THREE COWBOYS AND A BABY by Kate Pearce is a heartfelt contemporary western romance full of misunderstandings, tension, humor, and love. This is the first book in a new trilogy featuring three sexy former Marines now cowboys on the Nilsen family ranch at the northern end of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range.
When Luke Nilsen left the service, he returned home to run his family’s ranch with two of his Marine brothers, Noah and Max. An old teammate shows up at the ranch out of the blue with his infant son, Sky, looking for the baby’s mother who supposedly lives in town. When he doesn’t find her, he sneaks out overnight and leaves the baby behind.
Noah Harding had to raise his three sisters while his mother worked to support them and he swears he will never have a child of his own, but until the baby’s mother turns up to claim him, he will do his best to take care of him. When Sky’s mother shows up at the ranch relieved to find her son safe, they become snowed in, and Noah learns there is more to the story and there may be more to his own feelings.
Jen Rossi knows her son’s father is unreliable and when she is delayed getting back from deployment, she never expected he would abandon their son with three men she doesn’t even know. Snowed in, Jen is especially helpful with her nursing skills after an accident. While she really appreciates the handsome, but taciturn Noah, she must consider her future with her son and the ever-present problems her ex can cause for her custody.
I like the author’s set up for this trilogy, the setting and the three friends. Their military service made them all close, but they also came back with some difficulties adjusting and the isolated, large ranch in the mountains is a perfect place to heal. Noah is gruff and has to have everything organized in a logical way which does not always line-up with emotions. Jen has grown up in foster care until her service and now whether she has found a man she can learn to trust and love; she must put hers and her son’s futures first. While I enjoyed all the back and forth while Noah and Jen are getting to know each other, there were times it went on too long for me when some things could have been taken care of by just some honest conversation. The sex scenes are smokin’ hot and explicit, but not gratuitous. All of the secondary characters are fully fleshed and realistic and I cannot wait to see who is going to meet their HEA match next.
I enjoyed this contemporary western romance and am looking forward to the other two books to come in the trilogy.
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Author Bio
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kate Pearce was born in England in the middle of a large family of girls and quickly found that her imagination was far more interesting than real life. After acquiring a degree in history and barely escaping from the British Civil Service alive, she moved to California and then to Hawaii with her kids and her husband and set about reinventing herself as a romance writer.
She is known for both her unconventional heroes and her joy at subverting romance clichés. In her spare time she self publishes science fiction erotic romance, historical romance, and whatever else she can imagine.
Can an Englisch city girl ever become one of the Plain People?
She needed a safe place to hide. Instead she found a place to call home…
Television journalist Leah Porte never imagined her career would end with her witnessing a murder. Now she’s temporarily living among the Amish in witness protection. Instead of feeling alone and adrift, Leah is warmly welcomed by the close-knit community–and Amish bachelor Isaac Sommer. But caught between two very different worlds, choosing love would mean leaving her Englisch life behind forever.
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Book Description for Amish Baby Lessons
They need her. But will she risk her heart?
She’s the perfect Amish nanny…until she falls for her bachelor employer.
Tall, plain and awkward, Amish maed Jane Troyer has always been “useful.” Now she’s the temporary nanny for overwhelmed Amish bachelor Levy Struder and his baby niece. But Jane’s finding it hard to resist falling for the sweet boppli and the handsome, hardworking Levy. Can this spirited Plain Jane win a bachelor’s heart…and make their temporary arrangement permanent?
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Book Description for Her Path to Redemption
Can she find forgiveness…
and a second chance?
Returning to the Amish community she left during her rumspringa, widowed mother Eliza Struder’s determined to repair her reputation. But one woman stands between her and acceptance into the church—the mother of the man she left behind. Which means Eliza must stay away from Josiah Lapp. But they’re still drawn to each other. Is it too late for the future that once filled both their dreams?
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Elise’s Thoughts
Patrice Lewis latest has three novels centering around the Amish. Each of the last three years she has written stories that allow readers to see the conflicts involving the hero and heroine. A bonus is that people begin to understand the differences between the Amish and English worlds.
The Amish Newcomer has a TV journalist, Leah Porte, witnessing a gang murder. Put into witness protection for her own safety, she is sent to live with an Amish Family. This story centers on country life versus city life as well as living independently versus relying on family and community. Leah also grapples with her feelings for Isaac Sommer who had lived among the English until he decided to return to his Amish roots and become baptized. Would their living in a different world, with different cultures, be too much for a relationship to flourish?
Amish Baby Lessons is an ugly duckling type of story. Jane Troyer sees herself as a “plain Jane” who is awkward, although useful. Deciding to have a change of atmosphere she goes to live with her aunt and uncle in a new state. After meeting Levy Struder and his infant niece Mercy, who he is caring for, Jane decides to accept his job offer of being a nanny. Caring for Mercy brings Levy and Jane together, both realizing that they have feelings for each other. Will they overcome their own insecurities to realize how much they care for each other?
Her Path to Redemption has Eliza Struder, Levy’s sister, coming back to the Amish community. She left during her rumspringa and had a baby, Mercy, out of wedlock with an English man whom she married. After he died, she gratefully accepted the charity of a Pastor and his wife, returning home. She quickly realizes that she still has feelings for Josiah Lapp, the man she left behind. Each are drawn to each other, but must overcome some obstacles including Josiah’s mother, if the bishop is willing to baptize Eliza, and will the community accept and forgive her.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Were these books a series?
Patrice Lewis: The first one, The Amish Newcomer, was a stand-alone book but the other two books, Amish Baby Lesson, and Her Path to Redemption, are related.
EC: Why witness protection in the first book, The Amish Newcomer?
PL: I was trying to figure out how an English woman would be a part of an Amish community, including her having to dress the part. The only thing I could come up with is witness protection. The Amish have been known to take people in for witness protection. How would the character settle in with no background about the Amish? Leah had to be taught by the family how do work without electricity, appliances, a learning curve. There is a lot of me in this book.
EC: How so?
PL: I wondered if I could do what Leah did. I also wondered if I could ever become Amish since I do not like modern electronics. A quote in this book, “In the world, but not of the world.” I did have the Isaac hero character publishing a magazine on a computer powered by solar panels. I would belong to a more modern branch order that is not so resistant to technology. People who like to withdraw from the modern world must conform to an extent to make a living, but they are selective.
EC: How would you describe Leah?
PL: A duck out of water because she never lived in a rural area. She was completely urban. The Amish work as a community, while Leah is used to being independent. She had to learn that labor, working with her hands, is not something to avoid. Labor with the Amish is a form of barter. She had to learn that domestic chores are not oppressive. Previously she was strong, competent, and career minded. Leah was part of the feminist culture who competed in a man’s world. She can be sarcastic, feisty, and blunt.
EC: How would you describe Isaac?
PL: He had a lot of baggage. He came back to the Amish and became baptized. He still has a lot of “English” about him. He is determined and confident, but feels he has a lot to prove.
EC: What about the relationship between Leah and Isaac?
PL: He was more interested in her. There is a massive barrier because he was Amish, and she was not. This stopped him from getting involved with her.
EC: In Amish Baby Lessons what gave you the idea?
PL: Originally, I had the idea of a plain Jane, an ugly duckling.
EC: How would you describe Jane?
PL: Originally, I had her very plain, sarcastic, and bitter. Her mom told her to travel to her aunt and uncle for a change of environment. I decided to tone her bitterness down because she was not a very likeable character. Hired as a nanny, working with an infant, the more her true spirit comes out: she cannot be beautiful, but can be useful. Jane was based on a librarian I knew years ago who was adored. Even though she was not pretty, everyone loved her. Looks are not everything.
EC: What about the relationship with Jane and Levy?
PL: He adores her. He feels Jane’s inside is pure gold. He must get over his guilt because he thinks he chased his sister Eliza away when raising her after their parents died. Jane respects him for trying to raise Eliza’s daughter. Jane drew out the best in him and realizes he is a good man.
EC: What is the role of the baby Mercy?
PL: She represents hope. She gives Levy a do-over chance. She brings Jane and Levy together. Backstory on the book cover. It shows a four-month-old but when the book begins Mercy is a newborn infant. They did alter the text on the back cover description.
EC: How about Eliza who is in this book and the main character in the next book, The Path to Redemption?
PL: Caring, has an unsettled life, rebellious, but has changed. Because of her turnaround she still has a fire in her but has become subdued. In the last book Eliza marvels how Levy has changed. She was at rock bottom and was given money to return home. She was determined to pay this debt back.
EC: In the last book, Her Path To Redemption, how would you describe Josiah?
PL: He was bitter toward the English world because it lured Eliza away. His mother was resentful of Eliza.
EC: The role of the dolls?
PL: I was surprised to learn that the Amish share medical costs, if necessary, but everyone is responsible to make their own living. The dolls grew into a business for Eliza where she could become financially independent.
EC: Next books?
PL: The Mysterious Amish Nanny is out in January. The heroine was originally raised Amish but after her parents were killed, she had to enter foster care in the English world. She had been a banker until everything comes crashing down. She takes this cross-county trip, and her car breaks down next to an Amish community. Another book is a story of three siblings, a three-book series, which will probably not come out until April of next year.
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.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for WRONG LINE, RIGHT CONNECTION by Karina Bartow on the author’s personal blog tour.
Below you will find my author interview, a book description, my book review, and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Author Interview
Avonna Kershey:How did you get the idea for your story? And why a novella instead of a full length romance?
Karina Bartow: My mom cleaned for a family friend, Mabel, for thirty years, and she became a grandmother to my sister and me. Because of her clever wit and the deep impact she made on my life, I used to tease her that I’d write a book about her one day. She passed away when I was fifteen, but I kept my promise by putting her as a secondary character in the first book I ever wrote, Forgetting My Way Back to You. My writing coach liked her so much, though, that she worked on me for years to write a stand-alone story about her. Eventually, I conceded and used several true aspects of her life—like her career with the telephone company and her real love letters from her husband—to sculpt Wrong Line, Right Connection.
As for the length of it, I didn’t really have a plan for how long it would be. Like with my other books, I try to base it on the feel of where the plot’s going. I’d rather have a reader wishing for more rather than wishing for it to end!
AK: Was there a reason you chose the 1960’s time period and the Kentucky setting?
KB: Yes, I obviously needed a time period when the switchboard was still in service. In truth, the real Mabel worked as an operator around the 1930’s, but not being a history buff, I wasn’t too comfortable with that era. Plus, her character in Forgetting My Way Back to You was ninety when the story was set in 2013, so I had to be true to that.
Louisville was Mabel’s real-life hometown and something she was very proud of, so it was my only choice.
AK: How would you describe Mabel?
KB: In the book and in real life, she’s incredibly witty and a force of nature. She’s her own person and doesn’t compromise who she is for anyone. I gave the fictional version a bit more hesitancy to trust people because she has endured so much. Still, she loves life.
AK:Why did you give Mabel two previous relationships?
KB: Again, that was a true fact about the real Mabel. She was married twice before she met Roy, with her first husband being good but dying young and the second being…well, like No Good Ned in the book.
AK:How would you describe Roy?
KB: He’s very gentle and charming. In some ways, he’s the opposite of Mabel, having a quiet, laid-back demeanor, but he can still surprise you with his wry humor.
AK:The HEA has a mini cliff-hanger until you turn the page to the epilogue. Why did you choose that way of ending your story?
KB: I’ve done that on a few of my books now but in various ways. I don’t want it to become predictable, but I like having suspense up to the very end. Endings always intimidate me, as you want to please the reader without it being anti-climactic, so I enjoy throwing in a twist.
AK: What is your next project?
KB: While I’ve dipped my toes into love stories a bit, I primarily write mysteries. Earlier this year, my second installment of The Unde(a)feted Detective Series, Brother of Interest, came out, so I’ve been working on the follow-up to that. In the meantime, I’m writing a short story that’s a bridge between the two, which will be featured in a podcast sometime in 2023.
My 2018 novel, Forgetting My Way Back to You, which also features Mabel, will be available for $.99 on Kindle September 5-10.
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Book Description
Could a mortifying day on the job end up netting you true love?
When switchboard operator Mabel Jennings reports to work on a Monday in the summer of 1964, she doesn’t have any interest in finding love again. A visitor from Coatesville, Pennsylvania changes that. On a business trip, Roy Stentz calls her station, and his deep yet kind voice intrigues her. She tries to remain professional, but in her smitten state, she connects him to the wrong line…twice, in fact. Finally, Roy invites her out to dinner, saying he wants to see if she’s a better date than an operator.
The haphazard introduction sets an unexpected romance into motion. Going out every night while he’s in town, their bond deepens as they share the tragedies they’ve endured and observe each other’s beautiful qualities. Mabel’s past travails with love, however, hold her back from committing to anything permanent. Will she overcome her reluctance and open her heart to the love calling out to her? Or will she hang up on her chance for happiness?
WRONG LINE, RIGHT CONNECTION by Karina Bartow is a heartfelt, enjoyable historical romance novella set in 1964 featuring a switchboard operator who has given up on love.
Mabel Jennings is back at the telephone company as a switchboard operator after once again having to earn her own living. She is sharing a house with a close friend and more than happy to be on her own again. She is done with love after losing the first love of her life and then being in an abusive second relationship.
One day on the switchboard, Mabel receives a call for connection from a man with a deep and kind voice. She is so frazzled by her reaction to this man, she accidently transfers him to the wrong line, not once, but twice. Roy Stentz is not put off but intrigued by this operator and asks her out. Roy and Mabel quickly find their relationship is more than either expected, but Mabel’s past relationships may not allow her to believe in love once more.
I really enjoyed this romance. Even though this was a novella, it is packed with interesting characters, plenty of emotion and the HEA in the epilogue. Mabel has lived with several tragedies in her life which made her guarded and yet Roy was able to get her to open up and attempt dating again even as she kept comparing him to the previous two men in her life. The author also did a good job of immersing the reader in the 1960’s time period with the descriptions of the switchboard operators, the types of dates Mabel and Roy went on and the fact that Mabel felt her divorce would stop any man from being interested in her. The secondary characters are all fully drawn and add to the story. The only slight problem I had with this novella was Mabel’s flashbacks to her previous relationships which were necessary to understand her reluctance for another relationship, but they sometimes pulled me out of the flow of the story.
Overall, this is a fast, entertaining romance novella with a memorable heroine.
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Author Bio
Karina Bartow grew up and still lives in Northern Ohio. Though born with Cerebral Palsy, she’s never allowed her disability to define her. Rather, she’s used her experiences to breathe life into characters who have physical limitations, but like her, are determined not to let them stand in the way of the life they want. Her works include Husband in Hiding, Forgetting My Way Back to You, and Brother of Interest. She may only be able to type with one hand, but she writes with her whole heart!
K-9 COLD CASE (K-9 Alaska Book #3, Unsolved Mystery Book #3) by Elizabeth Heiter is another fast-paced, exciting romantic suspense in the Harlequin Intrigue K-9 Alaska series. This book is set in small-town Alaska featuring the chief of police and an FBI Victim Specialist and his therapy dog chasing an unsub who has left the same image at all his crime scenes over the last eight years. This book is part of two series but is easily read as a standalone crime mystery.
Chief of Police Keara Hernandez moved to Desparre, Alaska after the murder investigation of her detective husband in Houston became a cold case six years ago to try and heal. When a bomb goes of in the neighboring town of Luna, Keara offers to assist the FBI agents called in to lead the investigation.
Jax Diallo is an FBI Victim Specialist who travels with his therapy dog, Patches to work with the crime victims as other FBI special agents investigate the crime. As Jax and Keara do their jobs, a second bomb is exploded in Desparre’s public park. Both times a symbol is left behind that Keara recognizes from the pictures of her husband’s cold case. But what do a bomber and a murderer have in common? Also, as they work together, they try to fight the growing attraction they feel for each other.
Jax and Keara try to discover what ties all the cold cases and recent bombings together, but the bomber has Keara in his sights, and he has plans to make Keara a cold case like her dead husband.
I love both Keara and Jax in this book. They are well written and believable with both the pacing of their investigation and their attraction. The crime/suspense plot was well paced with twists that made it exciting and I just kept turning the pages. Of course, I also love the canine companion in each book in this series. This is a gripping romantic suspense with more suspense than romance, but it works in this story.
I highly recommend this addition to the series and I am looking forward to many more by this author!
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About the Author
Publishers Weekly bestselling author ELIZABETH HEITER likes her suspense to feature strong heroines, chilling villains, psychological twists, and a little bit of romance. Her research has taken her into the minds of serial killers, through murder investigations, and onto the FBI Academy’s shooting range. Her novels have been published in more than a dozen countries and eight languages; they’ve also been shortlisted for the HOLT Medallion, National Readers’ Choice, Daphne Du Maurier and Booksellers’ Best awards and won the RT Reviewers’ Choice award.
Elizabeth graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in English Literature. She’s a member of International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America and Romance Writers of America.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Mini Book Reviews for book #2 HighStakes and Book #3 High Ground in the High Mountain Trackers series. These books not only feature two hot alpha heroes but also the two Freling sisters who captured their hearts.
Below you will find the book descriptions, the mini book reviews, the author’s bio and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book #2 Description
When her sister, Pippa, goes missing, Nella Freling tells her boss she’s taking time off from her job as a research librarian, hops in her sensible van, and heads south of the border to Montana. However, local police don’t seem too concerned about a missing woman living in her motorhome. So Nella will have to look for Pippa by herself, unless she can convince a highly recommended tracker to help her, but sadly the rude and angry cowboy won’t even listen to her at first. But Nella can be persuasive.
The first time High Mountain Tracker, Fletch Boone, laid eyes on Nella, her ass was stuck in his grocery cart. The next time was at the ranch; she was wearing mud, head to toe. But when he catches sight of her a third time, hanging off a cliff, he can’t turn his back again. What Nella lacks in survival skills she makes up for in sheer determination. Unfortunately, neither of those is enough protection when bullets start flying.
Fletch has no choice but to jump in before the woman gets herself killed. And that would be a damn shame.
As Nella and Fletch search for the missing sister, Fletch has his hands full with the head-strong Nella who will do anything to find her sister even as she places herself in danger.
This book is another exciting romantic suspense in the High Mountain Trackers series. Nella and Fletch have a slow burn romance intertwined in a search and rescue and crime suspense plot that is full of twists. I found Nella and Fletch to be believable in their dance from self-protection to trust and love. All the characters from book one are back to watch Mr. Grumpy fall and provide some entertaining dialogue. This is a cast of characters that pull you right into their stories and I cannot wait for more.
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Book #3 Description
Not much has gone according to plan for mechanic, Pippa Freling, recently. With lots of bridges burned behind her, she decides to stick close to her sister and give Montana a try.
Things are looking up when she joins a local group of animal activists, buys an auto shop for a steal, and even tries her luck with the opposite sex. But it doesn’t take long before her hopeful new future is derailed once again. This time permanently.
Maintaining tight control is the stronghold in Sully Eckhart’s life. It served him well during his years in special forces and has kept him out of trouble since. But his self-restraint stretches only so far whenever he finds himself faced with the one woman who has the ability to shake his determination. A woman he’s tried to avoid for months—since the first time she shook his resolve—but who now finds herself in the middle of a serial murder case.
However, when she not only ends up a person of interest to the FBI, but firmly in the crosshairs of a killer, he has no other option but to stick close. And give up all control.
Pippa finds herself being investigated as a person of interest by the FBI in a serial murder case. She has more on her plate than she can handle by herself and when the solitary Sully finds out about the news she has yet to share, he refuses to leave her side. As Pippa and Sully learn to share all aspects of their lives, their future life together is being endangered.
The High Mountain Trackers series of romantic suspense books never disappoint. Pippa and Sully are both so independent and I enjoyed their journey to becoming a couple. I loved the way both had to learn to give and take and how they did what was right for them without worrying what others felt about their choices. There is always crossover between the books in the series, but there is even more in this book due to Nella, Pippa’s sister’s pregnancy and delivery and the entire team assisting in the serial murder case. There are several plotlines in this story, but all are answered by the HEA. The sex scenes are steamy and explicit, but not gratuitous. This series has mature heroes and heroines, and the author deals with their personal problems in an adult manner and does not hesitate to give them mature love lives, also.
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Author Bio
USA Today bestselling author Freya Barker loves writing about ordinary people with extraordinary stories.
Driven to make her books about ‘real’ people; she creates characters who are perhaps less than perfect, each struggling to find their own slice of happy, but just as deserving of romance, thrills and chills in their lives.
Recipient of the ReadFREE.ly 2019 Best Book We’ve Read All Year Award for “Covering Ollie, the 2015 RomCon “Reader’s Choice” Award for Best First Book, “Slim To None”, Finalist for the 2017 Kindle Book Award with “From Dust”, and Finalist for the 2020 Kindle Book Award with “When Hope Ends”, Freya continues to add to her rapidly growing collection of published novels as she spins story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!
FLIRTING AT FIFTY (Modern Love Book #1) by Jane Porter is a women’s fiction/contemporary mature romance mash-up featuring two college professors who are reunited thirty years after a one-night stand in Paris.
Paige Newsom is close to her fiftieth birthday and finally satisfied with her life. A respected mathematics professor in Southern California with three adult daughters which she still has good relationships with even though they are all on their own around the country. She divorced her alcoholic husband eight years previously and has no wish to date ever again.
The head of her department calls her in to his office to tell he she will be dual teaching a class in the fall with a visiting professor due to another teacher’s medical leave. What Paige is not expecting is that her fellow professor is the famous epidemiologist and biologist Jack King. The same Jack King she had a one-night stand in Paris when she was twenty. Memorable for all the wrong reasons. Paige finds the mature Jack just as intriguing and alluring as ever, but she is happy with her life and does not want to open her heart to a man again. Jack wants more of Paige than she may be willing to give.
I am always excited when I can find a story with a mature romance. I found Jack to be wonderful and his reasons for not being married believable due to his professional life. I had a little more difficulty understanding Paige. Her life and tribulations as a mother of grown daughters and her longtime friendship with Elizabeth all rang true for me and I understood why she would be happy single after her terrible marriage, but I found her insecurities overblown especially with her career accomplishments. Her reasons for putting Jack off were the same for much of the story and then very quickly at the ending everything was fine. Other than that, I enjoyed all the secondary characters and the descriptions of the trip to Tanzania. I am looking forward to reading more in this series and discovering who will be featured in the next book.
This is an entertaining women’s fiction/contemporary mature romance read.
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About the Author
Born in Visalia, California, I’m a small town girl at heart. I love central California’s golden foothills, oak trees, and the miles of farmland. In my mind, there’s nothing sweeter in the world than the heady fragrance of orange blossoms on a sultry summer night.
As a little girl I spent hours on my bed, staring out the window, dreaming of far off places, fearless knights, and happy-ever-after endings. In my imagination I was never the geeky bookworm with the thick coke-bottle glasses, but a princess, a magical fairy, a Joan-of-Arc crusader.
My parents fed my imagination by taking our family to Europe for a year when I was thirteen. The year away changed me (I wasn’t a geek for once!) and overseas I discovered a huge and wonderful world with different cultures and customs. I loved everything about Europe, but felt especially passionate about Italy and those gorgeous Italian men (no wonder my first very Presents hero was Italian).
I confess, after that incredible year in Europe, the travel bug bit, and bit hard. I spent much of my high school and college years abroad, studying in South Africa, Japan and Ireland. South Africa remains a country of my heart, the people, the land and politics complex and heart-wrenching.
After my years of traveling and studying I had to settle down and earn a living. With my Bachelors degree from UCLA in American Studies, a program that combines American literature and American history, I’ve worked in sales and marketing, as well as a director of a non-profit foundation. Later I earned my Masters in Writing from the University of San Francisco and taught jr. high and high school English.
I now live in Seattle and Hawaii with my three sons. I never mind a rainy day, either, because that’s when I sit at my desk and write stories about far-away places, fascinating people, and most importantly of all, love. I like a story with a happy ending. We all do.
