lunch with?

I’m a sucker for Luke Hollister from Smooth-Talking Cowboy and always have been, so I’ll always choose Luke.

· 6. What is your writing routine?

My routine really changes from book to book. Some books really like to be written in the morning, others like evenings. Some I plot, some I don’t. I try to write within normal office type hours, M-F and take weekends off, but every book is different, and some I don’t like to take a break from while I’m working on them.

· 7. How do you research information for books?

Google mostly. Seriously. And YouTube videos are great when you need visuals.

· 8. Have any of your books been made into movies? If so, which one(s) and if not, which one(s) would you like to see as a movie?

I want to see Sweet Home Cowboy as a miniseries. The sisters are so fun together, and I love the chickens and the humor. I think it would be delightful.

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Book Summary

SWEET HOME COWBOY S is a Western-themed anthology featuring four stories from bestselling authors Maisey Yates, Nicole Helm, Jackie Ashenden and Caitlin Crews!

Four half sisters create the family they’ve always dreamed of in this enchanting quartet from bestselling authors Maisey Yates, Nicole Helm, Jackie Ashenden and Caitlin Crews.

The Hathaway sisters might have grown up apart, but when they agree to move to Jasper Creek, Oregon, to revitalize their grandfather’s farm, it seems a straightforward decision. Until they meet their neighborhood cowboys…

Sweet-natured Teddy has never met a man worth taking a risk on, until now. Tomboy Joey has more affinity with farm equipment than men, until a brooding cowboy changes her mind. Prickly baker Georgie can’t resist the temptation of the most forbidden cowboy of all, and sparks fly between ceramicist Elliot and the grumpy single-dad rancher next door.

The sisters’ feelings are anything but simple, but with the love and support of each other, they discover that a cowboy might be the sweetest thing of all about coming home.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58562161-sweet-home-cowboy?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=Bmsp9x5xWp&rank=2

SWEET HOME COWBOY

Author: Maisey Yates, Jackie Ashenden, Caitlin Crews, Nicole Helm

ISBN: 9781335639967

Publication Date: March 29, 2022

Publisher: HQN Books

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

SWEET HOME COWBOY (Jasper Creek Book #3) by Maisey Yates, Jackie Ashenden, Caitlin Crews, and Nicole Helm is a wonderfully heartwarming anthology featuring the four Hathaway sisters, who never wish to be called half-sisters, come together to revitalize their grandfather’s farm in Jasper Creek, Oregon. The four sisters are featured in four novellas overlapping in time in this anthology which is the third in the Jasper Creek series and can easily be read as a standalone.

I can only say good things about this anthology. Each novella took me on an emotional ride with each sister and her cowboy match through an instant love romance with just the right amount of heat. The consistency between all the romance timelines was very well done as one sister was the focal point in each story, but there was still crossover. Each sister and cowboy couple is unique and fully drawn for being novella length. The sex scenes are not behind closed doors, but they are also not gratuitous. This is just an all-around enchanting anthology full of love, family, and house chickens.

I highly recommend this anthology!

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Excerpt

PROLOGUE

It was never comfortable for people when four sets of violet eyes zeroed in on them with the level of intensity the Hathaway sisters could manage.

A fact the half sisters had learned when they’d first met at summer camp, thanks to their families, who’d been careful to give the girls the opportunity to meet each other, without the pressure of having to become friends or even real sisters.

But sisters they had become that first day at the age of thirteen. In each other, they’d found kindred spirits. Not just in the unusual color of their eyes, but in the depths of their passions, and in their driving need to forge family out of the fragments their father had left behind when he’d impregnated all their mothers at different points in the same year.

So that, as adults, though they lived in different parts of the country, they were the best of friends. Sisters, through and through, and when Georgie had informed them of Grandpa Jack’s heart attack in Jasper Creek, the rest had rushed to the small Oregon town to see what they could do.

Grandpa Jack looked at each of them with his usual squinty-eyed suspicion. Though their father had never made any effort to be a part of his daughters’ lives, Grandpa Jack had always made it clear he’d be there if needed.

But not to expect him to be cheerful about it.

“Didn’t all have to come,” he grumbled, shifting in his hospital bed.

“Well, of course we did. And we’ll stay until you’re on the mend,” Teddy said, patting his hand. The squinty-eyed suspicion became a full-fledged scowl as he pulled his hand away.

While Teddy was all about gestures of affection, Grandpa Jack was decidedly not.

Which made the fact Georgie was the only local granddaughter a blessing as she shared the discomfort with such goings-on. He turned his glare to her. “Didn’t have to call them.”

Georgie shrugged.

“She was right to,” Joey said firmly, meeting Grandpa Jack’s scowl with her own. “We won’t hear another complaint about it. A waste of time. You know how stubborn we are.”

Grandpa Jack grunted.

Elliot smirked. “Wonder where we got it.”

A nurse knocked on the door, then poked her head in. “Sorry, girls, it’s time to head home. Visiting hours are over.”

“Girls,” Elliot muttered under her breath with a considerable amount of disdain for the word.

But Teddy pressed a kiss to Grandpa Jack’s wrinkled forehead, Elliot touched his shoulder, and Georgie and Joey hovered at the door until they all left the room, chorusing goodbyes.

“I hate leaving him all alone,” Teddy said as Elliot linked arms with her. Teddy reached out and took Joey’s arm.

“He’ll be home soon enough,” Joey reassured her. She gave Georgie an apologetic shrug, then linked arms with her too, so they were a unit as they walked out of the hospital into the cool spring evening.

“He’s not going to let you fuss over him, Teddy. It isn’t his way,” Georgie said pragmatically as they walked to her truck.

Teddy frowned. “I think you misjudge my tenacity.”

Elliot’s eyebrows winged up. “Do we?”

Teddy wrinkled her nose, but didn’t argue with Elliot.

“I found an Airbnb closer to the hospital,” Georgie said, sounding tired as she climbed into the driver’s seat. “I knew this wouldn’t be a quick visit and we’d need more room than Felix and I have.” Georgie had grown up with her half brother right here in Jasper Creek.

The four sisters climbed into Georgie’s truck. Whatever belongings they’d packed were strapped into the bed of the truck from when Georgie had picked Joey and Teddy up at the airport this afternoon, after Elliot had driven down from Portland.

Georgie drove onto the highway, and it was only about fifteen minutes later she parked in front of a pretty little farmhouse just outside of Jasper Creek.

“This place is amazing,” Teddy said.

“Much better taken care of than the main house at Grandpa Jack’s property,” Georgie returned.

The women got out, grabbed what they’d need for the night, then headed inside.

“I’ll make us some dinner,” Teddy said, already moving for the kitchen.

“The host said she left some things for us to eat when we arrived,” Georgie replied, dropping her stuff in the front room.

They all descended on the kitchen, which was quaint and old-fashioned—something that suited all four women to the bone. On the table were a variety of baked goods.

“I found a teapot and some tea,” Teddy said.

“Scones and sweet rolls for dinner sounds good to me,” Joey said, already unwrapping the plate of baked goods and digging in.

Elliot found plates and set the table, shoving one at Joey as she’d already plowed through three-fourths of a scone.

“Do you think Grandpa Jack is stressed about the ranch? And that’s what caused this?” Teddy asked, fiddling with the stove.

“I think he’s an old man who eats poorly and smokes cigars regularly. But…” Georgie sighed.

“He’s been talking about selling off the last piece of land to Colt West next door. He’d keep the

cabin and about an acre around it, but the rest would go to Colt.”

“Even the main house?” Joey asked, as she licked crumbs from her fingers.

“You could hardly call it that these days. It’s falling apart at the seams.”

Teddy frowned. “That’s just not right.”

Georgie shrugged. “He hasn’t lived in that house in decades. He’s a single, old, grumpy man. He’s finally accepting he can’t really take care of the ranch. Why not sell?”

“It’s our legacy,” Joey said. Then she looked around the table. “Isn’t it?”

“It’s our absent father’s legacy,” Elliot returned. “Assuming he’s still alive.”

All eyes turned to Georgie, who was the only one who’d ever had any contact with Mickey Hathaway. She lifted her shoulders. “Far as I know.”

Silence filled the room until Teddy’s teakettle began to whistle. She poured tea for everyone, then took a seat at the kitchen table. As far as she was concerned, this was all fate. The timing, the chance of all four of them coming here at a point in their lives where they got to decide what came next.

“We’ve always talked about how much we wanted to live there, so why don’t we?”

“Why don’t we what?” Joey replied, mouth full with her last bite of scone.

“Live there. Do what we all love to do. Put together some kind of…business. Honey, eggs,” Teddy said, pointing to herself. “Produce,” she said, pointing to Joey. “Ceramics.” Elliot’s specialty. “Our sweet Georgie’s baked goods,” she said, grinning at Georgie’s negative reaction to being called sweet.

“Most of us are already selling our wares anyway. Why don’t we do it here? The four of us.”

It would be more than the year her mother wanted, more than just learning some independence. It would be actually, hopefully permanently, forging that independence. Well, with her sisters. Which suited Teddy better. She didn’t want to be alone. She wanted to be a part of a family. Her family.

“You’d move here all the way from Maine?” Joey asked dubiously. “Leave your mother?”

Teddy sniffed. “I can leave my mother.” Then she wrinkled her nose. Subterfuge wasn’t her

strong suit.

“She wants me to move out anyway.”

“Why?” her sisters demanded, offended on her behalf.

“She thinks I need a year of independence. To find my own way. Apparently twenty-five is too old to have always lived with your mother, according to her.”

When none of her sisters argued, she glared at them. “You agree with her?”

Elliot shrugged. “I don’t disagree with her.”

“Well, anyway, this would solve that, wouldn’t it? We can fix up the house. I’m sure some people need bee removal around here, so I’ll start a new hive. Buy new chickens. Elliot can drive her ceramics van down here. Joey, you could start the farm of your dreams with local produce and flowers—a brand-new challenge, all yours. Georgie, you can design the baking kitchen you’ve been planning since childhood. And we’ll be close enough to Grandpa to help him—and far enough away he won’t beat us away with sticks.”

They looked at Teddy, varying looks of consideration and concern on their faces. But as the idea took shape in Teddy’s mind, she knew it was exactly right. This wasn’t some new dream out of left field; it was an old dream.

And if she had to be independent, why not make that old dream a reality?

“We always wanted to live in one place. Like a real family,” Teddy said. She would have reached out and grabbed all their hands if she had three herself. As it was, she only looked at them imploringly. “Sisters. Live together. Work together. It’s the dream. Maybe something good can come out of Grandpa’s health scare. If Grandpa lets us live in the house, and we pool whatever our savings are together, it’s not a financial stretch. Elliot and I can keep our independent businesses running while we get our joint business set up. Then we split the farm profit four ways.”

“Profit. That is optimistic at best,” Georgie said.

“You know I am all about optimism,” Teddy returned.

A wind chime tinkled from the front room, which was odd considering there shouldn’t be enough wind to make it move here inside.

“Did someone leave the door open?” Joey asked, pushing back from the table. The girls got up and walked toward the door, which was indeed open.

“Look at that,” Elliot said.

They stepped out onto the porch together. Beyond the dogwood in the front just beginning to bloom, the sun was setting in a riot of colors—bright magentas, deep oranges, fading into lavenders and lighter pinks.

“It’s the most beautiful sunset I’ve ever seen.”

“That’s a tad dramatic, Teddy,” Georgie said gently, though her voice held all the awe of someone who agreed, but would never admit it.

“We have to do it,” Teddy said, her voice almost a whisper. “This is a sign. Don’t you believe in fate?”

Elliot nodded. “Yeah. I’m mobile. I go where I please. Why not right here?”

Georgie shrugged. “Don’t know about fate, but it wouldn’t change much for me, except you guys would be close. I’d like that. Felix is talking about leaving Jasper Creek.”

Teddy reached out, but Georgie stopped her with a quelling look. “It’s fine.” She offered a smile, or Georgie’s version of a smile anyway. “Especially if you guys are here.”

All eyes turned to Joey.

“I have to talk timing over with my mom. I don’t want to leave her short-staffed,” Joey said, her eyes still on the sunset. Then she pushed out a breath and looked at her sisters and grinned. “But why the hell not?”

Teddy smiled at the sunset, feeling a bit teary over the whole thing. But it was meant to be, she was sure of it. “Four Sisters Farm.” She looked at each of her sisters. “That’s what we can call it. Because it’ll be ours. Always.”

Excerpted from Sweet Home Cowboy by Nicole Helm, Maisey Yates, Jackie Ashenden, Caitlin Crews. Copyright © 2022 by Nicole Helm, Maisey Yates, Jackie Ashenden, Caitlin Crews. Published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

***

Maisey Yates is a New York Times bestselling author of over one hundred romance novels. Whether she’s writing strong, hard working cowboys, dissolute princes or multigenerational family stories, she loves getting lost in fictional worlds. An avid knitter with a dangerous yarn addiction and an aversion to housework, Maisey lives with her husband and three kids in rural Oregon. Check out her website, maiseyyates.com or find her on Facebook.

Author Website: http://www.maiseyyates.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaiseyYates.Author/

Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/maiseyyates Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maiseyyates/

Jackie Ashenden writes dark, emotional stories with alpha heroes who’ve just got the world to their liking only to have it blown wide apart by their kick-ass heroines.

She lives in Auckland, New Zealand, with her husband the inimitable Dr Jax and two kids. When she’s not torturing alpha males, she can be found drinking chocolate martinis, reading anything she can lay her hands on, wasting time on social media, or forced to mountain biking with her husband.

Author Website: https://www.jackieashenden.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jackie.ashenden

Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/jackieashenden

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jackie_ashenden/

Caitlin Crews is a USA Today bestselling, RITA-nominated, and critically-acclaimed author who has written more than 100 books and counting. She has a Masters and Ph.D. in English Literature, thinks everyone should read more category romance, and is always available to discuss her beloved alpha heroes. Just ask. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her comic book artist husband, is always planning her next trip, and will never, ever, read all the books in her to-be-read pile. Thank goodness.

Author Website: https://megancrane.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MeganCraneAndCaitlinCrews/

Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/megancrane Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meganmcrane/

Nicole Helm writes down-to-earth contemporary romance and fast-paced romantic suspense. She lives with her husband and two sons in Missouri. Visit her website: www.nicolehelm.com

Author Website: https://www.nicolehelm.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorNicoleHelm

Twitter: https://www.instagram.com/nicole_t_helm/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicole_t_helm/

Purchase Links

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Bold Fortune by M.M. Crane

Book Description

Opposites burn hot enough to melt the snow and ice of an Alaskan winter in this all-new series from USA Today bestselling author Megan Crane.

Quinn Fortune is the official protector of all the unspoiled beauty in Lost Lake, Alaska, as the head of the community trust. A rugged frontiersman through and through, he doesn’t do soft. But he can’t help his fascination with the pink-clad professor who shows up in Lost Lake seeking his approval for her cheerful outsider’s proposal about land that isn’t hers. Still, he agrees to consider it–if she can handle a month of good old-fashioned Alaska living. He’s betting she’ll head back to the safety of the Lower 48 within the week.

Violet Parrish is a thinker, not a doer, but desperate times call for extraordinary measures–like taking on the Alaskan wilderness. In January. Off the grid. With a mountain man hot enough to melt a glacier. The frozen Alaskan tundra should be no match for Violet’s determination, but the sheer immensity of the Last Frontier takes her by surprise–as does her attraction to gruff, impossibly handsome Quinn, and the unexpected heat that burns between them during the freezing Alaska nights…

***

Elise’s Thoughts

Bold Fortune by M. M. Crane aka Megan Crane brings to life an “opposites attract” story within an Alaskan setting. The plot has action, intensity, and emotion. The best part is the banter between the characters.

The plot begins with an Internet boyfriend stealing Violet Parrish’s research and reputation. She realizes she must do something to keep her job. She offers to convert the small-town of Lost Lake Alaska into a trust to protect the land and make the old mine there a historical landmark. But she must convince Quinn Fortune, the representative and protector of the land to go along with her plan. After arriving in this bush wilderness, she accepts Quinn’s challenge that he will discuss her proposal if she spends time in the Alaskan wilderness. No matter what he throws at her, Violet keeps derailing his plans and shows she is up to the challenge.

Violet is a strong female character. She is fierce, smart, independent, determined, and enthusiastic. But she also drives Quinn crazy with an over-the-top love of pink. Quinn is a mountain man who believes in the rugged frontier and on the outside has a rugged grumpy and gruff attitude. Together they realize that there is a mutual attraction.

This is a wonderful adventure story that has romance, and great banter between the characters. Although not a suspenseful romance as in her previous books, this one has plenty of action.

***

Elise’s Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Are you ever going to write suspense romance again?

Megan Crane: I would love to. I really enjoy writing those type of books. It was a lot of fun. I would love to hear from my readers if they want me to write more books like the Alaskan Force Special Ops series. They can contact me at https://megancrane.com/contact.php#email .

EC: The idea for this story?

MC: My editor wanted me to write something still in Alaska but with a frontiersman. I created a little town with a lot of snow, a lake, and an abandoned mine having a tight-knit community.

EC: You continue the Alaskan setting?

MC: This is a very different Alaska than what I wrote about in the Alaskan Force series, the coastal region. Here in the interior, there is winter for ten months, not much daylight, very quiet. I found out during winter is when this part of the state opens. Since there are no roads in the winter, after the snow falls, people use their snowmobile. They do not think of the snow as an impediment but as something that allows them to connect. I even put tidbits I found out. For instance, no one should eat the snow, but must let it melt. It is all about the expanding of calories and dehydrating. To get here people need to fly or find a way with the river.

EC: How would you describe Violet?

MC: A brain in a jar. She is trying to figure out how to be a whole person and what she is capable of. She is intellectual, charming, confident, enthusiastic, and adaptable.

EC: Why pink?

MC: I thought a man like Quinn would find it outrageous. Violet wants happy colors and feels black, and grey are not bright. This is me. I have a pair of red pants to brighten things up. Eventually he finds it endearing.

EC: Describe Quinn?

MC: Grumpy, a martyr about his self-imposed responsibility. Blunt, rugged, loner, stubborn, and practical.

EC: Relationship?

MC: She gets him to open. He finds her fascinating especially since she steps up to his challenges. They complement each other’s feelings. Violet is not intimidated by him. He has a marshmallow center and ends up falling for her.

EC: What is the role of Stuart?

MC: Stuart is a make-believe boyfriend, while Quinn is real. Stuart is a narcissist. She only knows him through the Zoom calls. It was only a relationship in her head. Stuart tries to convince Quinn that Violet had ulterior motives and her feelings are not real.

EC: Next book?

MC: The second book in the series is Quinn’s brother Bowie. He gets involved in a mail-order-bride contest. The title is Reckless Fortune and will be out in fall. Then in March 2022 will be the book written with my author friends: Nicole Helm, Jackie Ashenden, and Maisey Yates. It is titled Sweet Home Cowboy. The plot has four Hathaway sisters who had grown up apart, but they agree to move to Jasper Creek, Oregon, to revitalize their grandfather’s farm. It is very humorous.

THANK YOU!!

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Caught by the Cowboy Dad by Melinda Curtis

Book Description

This cowboy’s planned his future…

Then love gets in the way!

Holden Monroe is focused on sending his son off to college until ex-girlfriend Bernadette Carlisle drops the bomb that she’s expecting their baby. The cowboy’s offer to do the right thing is an empty gesture to Bernadette. The successful doctor doesn’t believe Holden capable of settling down—she just wants a custody agreement. But an eventful road trip might just change everyone’s expectations!

***

Elise’s Thoughts

Caught By the Cowboy Dad by Melinda Curtis shows why she is the best at writing relationship stories. Readers take a journey with the characters as they struggle through their feelings and must decide if second chances really exist.

The plot has Holden Monroe coming to grips with his seventeen-year-old son Devin leaving for college, an ex-girlfriend, Dr. Bernadette Carlisle, expecting his baby, and having to deal with his financial losses. All of these have caused anxiety that has manifested itself in what looked like a heart attack but was a panic attack.

Although not wanting to make his anxiety worse, Bernadette realizes that she and Holden must talk about how the baby will be raised. She decides to accept what she perceives as an invitation to take a road trip with Holden and Devin. Readers will enjoy the banter between all three. Holden wants to be a “obligation” dad, Bernadette wants a custody agreement, and Devin wants to see the two get together.

Being a strong, independent woman, she knows what she wants, and will accept nothing less from this stubborn man who is not at the top of his game. She is also a successful OB/GYN practice in Ketchum which she is trying to sell to become Second Chance’s doctor, where Holden is situated. She refuses to accept Holden’s marriage proposals because it is obvious it does not include love.

Melinda uses humor, emotion, and life’s challenges to write realistic plots and characters.

***

Elise’s Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Idea for the series?

Melinda Curtis: My dad passed away and he had a list of crazy items to be given away to different people. For example, a hunting rifle used to go Elk hunting was given away to a waitress in an Idaho small town. He always stopped there to have a cup of coffee on his drive to his summer vacation home. There were also a bunch of other random items. I thought what if people inherited something odd. So, I had a bunch of grandchildren inherit a town.

EC: Why anxiety?

MC: I wanted to show how it can have people unfocused, not able to concentrate, and feel like something is pressing on your chest. It happened to me when everything in my family’s life changed. We were going to sell our house in California and be closer to our children in Oregon. Covid hit as we were listing our house. I can relate to being about to multi-task and having chest pressure because of all these life changes. It was extremely stressful.

EC: What about this book?

MC: I set up the romance for this story in book three or four. Holden was the silver fox hero, thirty-eight years old. My husband just had a heart attack, so I thought to give Holden a wake-up call. I was reading about those in their thirties, some police and military people who had a heart attack in their thirties. Harlequin wanted me to not give him a true heart attack, so I gave Holden anxiety with panic attacks.

EC: Do you like to write large families?

MC: This series specifically has a large family. I prefer to write smaller families because it is easier to keep track of. It is hard to wrap everything up, to remember what everyone looks like.

EC: How would you describe Holden?

MC: He should have been born a Yuppie. Now people are not as accepting of wealth and success. He had a big shift because he had to feel more relaxed and comfortable in his own skin. He is proud, strong, stubborn, and wants to be manly. Pride was a huge factor because he must admit to everyone, he lost all this money. Holden is into himself.

EC: How would you describe Bernadette?

MC: Curious. She wants to be a country doctor because she will be a single mom, thinking about her priorities. She is comfortable within herself. She is a doctor I would love to have, compassionate and a great listener. She is a straight-talker, sarcastic where Holden is concerned, but also honest, warm, and very smart.

EC: What about the relationship between Holden and Bernadette?

MC: She is special and realizes that she would want her man to be happy. She considers family very important and is willing to find her way. They are navigating how things will be. I do not see them in the small town past the birth of the baby. Everybody had to hit him over the head to realize how much he cared for her.

EC: The role of Devin, Holden’s child?

MC: He was a pressure point by adding some conflict to the situation. I, as a parent, also thought that once my child is out of high school and off to college my job is essentially done. Holden realized Devin wants to be independent and that his job isn’t necessarily done. Yet, at times he switched roles with Holden as to who is the parent and who is the child. He gave advice.

EC: You had a book made into a movie?

MC: I wrote a book titled Dandelion Wishes, a Harmony Valley series” Novel 1. It was a small-town winery book. It was one of my more serious books. It has real conflict. The movie is called” Love in Harmony Valley” and stars Amber Marshall from the “Heartland series.” She is a fantastic actress. On set, she is exactly like you see her in “Heartland.” I had to do some promotional stuff and she came running over to me and just laughed/hugged me.

EC: Next book?

MC: I am creating a western series which will launch in 2023. I also do a multi-author series called the “Blackwells.” The next Monroe book, book ten, is out in February titled The Cowboy Meets His Match. The story has Olivia Monroe, a yacht racing captain. Her boat capsized and she had to be resuscitated. She has now lost her nerve. She meets this cowboy who likes extreme sports, and he challenges her. In 2022 this series will be finished with the last book coming out around Thanksgiving.

THANK YOU!!

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Rodeo Christmas at Evergreen Ranch by Maisey Yates

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review on the HTP Holiday Romance Blog Tour for RODEO CHRISTMAS AT EVERGREEN RANCH (Gold Valley Book #13) by Maisey Yates.

Below you will find a book summary, my book review, an excerpt from the book and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Summary

Gold Valley’s rodeo champion is facing the toughest challenge of his life – a Christmas wedding!

Legendary bull-rider Jake Daniels has only one plan this holiday season – to ignore the pain it always brings. Until his best friend Callie Carson shows up on his ranch with a marriage proposal! Jake has lived so close to the edge it’s a miracle he’s still alive – he knows all about risk. But marrying the woman he craves more than anything feels like the biggest risk of all.

Callie Carson might be rodeo royalty, but to fulfil her dreams of riding saddle bronc, she needs her inheritance. And to access that, she needs a husband. But Jake the husband is deliciously different from Jake the friend, especially after the wild heat of their wedding night! He was only supposed to be her cowboy for Christmas, but Jake’s every heart-stopping touch has Callie questioning how she’ll ever be able to walk away.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56602626-rodeo-christmas-at-evergreen-ranch?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=8glGSZ1PLe&rank=1

RODEO CHRISTMAS AT EVERGREEN RANCH

Author: Maisey Yates

ISBN: 9781335959171

Publication Date: October 26, 2021

Publisher: HQN Books

***

My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

RODEO CHRISTMAS AT EVERGREEN RANCH (Gold Valley Book #13) by Maisey Yates is another holiday contemporary western romance addition to the Gold Valley series. I always look forward to the Gold Valley books, but especially the ones set during the holidays.

Champion bull rider, Jake Daniels has returned to his ranch for the holidays leaving the rodeo circuit behind. He risked his life for years to obtain his dream of his own horse ranch and now he just has to make it through the holidays and the painful memories they bring.

Callie Carson is from a rodeo royalty family and has dreamed of riding saddle broncs instead of barrel racing. To fulfill her dream, she needs her inheritance and to get her inheritance before she turns thirty, she needs to be married.

Callie follows her long-time friend, Jake to his home in Gold Valley and proposes. Things begin to change and heat up as Callie’s friend becomes her husband and Jake may be taking the biggest chance of his life.

I always look forward to returning to this series or any romance by Maisey Yates. Jake and Callie are both dealing with difficult emotional baggage. While these two characters eventually come together for their HEA, there is a lot of grief and pain to get through first. Christmas has always played an emotional part in these stories and this one is no exception. I loved Jake and really felt for his painful past and the present feelings he had for Callie, but Callie was a little more difficult to care about because at times I felt she was too centered on herself and her own feelings. The sex scenes are explicit and smokin’ hot, but not gratuitous. While I enjoyed the romance when the H/h were finally emotionally together and I enjoyed the snippets of previous characters in the series, this was not my favorite of the Gold Valley series.

This is a good friends-to-lovers romance set during the holidays and I recommend the entire Gold Valley series.

***

Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE

JAKE DANIELS HAD grown up knowing that life was short. When he was in high school, he’d lost his parents, and along with them, the sense that anything in this world was guaranteed.

That kind of thing changed a man.

It could make him afraid of his own shadow, worried about taking risks and filled with a sense of self-preservation.

It was either that, or he realized since there were no guarantees, he might as well go all in. Push those chips out to the center of the table and see if the gamble paid off.

He’d done some admittedly dumb stuff as a kid. Not gambling so much as acting out. But the rodeo had changed him. It had saved him.

He’d spent the last eighteen years gambling and doing pretty damn well for himself, it had to be said. Years spent in the rodeo, flinging himself around on the back of enraged bulls, had netted him a decent amount of money, and now that he was more or less ready to get out of the game, those winnings, and the amount of money his parents’ life insurance had left behind, had gotten him a big spread in Gold Valley.

He was going to be a rancher.

Not cattle, like his cousin Ryder. No. He was getting into horses. High-value breeds. Another gamble. It would either pay off, or ruin him.

That was the kind of life he liked. That was the kind of thing that made him feel alive.

And if this was retirement, hell, he was pretty damn into it. Thirty-two years old, and wealthy enough to figure out a way to live his dream. Not bad at all.

Of course, there were things he would miss about the rodeo. The people on the circuit were practically family now. So many years traveling around the same venues, getting busted up together, competing fiercely and going out for a beer after.

But it had been time to leave, and all it had taken was one fierce accident to teach him that.

And Gold Valley was his home, so this had been the place to go to when his time in the rodeo was done.

The day his parents had died, his aunt and uncle had also died, along with the mother of one of his closest friends. That had left a passel of orphaned children, a big old ranch that had once been run by their parents and a whole lot of chaos.

But it had been a good life. Other than all the crushingly sad parts.

His cousin Ryder had taken care of all of them, since he was the only one who’d been eighteen when the tragedy had happened.

He often wondered how they’d made it through without Ryder punching them all in the damn face.

He was sure that Ryder had wanted to from time to time.

Hell. Jake and Colt had been absolute assholes. Neither of them had handled losing their parents well. Well, was there a good way to handle that? He didn’t know. But at seventeen and fifteen, he and his brother had been mad at the world, and kicking against the one person who had been doing his best to help them.

They’d both left home and joined the rodeo, the Western take on running away and joining the circus.

It had taken some years and some maturity for him to fully appreciate what he’d had.

Because what Ryder had given to them had been bound up in his loss, and until he’d been in his midtwenties probably, he hadn’t fully been able to separate those two things and think of home, and his cousin, without a measure of pain and anger.

Even now, when he pulled into Hope Springs Ranch, a strange sensation took hold of him.

Nostalgia, grief and home, all rolled into one.

He’d been contending with it a lot lately, because his—for lack of a better word—retirement was still fairly new, and being in one place and not on the road was unusual for him.

But that was a choice he’d made, and one that was taking a bit of time for him to settle into. It had been just over three months, and it still felt…wrong in some ways.

It was easier to pretend that all your demons were dealt with when you just spent a good portion of the time running from them. Made things simple. At least as simple as they could be.

The problem was his demons had done a decent job of catching up to him on the circuit, and that was when he’d decided it was time to move on.

When Cal had fallen…

How could he live with something happening to his mentee? Cal was his best friend and with his guidance had gotten hurt.

No, that had brought him back to a dark, raw place. One he didn’t want to visit again.

That calm before the storm. That bright ray of sunshine revealed to be the headlights of a Mack truck bearing down on him.

He’d read that poem that said nothing gold could stay.

In his experience, it turned out gold was fleeting. And revealed to be fool’s gold on top of it.

Good never lasted.

And it was rarely real, anyway.

He’d been… Well, he hadn’t been thrilled about Cal wanting to come for Thanksgiving, but he felt responsible for the accident so in the end he hadn’t been able to say no.

He pulled his truck up to the front of the farmhouse, and the door opened, three dogs spilling out the front and down the front steps.

“Back, mutts,” he muttered when he got out of the truck, smiling affectionately at the creatures as he bent down and scratched them behind the ears.

He looked up and saw Sammy standing on the top step of the porch, her baby on her hip. Sammy was married to his cousin Ryder now, but she was another member of their ragtag family. She hadn’t lost her parents, but her situation at home, as he understood it, had been unacceptable, and when she was sixteen she’d come to live with them. She’d never left, and she and Ryder had gotten married a year earlier.

Finally, in his opinion.

The two of them had spent way too long dancing around the truth. Not that he could blame them. Nothing in his life had ever made marriage look particularly appealing. His parents…

His parents had been unhappy, slaves to a ranch and their children, to marriage vows they’d said to each other and had always seemed like they might regret.

For just a moment it had seemed like it might all be fixed. For just a moment it had seemed like they’d be okay.

Then it had all been destroyed.

That bright spot of hope swallowed by reality.

After years of unhappiness, his parents had just died.

Jake couldn’t imagine that kind of life.

“How you doing?” he asked.

Sammy shifted the baby from one hip to the other, the little girl reaching out and grabbing her mom’s blond hair. Sammy laughed and unwrapped the chubby fist from her curls. She looked happier than he’d ever seen her before.

He supposed for some people there was something to be said for this life.

God knew Ryder seemed happier.

But then, it was impossible for Ryder to seem more grim. Jake felt pretty guilty about that with the benefit of age and wisdom.

“Great,” Sammy said. “We’ve been seeing so much of you lately. I feel spoiled.”

“Well, that’s good, because it won’t take long for you to just feel sick of me.”

“Never,” Sammy said, coming down the steps and offering him a hug.

Sammy was like that. Effortless, easy affection with people around her.

He admired it, but he’d never much understood it. There was only one kind of touch he was free with. Sex was simple. And being a champion in the world of rodeo meant there was no shortage of buckle bunnies lining up to see if the rumors were true. His bull rides lasted eight seconds, and a ride in his bed lasted the whole night.

He took a lot of pride in the fact that he had staying power. That he gave a damn for the pleasure of the women who passed through his hotel rooms.

But that was as deep as he got.

“Come on in,” Sammy said. “Logan and Rose are already here. Iris and Griffin are on their way.”

It was strange to him that everybody had paired off now. Everybody except for himself, and his brother, Colt, who would rather take a stick between the eyes than settle down.

Jake was confident that would be his brother’s stance.

His brother was still going out hard in the rodeo. As far as Jake knew he wasn’t even interested in coming back to town and settling down the way Jake was, let alone getting married.

He walked into the living room, and noticed all the little changes.

Since Ryder and Sammy had gotten married, the place, which had actually been basically the same in all the years since their parents had died, had gotten a bit of a facelift.

Sammy had added a whole lot of real grown-up touches to it. Pretty things.

It was weird. Weirder that he cared.

Ryder came through from the kitchen and offered a greeting. “Good to see you.”

“You, too. Hey, Sammy,” Jake said. “Would it be all right if my buddy Cal came for Thanksgiving?”

“Sure,” Sammy said. “The more, the merrier.”

He was glad Sammy was thrilled. He was less thrilled. But there were a spare few things on God’s earth he saw as sacred. His friendship with Cal was one of them.

The accident might have been a catalyst for Jake deciding to leave the rodeo, but it was just damned cowardly to then deny his friend’s request to come visit. Why? Because he felt guilty about the fall?

Hell, yeah, he did.

But that didn’t mean he had to be happy about the visit. Though even just being away and out of the game, knowing he was just out of it now for good… There were things he missed. He was looking forward to having a few beers and talking about old times.

“Good,” Jake said.

Eventually, Iris and her new husband arrived, followed by Pansy and her husband, West, and West’s teenage brother, Emmett. West and Pansy had taken over the raising of the kid, since West’s mother wasn’t hugely into the maternal thing. Putting it mildly.

And while everything with his family was good—it always was—there was an indefinable feeling of…change.

Right. Well, you haven’t been here very much, so you don’t have the right to have an opinion about how things have changed.

That thought galled him a little bit.

And it was true enough. He’d been gone, seen to his own affairs all this time, and something that had given him a small measure of comfort was the fact that he could come home at any time and things would be roughly the way that he left them. But not so much anymore.

There were new people. New plates. The house was fuller than it had ever been, but that made it a little bit unrecognizable, too.

It was a whole damn thing.

He finished eating, and hung out for a while.

Then he bid everybody farewell, got in his truck and started on the road back to his ranch.

Settling in Gold Valley.

There was a time when he’d been sure he’d never do that. And as he drove down the familiar highway he had a strange sense of…dread.

He hated that.

He chased dread. The kind of fear that held other people down, he pursued it. He’d spent years riding bulls because he’d figured why not give fate the biggest middle finger of all.

It was the quiet moments that seemed to bring the fear. The still moments. The golden hour, when the sun lit up the world around him and everything looked new. And there would be a moment. A breath. Where peace rested in his soul.

And right on its heels came the hounds of hell.

The arena had stopped it. The pounding of hooves, the danger.

It was just that it had followed him to the arena now so he’d figured he’d take his chances here.

Maybe that had been a mistake.

Too late now.

He drove through town, trying to get a look at how it might seem if he were an outsider. If he was someone who hadn’t grown up here. The brick facades were the kind of thing tourists lost their shit over. But he lost the ability to see them a long time ago.

For him… For him, Gold Valley had just represented everything he lost.

He’d been running when he’d left.

He’d run for a long time. And he’d achieved a hell of a lot.

But whatever he thought he’d feel when he got here… He didn’t.

And so he was trying to see everything with new eyes, like he was a new man, because he felt just so damned much like the old one. And he wasn’t the biggest fan.

Hope Springs always put him in this kind of mood.

So he shrugged it off and started mentally going over the timeline that he had in place for getting his ranch going. His first five horses were coming at the new year.

It was a new challenge. And it reinvigorated him. That was the problem. The rodeo had gotten stale. He’d won everything twice. You didn’t get better than that. He’d done it twice in a row, and he didn’t want to get to the point where he wasn’t winning anymore.

He’d peaked. Basically.

So now he had to go find somewhere else to do that.

That was something, anyway.

It was one reason he’d backed his cousin Iris when she had decided to open her bakery.

He knew all about needing a change.

Maybe that meant he actually was still running.

None of it mattered now, though.

He hadn’t had enough to drink tonight because he’d needed to get his ass home, but he was going to open some whiskey the minute he got in the door.

The place was out about ten miles from town, a nice flat parcel of property with the mountains behind it. The house itself was a big, white farmhouse with a green metal roof. Different to the rustic place at Hope Springs, but he liked it. The driveway was gravel, long and winding, with tall, dense trees on either side of the road.

But when he came through the trees into the clearing where the house was, there was a surprise waiting for him in front of the house.

An old, beat-up pickup was parked there, and he could see a lone figure leaning up against the hood. He parked the truck and got out, making his way over to the figure.

In the darkness, he couldn’t quite make it out, but he had a feeling he knew who it was. Early and unannounced.

Entirely in keeping with what he knew of his friend.

“Cal?”

And two wide, brown eyes looked up at him from beneath the brim of a white cowboy hat, long, glossy brown hair shifting with the motion. “Jake. I’m really glad to see you. Because… I don’t just need a job. I need a husband.”

***

Author Bio

Maisey Yates is a New York Times bestselling author of over one hundred romance novels. Whether she’s writing strong, hard working cowboys, dissolute princes or multigenerational family stories, she loves getting lost in fictional worlds. An avid knitter with a dangerous yarn addiction and an aversion to housework, Maisey lives with her husband and three kids in rural Oregon.

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