I will be posting Feature Post and Book Review blog posts on the Harlequin Investigator Blog Tour for all of these great reads throughout this month and the next.
Today I am sharing my blog post for MISSING AT CHRISTMAS (West Investigations Book #2) by K.D. Richards.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Come back throughout the month for more and enjoy!
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Book Description
To bring her sister home for the holidays
They’ll put everything on the line.
Private investigator Shawn West is stunned when the attack victim he rescues is Addy Williams—the one woman he never forgot. She’s turning a quiet upstate New York town inside out to bring her missing sister home by Christmas. Shawn offers to help if she’ll provide a cover for his own investigation into a suspicious company in town, but can they work together to find Addy’s sister…or are they already too late?
MISSING AT CHRISTMAS (West Investigations Book #2) by K.D. Richards is another action-packed romantic suspense in the West Investigations series. This book can easily be read as a standalone with minimal crossover of characters from the first West Investigations story.
Private Investigator Shawn West is in upstate New York to investigate the source of counterfeit computer chips for a client. While on his way to his hotel, he sees a woman being attacked and intervenes. He is surprised when the woman turns out to be the one woman he has been unable to get off his mind since he met her at his brother’s destination wedding.
Addy Williams is searching for her missing younger sister. She was doing an internship before attending MIT and has failed to get in touch with Addy. Told her sister quit her internship and moved away, Addy is determined to find her before Christmas. Shawn offers his help Addy for free if he can use their search for her sister as a cover for his own investigation.
Will Addy and Shawn be able to find Addy’s sister before it is too late for them all?
This is the second book in this series I have read by this new to me author and I really enjoyed both. In this book Shawn and Addy work well together with Addy being an intelligent and strong heroine who can hold her own even with firearms. There is strong chemistry between these two, but the two investigations keep their romance to a slow burn. The suspense plot was fast-paced and action packed with a believable crime premise.
This is a well written romantic suspense by a new-to-me author that I will be following in the future.
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Excerpt
The doors to the kitchen swung outward, and the man reappeared, a white plastic bag in one hand and Cassie’s picture in the other.
Addy slid her phone back into her purse and rose. The pity she saw in the man’s face as he drew nearer dashed the hope that had swelled in her chest.
“I showed your sister’s picture to everyone who’s still here, and no one recognized her. I’m sorry.”
Two solid days of showing Cassie’s picture everywhere she could think of in Bentham and nothing. No one remembered seeing her.
“Thanks, anyway.” She didn’t bother trying to muster a smile of thanks. She reached in her purse for her wallet.
“No charge,” he said, thrusting her food and Cassie’s picture at her. “You take care of yourself.”
Addy looked up into the man’s now compassion-filled eyes and wiped away the single tear she couldn’t stop from falling. “Thank you,” she croaked out before turning and fleeing the restaurant before the dam of tears broke.
Silver garlands hung from the streetlamps along with fluttering signs ordering the denizens of Bentham to have a happy holiday. The lamps themselves were spaced too far apart for the weak yellow light they cast off to beat back the dark December night.
Five blocks west, cars coasted along one of Bentham’s main thoroughfares, but the street in front of Addy was clear and quiet, the surrounding businesses having long since closed for the night.
She’d left the metallic-blue Mustang she’d rented for the two-hour drive from Manhattan to Bentham in the hotel’s parking lot. It was easier to canvass the neighborhood on foot. All she had to show for her effort were sore feet.
A footstep sounded as she pocketed her phone. Shooting a glance over her shoulder, she squinted into the darkness but saw no one.
You’re just not used to so much quiet, she thought, walking on.
She’d lived in New York City since she was twelve but spent summers on her grandfather’s ranch in Texas. She’d loved the ranch almost as much as she loved the city, but New York wasn’t called the city that never slept for nothing. There was always something to do and see, and she was used to being surrounded by thousands of people, even though she’d been very much alone since Cassie moved to Bentham.
A scraping sound came from close behind her, followed by the unmistakable sound of fast-moving footsteps.
She turned, intending to move to the side, when a hand clamped around her ponytail, jerking her backward against a hard chest.
It took a moment for her brain to catch up with what was happening, and by the time it did, her assailant had taken his beefy hand from her hair and clamped it over her mouth.
Addy fought her rising panic. Like any savvy city girl, she’d taken self-defense classes, but it had been a while since she’d brushed up. She’d never thought she’d actually have to use any of those techniques.
She tried to pull away, but the man’s arm was like a vise around her neck.
“Don’t fight, and I won’t hurt you,” the man growled.
She didn’t believe that for a minute. She’d left the small gun she carried for protection locked in her car’s glove compartment, a decision she regretted now. Who’d have thought the streets of Bentham were more dangerous than Manhattan?
Well, she had no intention of going down without a fight, gun or no gun. She sent up a quick prayer and fisted her hands at the same time a yell came from somewhere in the night.
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About the Author
K.D. Richards is a native of the Washington, DC area who now lives outside of Toronto with her husband and two sons. You can find her at kdrichardsbooks.com.
Today I am excited to be sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for the Release Blitz of WATCHING TRIN (On Call Book #7)(Police and Fire Operation Alpha) by Freya Barker.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Freelance journalist and single mom, Katrina (Trin) Paige, has recently returned to her hometown to help her sister care for their elderly father. They’ve barely settled back into Durango’s daily life when her rebellious teenage son gets himself in tumultuous waters. While being rescued by the local fire department, he unwittingly uncovers a decades-old crime hidden underneath the churning rapids of the Animas River.
Once Trin’s life is back on an even keel, her sharp nose for a compelling story starts twitching and she dives headfirst into an investigation of her own. The more she uncovers, the closer she gets to the firefighter who not only pulled her son from the river, but who also seems present everywhere she turns.
Bodhi (Roadkill) Jones doesn’t believe in things like fate, although, he can’t deny the way his life seems to be entwined with the spunky redhead is more than mere coincidence. In fact, he’s been wondering how it is possible she escaped his attention growing up in the same town, even though she is a few years older. Swept up in an unfamiliar current, he finds himself looking for ways to spend time with her and her family.
However, when a murder investigation touches his personal life, it invades Trin’s as well, leaving him scrambling to make sure the woman he’s fast falling for is protected.
WATCHING TRIN (On Call Book #7)( Police and Fire: Operation Alpha) by Freya Barker is the latest romantic suspense and wonderful new couple in the On Call series to follow. While this is book #7 and some of characters crossover between books, it can be easily read as a standalone. I have read the whole series and anxiously wait for each of Ms. Barker’s mature, intelligent, and sexy heroes and heroines.
Katrina “Trin” Paige has returned to her hometown to help her sister with their father who has dementia. Single mom Trin is a freelance journalist so it is easy to relocate to Durango, and she hopes the move will be good for her rebellious fourteen-year-old son, Tucker.
Barely settled in, Tucker must be rescued by the local fire department from the Animas River in the middle of the night when the stolen raft he and his friends stole capsize in the rapids. During his rescue, the firefighter who pulls him out discovers an old crime scene.
Bodhi “Roadkill” Jones is surprised by his instant attraction to the spunky mother and sister to one of his fellow firefighters. As he finds ways to spend time with Trin, her investigation into the old crime scene he discovered seems to be placing her life in danger. He discovers he will do anything to protect her and her son, but will it be enough?
I always enjoy Ms. Barker’s characters and writing style. The romance between Bodhi and Trin is realistically paced and believable. The sex scenes are hot, but never gratuitous. The secondary characters all add to the story and never feel like placeholders. The scenes dealing with Trin’s father’s dementia were heartbreaking and from friends with a similar situation, were handled with empathy and honesty, as well as the problems Tucker was dealing with as a bi-racial child. I did figure out the way the suspense plot was going very early on in the story, but it did not take away from my overall enjoyment of the story.
I recommend this addition to the On Call series and all the books written by this author.
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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!
I will be posting Feature Post and Book Review blog posts on the Harlequin Investigator Blog Tour for all of these great reads throughout this month and the next.
Today I am sharing my blog post for COLD CASE DOUBLE CROSS (Cold Case Investigators Book #2) by Jessica R. Patch.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Come back throughout the month for more and enjoy!
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Book Description
They’re on a cold trail
and running out of time.
Convinced his brother was wrongly convicted of murder years ago, detective Cash Ryland’s determined to find the real killer—even if it puts him in the crosshairs. But he needs help from cold case investigator Mae Vogel, whom he mistreated in high school. Can they put their past aside to solve the murder…before the killer succeeds in silencing them for good?
COLD CASE DOUBLE CROSS (Cold Case Investigators Book #2) by Jessica R. Patch is a Christian romantic suspense in the Cold Case Investigators series. Each book features a member of the MBI (Mississippi Bureau of Investigations) Cold Case Unit involved in a crime mystery/suspense. They meet and work with their perfect match and as their case progresses so does the romance. Each book can easily be read as a standalone with minimal crossover of the characters in the MBI unit introduced in the first book.
Detective Cash Ryland believes his brother was wrongly convicted of murdering his ex-wife. He is determined to find the real killer no matter how long it takes.
MBI Cold Case Investigator Mae Vogel is home on vacation to visit her ailing grandmother. Cash wants Mae’s expert assistance, but he mistreated her years ago in high school. Mae is willing to help with the case, but she is having difficulty forgiving Cash personally.
Can they work out their differences and solve the mystery before the killer silences them for good?
I enjoyed this quick romantic suspense read. The suspense plot is fast-paced, action packed and gives the reader many suspects and red herrings. The killer was a surprise to me and I like when that happens. It is well integrated with the Christian romance which has no sex scenes. Mae must learn to truly forgive past transgressions and learn and believe that there are some good men out there. Cash is hiding a secret that he has held for far too long. Ms. Patch does a good job of working the H/h through their pasts and misunderstandings.
I can recommend this Christian romantic suspense for a fast and entertaining read.
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Excerpt
She moved toward the lawn chairs Mom and Grandma Rose were sitting in, glanced up at the radiant display and smacked into marble.
Nope. A man.
She peered up to apologize, but the words died on her lips as recognition dawned. Cash Ryland. Mae hadn’t laid eyes on him, by design, since high school.
Maybe this was the origin surrounding her jittery feeling.
She put some pep in her step and moved backward, but Cash’s tanned arm reached out, as if assuming she’d stumbled and not retreated from him.
She swatted away his steady hand. “I’m perfectly fine.” No need for physical touch between them.
His thick eyebrows tweaked upward. “Sorry.” His voice had grown deeper, huskier since he was a kid. Cash shoved his hand into his pocket, drawing her eye to the badge clipped to his thick black belt looping through well-fitted jeans.
What? How in the world did Cash Ryland make it into any branch of law enforcement and why would he want to? His teenage years had been spent as a juvenile delinquent. Not that she’d imagined what Cash might be doing now, but if she had it would be more along the lines of doing time for drug possession or grand larceny or maybe both. Not on the grounds with a criminal investigations division badge from Willow Banks Sheriff’s Office.
Unbelievable.
“You never were too good at masking your feelings.”
She glanced from his badge to his face and his lopsided grin rolled another wave into her stomach. How dare her body betray her common sense by being attracted to his strong, chiseled features.
His blond hair had turned a little sandier, but it worked for him, unfortunately. His eyes hadn’t changed—they were still the same intense shade of blue that won the hearts of girls determined to rebel against their parents. Cash had never been meet-the-parents material, unless a girl wanted to give them a heart attack and end up grounded for life.
Not Mae.
Mae knew better.
And she’d still been charmed then burned.
Speak, Mae. You have to at least speak. “I’m just surprised, I guess.” As if she were still a high school girl enamored by the bad boy of Willow Banks and unsure of herself, she folded her arms, which felt like dead weight across her chest.
Cash Ryland—a detective. She’d seen it all.
“Well, it’s a surprising thing. Um…” He scratched the back of his neck. “I actually was looking for you. I saw your family and hoped you would be here. Your brother mentioned you were in town on vacation.”
Why did Barrett have vocal cords? He hadn’t mentioned Cash to her. But then, why would he? Barrett was clueless about what had transpired during her senior year with Cash. All he knew was Mae had tutored Cash in English. But if anyone had been schooled that semester, it was Mae.
“Barrett talks too much.” She tried to pass around him, but he blocked her. “Detective or not,” Mae said, tossing grit into her tone, “if you don’t move, I’m going to move you. And I promise you, size doesn’t matter. I can do it.”
While Cash towered above her five-foot-one frame, she was not porcelain, and attached to her petite frame was the muscle to maneuver him if necessary.
His hands shot up in surrender, but there was no teasing in his eyes. “I have no doubt, Mae. You’ve always been strong.”
No one had ever uttered those words about her before, but flattery wasn’t going to get him one solid inch. His charm no longer affected her.
He cleared a path for her to flee. “I just want to talk to you for a minute or two. Please?”
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About the Author
Publishers Weekly Bestselling author Jessica R. Patch is known for her dry wit and signature twists. When she’s not hunched over her laptop, you can find her cozy on the couch in her mid-south home reading books by her favorite authors, watching movies with her family, and collecting recipes to amazing dishes she’ll probably never cook. Sign up for her newsletter “Patched In” at www.jessicarpatch.com.
From the USA Today Bestselling Author of the acclaimed Love’s Journey series comes the story of Bertha Troyer.
In 1959, after reading a heartbreaking plea for medical personnel, Bertha Troyer, a young, beautiful Amish woman from Sugarcreek, rebels against church rules and enters nursing school determined to pour out her life on behalf of the desperate children of Haiti.
This fourth installment of the Sugarcreek Series, follows Rachel’s beloved aunt, Bertha, back in time to a nightmare of poverty, political unrest, and the fury of nature, as Bertha is forced to make the most agonizing decision of her life in order to protect her people—and the man—she loves.
Elise’s Thoughts
Bertha’s Resolve by Serena B. Miller is the fourth installment of the Love’s Journey in the Sugarcreek series. This novel, as well as the other three, have engrossing characters, a riveting plot, and information about the Amish of Ohio. The stories involve policewoman Rachel Troyer, her three elderly Amish aunts who run a Bed and Breakfast, Joe Matthews, Rachel’s eventual husband, and his son Bobby, along with other Amish town members. These books should be read in order to get a feel for the characters, but after the first chapter of the first book readers will not want to put down any of the stories.
Going from the first book to the latest:
Love Finds You in Sugarcreek, Ohio also known as The Sugar Haus Inn brings to life the Troyer family. Three elderly aunts who happen to be Amish have raised their niece, Rachel Troyer ever since her father died. The aunts understand her desire to respect the Amish culture, while not following in the Amish footsteps. Rachel has since joined the Sugarcreek police force and views her job as protecting her aunts and the town.
Bertha is the oldest of the three aunts and she is the leader who is strong, responsible, and dominant. Lydia, the middle sister, is gentle, kind, and finds solace in baking. The youngest is Anna, a sweet, Down Syndrome person who gives unquestioning love and befriends younger children.
The plot has Rachel suspicious of a bearded stranger who land on her aunts’ doorstep, begging shelter for himself and his young son. Joe Matthews and his son Bobby decided to escape the Los Angeles lifestyle after his wife was brutally killed. They are looking for anonymity and a quiet life. Although the aunts warmed to Joe and Bobby immediately, it took Rachel much longer to realize she had feelings for the father and son. In addition, all the books, have a suspenseful mystery. In this one Rachel must protect herself, her aunts, Joe, and Bobby as she tries to find who murdered the wife.
Book 2, Rachel’s Rescue, delves into the backstory of how Rachel’s father was killed. On her tenth birthday she and her dad, a policeman, had gone to the bank. There, her father was murdered in front of Rachel’s eyes after he tried to stop the bank robber. Knowing how to use a gun, Rachel grabs her father’s gun and points it at the killer, Carl Bateman. This book explores forgiveness and second chances as Rachel must come to grips with her anger and bitterness over losing her father. Twenty years later, she becomes obsessed with wanting revenge when Bateman was released from prison for serving his time. The suspenseful mystery also involves Bobby being kidnapped. This story takes readers on a journey with Rachel as she tries to overcome her feelings of revenge.
Book 3, Love Rekindled focuses on two new “English” characters. Dr. Michael Reynolds gets an opportunity to take over a country veterinarian practice in Sugarcreek, Ohio, and jumps at it, because this is his childhood town, and he feels close to the Amish community. His wife, Cassie, a Columbus attorney, is climbing the corporate ladder with lightning speed and refuses to go with him. Neither will compromise. A second plot finds Keturah Hochstetler, a midwife saving a baby after the mother has a horrific car accident. This story compares the English couple with the elderly Amish couple who show that sometimes career goals need to take second place to love and devotion, that career sacrifices are needed. The mystery involves Rachel trying to find family members of the rescued baby.
Book 4, Bertha’s Resolve explores the oldest aunts’ backstory. In 1959, after reading a heartbreaking plea for medical personnel, Bertha Troyer, a young, beautiful Amish woman from Sugarcreek, rebels against church rules and enters nursing school determined to pour out her life on behalf of the desperate children of Haiti. As a young nurse, she dealt with a nightmare of poverty, political unrest, and the fury of nature, as Bertha is forced to make the most agonizing decision of her life to protect these people. This book is very relevant today regarding the Americans and Afghan people who need to be rescued.
There is also a romance, and the choices Bertha must make so that a marriage is not destroyed, sacrificing her own love. Fast-forward to current time and Bertha again meets up with her forever love. Also, in this book Joe’s brother, Darren, is highlighted. He and Joe have opened a restaurant/bar that is becoming very successful until someone tries to steal their money. Childhood bullying and abuse are also issues in this story.
In all the books, the way of life of these simple, hardworking people is explored. People become engrossed in reading about Joe and Rachel, the aunts, Bobby, and Darren. Readers will take a journey with each character and have a vested interest in how the plot plays out. The stories combine a smidgen of romance, a suspenseful mystery, Amish life, and the importance of family.
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Elise’sAuthor Interview
EC: The last book has Bertha part of a rescue effort. Rumor has it that your son is also part of a rescue effort for those in Afghanistan?
Serena B. Miller: My son had been in Afghanistan for five years as a contractor. He is currently working day and night to get people out, Afghan translators. One was tragically killed by the Taliban a few days ago. They warned his wife that she and her four children were next to be executed. Thankfully, he got them out, but I am worried about others who are trapped.
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the series?
Serena B. Miller: An editor suggested I write an Amish story. I decided to choose the Sugarcreek area in Ohio because of its pretty name and it being compared as “the Little Switzerland of Ohio.” I lucked out because the owner of the Bed and Breakfast where I was staying had a lot of Amish friends. I had dinner with an Amish family that had seven children and the grandmother/grandfather was also there. The matriarch of the family told me I could ask anything, nothing was forbidden. His one stipulation was that I write the truth about the Amish. They loved the finished book. I even have an Amish family vet every Amish book I write.
EC: You write other series/books?
SBM: I have written three historical books, another Amish series, a non-fiction book about Amish parenting, and a series about Manitoulin Island in Canada, which was optioned for the Hallmark channel. Also, the first of these Amish books was made into a TV movie which can be found on many of the streaming channels.
EC: How would you compare the three Amish sisters?
SBM: Bertha is the oldest who has integrity and a tender heart. She is not domesticated but is the wise leader of the family with a bossy will of iron. Lydia is the baker who lives for cooking and is very quiet. Anna has Down Syndrome and is very sweet. Her personality is based on a church friend of mine. Since I have three sisters, I have become fascinated with the sisterly dynamics.
EC: How would you describe Rachel?
SBM: Very protective of those she loves. The killing of her father in front of her has defined her personality. She is determined to protect her family no matter what. She is analytical with common sense except where her father’s killer is concerned. Although very compassionate and direct, at times she is vulnerable. She also is very loyal and tenacious.
EC: What about the relationship between Joe and Rachel?
SBM: Both are very strong personalities. They can be stubborn at times. They have their disagreements, but always respect each other. They are on equal footing.
EC: In the second book you redeem the killer?
SBM: I felt I had to. He served his time in prison for twenty years. Now he has turned his life around by healing abused dogs and training them for search and rescue. His early life, when he was abused by his mother, is based on a true story. Carl, the killer, has an affinity for animals because they saved him as a child. He is now caring, remorseful, and deserves a second chance.
EC: How would you describe your books?
SBM: They are mysteries, suspense with a crime, and has an emphasis on the importance of family. For me, the mystery has the reader turning the pages to see what happens next. I put this quote in, “Whenever she (Rachel) needed the world to feel like a safer, saner place, she went to visit her Amish aunts.” I like writing about the big family, the agrarian culture, and the Amish community. Each book has a goal, a mystery, and a spiritual theme, with of course, a happy ending.
EC: What are the themes of each book?
SBM:Love Finds You in Sugarcreek, Ohio is about acceptance and not to judge a book by its cover. Rachel’s Rescue has a theme of forgiveness. Love Rekindled is about the healing of a marriage. I wrote this one in the months after my husband passed away. We had been married for many years. It is about family relationship, but at that core is the marriage relationship. Bertha’s Resolve shows that it is possible to do the right thing and to walk away from the possibility of an extra marital affair.
EC: You always have tidbits about the Amish lifestyle. In Bertha’s Resolve you compare the Amish with the Mennonites?
SBM: The Mennonites can get on a plane, go to college, and have an extensive mission program of helping. The story of this book has Bertha worshipping a co-worker from afar. Now fifty years later they still have that depth of friendship. I want to show that with both groups they have a very strong work ethic and are problem solvers.
EC: What about your next books?
SBM: I am currently writing book 5 in this Sugarcreek series. I am debating if Rachel will continue her profession as a police officer, maybe part time. It will feature Joe’s brother Darren who will get a love story. Since Joe is a former Major League baseball player, I will bring baseball into this story. I am thinking of having an Amish boy who has a phenomenal talent for the game. Both Amish girls and boys love baseball. Hopefully it will come out in the Spring of 2022.
I am also working on an Amish children’s novel that is for children. It will also be set in Sugarcreek with some familiar characters. There will be twelve books in the series. The first should come out around Christmas time.
THANK YOU!!
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 IT TAKES HEART (Heart Resort Book #1) by Tif Marcelo on this Montlake/Amazon Publishing Blog Tour.
Below you will find a note from the author, a book summary, my book review, an excerpt from the book, an about the author section, the author’s social media links and a Rafflecopter giveaway. Enjoy and good luck on the giveaway!
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A Note from the Author
It was at the Romance Writers of America conference in 2019 when I came up with the idea for the Heart Resort series. Though I was under contract for a third contemporary fiction book (which would become my sixth novel), my first three books were romance novels, and an escapist series tugged at my shirt sleeves. My initial idea: interconnected destination romance novels with the setting as relaxing and lush as it could be, despite the romantic angst and family drama I knew my characters would be placed in.
Then came COVID-19. I had released my second contemporary fiction, ONCE UPON A SUNSET, and was in edits for IN A BOOK CLUB FAR AWAY, and I was no longer under contract for future books. My need to escape heightened during the fear of lockdown. So, I dove headlong into the proposal of the Heart Resort series. At first, I thought of setting this book on an island in the Pacific Ocean but I could not make myself write it knowing that the borders were closed to travel due to the virus. Though I tried not to put COVID into my novels, still I needed to be realistic for the times.
Then the location dawned on me: our family’s most favorite vacation spot: the Outer Banks, or OBX. And especially south of 12: Nags Head, Rodanthe, Hatteras. On a printed map, I drew what would be the Heart Resort peninsula, connected to highway 12 via a land bridge.
Heart Resort is serendipitously heart-shaped. In the epicenter is the headquarters and the apartments of the four Puso siblings. Puso, which means “heart” in Tagalog—of course it does! Chris, Gil, Bea, and Brandon, the four Puso siblings, live and work on this resort. They are the heart, they make the resort and peninsula “go.” Though, we come to find out that they each have their own secrets and matters of the heart to contend with.
Everything on this peninsula is specific and special. Each home is named. Every employee is family. The view from every window is spectacular. And though they promise their clients their own version of the HEA, or the happily ever after, the Puso siblings clamor for theirs.
IT TAKES HEART, the first in the series, introduces Brandon Puso and Geneva Harris, former lovers reunited in their common mission to help rebuild the resort after a tropical storm. Neither knew the other was going to be there, and their first instinct is to run. But both are loyal to a fault, and soon they find themselves growing closer despite their best intentions. Surrounding them are a cast of characters, all with their stories to tell, all while trying make the resort successful despite throes of competition with another resort.
Love, loyalty, and business all in one peninsula located at one of the most gorgeous locations in the United States. Heart Resort is truly a place to read about to get your heart pumping.
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BookSummary
Heart Resort, a private resort in the Outer Banks, is a romantic getaway for couples but a hotbed of family drama for its proprietors, the Puso family. Brandon Puso, the youngest of the four siblings, prefers life on his own as a licensed contractor in DC after a falling-out with his eldest brother.
After a hurricane plows through the Outer Banks, Brandon has a change of heart. He returns to the resort to help with the grand reopening but encounters his big sister’s best friend, designer Geneva Harris, who’s there to do the same thing. But Geneva and Brandon have a secret. Years ago, they had a secret romance that ended in heartbreak.
With the resort’s future at stake, Brandon and Geneva decide to put the past aside and to keep peace with the family. But as their mutual attraction heats up, they have to decide if history will repeat itself—or if this time, love gets a second chance.
IT TAKES HEART (Heart Resort Book #1) by Tif Marcelo is a second chance contemporary romance and the first book in a new series featuring a Filipino-American family of three brothers and one sister who own and run the Heart Resort in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
Brandon Puso is the youngest of the Puso clan and a licensed general contractor in business with his friend from college. Since a falling out with his oldest brother, Brandon has been living in the home of his deceased parents in Annapolis. But after a hurricane rips through the Outer Banks, Brandon returns to Heart Resort to help his siblings get it repaired and set up for a grand re-opening.
Interior designer Geneva Harris is Brandon’s sister best friend and has always been around the Puso family. Geneva is at the resort to help with the interior design and a rest from her hectic schedule. Geneva does not know Brandon will be at the resort and none of the siblings know that Geneva and Brandon had a secret romance that ended in heartbreak.
Brandon and Geneva agree to work together as friends, but their mutual attraction continually heats up. They have a short time to work together and to decide if they will once again go their separate ways or if this time, they will get a second chance at love.
This is a romance that was so enjoyable to read. The family gives you not only the usual sibling dynamics, drama, angst, love and understanding, but also an interesting infusion of Filipino culture and food. Brandon is doing well professionally but dealing with so much emotionally. Geneva is also doing great professionally but she never settles anywhere and lives out of her bags. Both run from their emotions and emotional situations and Ms. Marcelo does a good job of having each work through their baggage with the help of family and/or having frank conversations between themselves. There are short sex scenes that are neither explicit nor graphic. I am definitely looking forward to reading the other siblings‘ stories in this Heart Resort series as well.
I recommend this heartfelt second chance contemporary romance!
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Excerpt
Brandon tripped over his own feet as his sister leapt from her chair.
“Now it’s my turn to surprise you.” Beatrice wrapped her hands around his bicep and pulled him toward the round table. She was laughing, enthused.
But Brandon, simultaneously exhausted from a fitful sleep and amped from laborious work that morning, could not grapple with what was before him. He was seeing a ghost. Or, rather, he was seeing the living, breathing apparition of the woman who had all but ghosted him.
He shut his eyes for a beat to clear his vision, but when he opened them and refocused, she was still there.
“Geneva,” he breathed out.
The Geneva Harris he’d fallen for four years ago after a stunning three weeks together. The same Geneva Harris who, after an argument, had left him to wake alone the next morning with her side of the bed all tucked back into place as if she’d never been there. Like she had been a vivid dream.
The memory yanked Brandon’s heart out of his chest, leaving a cavernous space. He’d had a myriad of feelings over the years after their breakup: loss, anger, sadness. Now, all he felt was nothing—was this shock? No, shock was the brick wall he couldn’t get around when his parents died. This felt like . . . emptiness.
He was dumbfounded even as he got close enough to reacquaint himself with the details of her face: her high cheekbones, which even without makeup carried a muted shade of pink; the one tiny mole next to her nose; and what he now knew was a forced smile because it was this exact same smile she had placated him with the night before she had taken off.
“Hi,” Geneva said.
Beatrice dragged him down to sit in the chair across from Geneva, then took the third seat at the table. “You remember Geneva, right?”
The cue threw him off his running thoughts. Time had passed. They were not in Las Vegas, but in Heart Resort. His family didn’t know about them. “Oh, yeah. Hey. Sorry, I’m just a little . . .” He stuck a hand out.
What looked like relief played across Geneva’s features. She shook his hand. “It’s okay. It’s the ocean air. Nice to see you again.”
Was it nice to see him? Had she hoped to see him? Did she know he’d be here?
“How long has it been for the both of you? Since we left for school?” Beatrice asked.
Four years, actually.
“Four years.” Geneva echoed his thoughts, eyes leaving his sister’s face, then down to her drink. “Chris and Eden’s wedding.”
“How could I forget.” Beatrice bumped her forehead with a palm. “I take that back. Of course I forgot—I planned that event and was probably stressed to high heavens. Now that was a whirlwind.” Then, to Brandon, in a change of subject only Beatrice could manage, gestured to their surroundings. “Did you want me to order? I assume that you’re here for lunch. Chef Castillo pivoted to feed us even if our restaurant’s closed. Oh, just as an FYI, our new Friday dinners are now at Chef Castillo’s and her sister’s eatery, south on 12.”
That took his attention for a beat. “A Filipino restaurant, down here?”
“Yep. So keep your Friday night free, both of you. It’s required.” She grinned. “So, what’s your poison.”
“Actually, I’m good.” Whatever appetite he’d had disappeared. “I spotted your golf cart and thought I would stop to say hi before my first meeting with the team.”
“Perfect timing! I was telling Geneva about your demo sesh this morning. You might have been exactly where Geneva’s was. She’s in Ligaya.”
Brandon had found it clever that the family had decided to assign a Tagalog word for each of the cabins, the yoga studio, and restaurant. It had been Gil’s idea, though taken right out their parents’ playbook of hammering their wooden sign at every residence.
“Ah . . . I was definitely next door, at Habang-buhay.” Brandon snorted at the irony, that he’d demoed a beach house that was named forever, and all that morning, she had been just beyond his reach in a cabin whose name meant joy.
She had been his joy, once.
***
About the Author
Tif Marcelo is a veteran US Army nurse who holds a BS in nursing and a master’s in public administration. She believes in and writes about the strength of families, the endurance of friendship, and the beauty of heartfelt romance—and she’s inspired daily by her own military hero husband and four children. She hosts the Stories to Love podcast, and she is also the USA Today bestselling author of In a Book Club Far Away, Once Upon a Sunset, The Key to Happily Ever After, and the Journey to the Heart series. Sign up for her newsletter at www.TifMarcelo.com.
Today I am once again posting for the Harlequin Trade Publishing Women’s Fiction Summer 2021 Blog Tour. I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE WILDEST RIDE (A Closed Circuit Novel Book #1) by Marcella Bell. I love this story, but FYI, it is more of a romance than Women’s fiction story.
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!
***
Book Summary
Rodeo meets reality-TV with this never-before-seen Closed Circuit competition, where an undefeated city-boy champion goes head to head with his world-class, kick-ass female rival. Romance ensues as they battle for the million-dollar prize.
At thirty-six, undefeated rodeo champion AJ Garza is supposed to be retiring, not chasing after an all new Closed Circuit rodeo tour with a million-dollar prize. But with the Houston rodeo program that saved him as a wayward teen on the brink of bankruptcy, he’ll enter. And he’ll win.
Enter, Lilian Sorrow Island. Raised by her grandparents on the family ranch in Muscogee, OK, Lil is more a cowboy than city-boy AJ will ever be. It shows. She’s not about to let him steal the prize that’ll save her ranch, even if he is breathtakingly magnificent, in pretty much every way going.
The world watches on as reality-TV meets rodeo in a competition like no other. In front of the cameras they’re each other’s biggest rivals. Off screen, it’s about to get a whole lot more complicated…
THE WILDEST RIDE (A Closed Circuit Novel Book #1) by Marcella Bell is the first book in a contemporary multicultural romance series that is listed under Women’s fiction, but the only reason I found for this was the ending is more of an implied HEA than being a written, explicit one.
Lilian ‘Lil’ Sorrow runs her grandparents ranch since the death of her grandfather. When it is disclosed that her grandfather took a reverse mortgage out on the ranch, they find they must begin to pay it back or lose the family ranch. Lil was trained by her grandfather to shine in all rodeo events so when the Closed Circuit event is announced, her grandmother signs her up. Lil will get to follow her and her grandfather’s dreams of starring in a PBRA event.
AJ Garza has been the undefeated rodeo champion for years and is supposed to be retiring, but the Closed Circuit event is what he needs to save the Houston rodeo program for at-risk boys which introduced him to rodeo when he needed it.
The world watches as reality TV meets rodeo. Both Lil and AJ need the grand prize, but the competitors find it difficult to keep their personal attraction under control and out of the competition.
I loved the idea and setting of this story and the author did not disappoint. Lil is a small powerhouse who knows how to run a ranch and shine at a rodeo but is living in fear of making her mother’s mistakes. AJ only knows rodeo as his profession and he does not know how to move on. The two of them are pitted against each other, but soon they are also helping each other. Ms. Bell does an excellent job of moving the story at a good pace with the rodeo events while still moving the romance at a slower, believable pace. When the sex scenes occur, they are very sexy, hot and not gratuitous. All the characters in this story are memorable and fully fleshed. It was interesting to learn of the segregation in the PBRA and the rodeo in general, not just in color and culture, but sex also. Since this is a series, I will be interested to see if it features a different H/h focus in each book around the Closed Circuit shows or we will get to see Lil and AJ in future stories.
I recommend this start to this engaging new series and I am looking forward to seeing how it progresses.
***
Excerpt
One
On their own, the sheep weren’t that bad. It was the goats that were the problem. They gave the sheep ideas.
And what the hell sheep needed with ideas, Lilian Island did not know.
The dogs, Oreo and Carrot, had gone in opposite directions, each pulling wide to flank the scattered sheep on the left and right while Lil and her horse harried them from behind. As they picked up speed, her heart caught the rhythm of her horse’s hooves thundering against the ground as they chased the lead ewe together, two beings becoming one in motion.
The wind whipped across the shaved sides of her head, drowning out all other sounds beneath its gusty whoosh. It deposited traces of prairie dust in the loosely braided column of black hair that trailed back along the center of her head to hang down the midpoint of her spine.
Lil transferred the reins to her left hand in order to wrap them around the pommel of her saddle, steadying herself with her thighs as she did.
With her right hand, she reached for the rope coiled at her hip.
Her tornado-gray eyes, both narrowed beneath two thick black eyebrows, locked on the sheep like a missile on target.
Woman and horse flanked the sheep. Lil uncoiled the rope with a snap of her wrist while releasing the pommel with her other hand, letting her body tilt down the side of the horse until she was level with their quarry.
This close, she recognized the sheep as BB, or Bossy Betty, the herd’s matriarch.
It just went to show: a fierce woman could be counted on to keep everybody in line, but watch out when they got wild.
Lil surprised herself by laughing out loud as she leaped from the side of her horse to tackle the sheep. Catching three of its legs in her left hand, she quickly roped them off with her right.
She might not be quite as fast as she once was, but there was no denying she still had it.
After a few half-hearted attempts at resistance, BB heaved a huge sigh and slumped against the ground. To the tune of the occasional disgruntled bleat, Lil freed the defeated but unharmed animal.
She made the rope into a makeshift lead and tied the wayward leader to her saddle, giving her a consolation pat along the way, making a mental note to tell Piper that the herd was coming due for shearing.
Still smiling, Lil said to the sheep, “Inconvenient, BB, but it’s been a long time since I did any mutton bustin’.” With a final pat and chuckle, she added, “A damn long time.”
The lingering rush of the chase was familiar—once it got you, the thrill of the ride never really let go—but the wish to do it again, that was unexpected. She was a grown woman, well past her rodeo days.
Sharp barking approaching from her right signaled that Carrot and Oreo were on their way back with the rest of the flock.
Soon they would have the whole herd of them back in the yard, and then Lil could start her actual workday.
Feeding the barn stock was supposed to be her meditative morning ritual.
One that might need reconsideration, she thought as she hooked a foot into her stirrup and swung onto her horse.
The horse was the same stormy gray color as Lil’s eyes, with a black mane and tail matched to the inky midnight tone of Lil’s hair. Fanciful, Lil had named her Aurora, the most beautiful thing she could think of at the time, but everybody called her Rory.
Rory had been Lil’s twenty-fifth birthday present from her granddad. The last one he ever gave her.
Leaning forward, she pressed the side of her face against Rory’s warm neck, breathing deep that unique-in-all-the-world scent that was horse.
Oreo and Carrot brought in the remaining six sheep, and Lil led the group back toward the yard.
The coyotes could have the goats for all she cared. They had been the ones to open the fence.
She turned to Oreo, on her left, “With my luck, they would just eat the coyotes, and then we’d still have the stupid things, plus an enormous vet bill, to boot.”
Oreo gave a cheerful whuff, and Lil tried not to wonder what it meant that the response satisfied her.
Lil led the sheep and dogs back into the barnyard and tied the gate shut with the backup rope. The broken lock needed replacing—another task she added to her mental list. Once a goat figured out the mechanism, you had to get a whole new style lock.
Shaking her head, she unsaddled Rory, brushed the horse down, gave her a pat of hay, and tossed her a handful of oats.
Wrapping up her morning routine, Lil spread feed out in the yard for the chickens. They’d eat bugs and other bits around the farmhouse throughout the day, but it was always a good idea to start the day with a hearty breakfast. Besides, there was comfort in the action of spreading feed, especially after the chaotic morning.
The familiar action finally brought her heart some of the calm she typically found in doing the morning chores. She might spend her days chained to a desk running the business end of things, but she was still a hands-on rancher at heart.
The chickens settled into contented clucking and rooting just in time for Lil to hear her grandmother shriek from the kitchen.
Lil was across the yard in four seconds, up the stairs, and into the kitchen in another two.
Her eyes and muscles worked faster than her mind. Before she knew what she was doing, her rope was out, its tail end lashing out to snake around the delicate wrist of the arm raised against the woman who had raised her.
A flick of Lil’s wrist and the stranger—a woman, after a second more processing—flipped into the air before landing hard on her back on the kitchen floor.
“Lil.” Gran’s voice was cross.
Lil crossed the kitchen in three strides, crouched at the stranger’s side, and rolled her over.
The woman’s face had gone pale and sweaty, all the more unfortunate for being paired with a green three-piece skirt suit with a little too much square in the shoulders. She was probably in her midforties and had a tight perm shorn close to her head. Based on the faint traces of grow-out, the woman was a natural sensible brown that she had dyed an even more sensible brown.
Lil considered the woman for a second longer before saying, casually, “I could shoot you, you know.” Granddad had always said calm was scarier. “You’re in my home, uninvited, and this is Oklahoma.”
“Lil.” Gran’s voice turned up a notch, breaking through the cold rage in her mind. “Apologize.”
Lil’s chin angled up, and her heels dug down, “I’m not saying sorry to this stranger. She was about to hit you.”
Gran’s face cracked with a smile that had a hint of bite in it. She patted the front pocket of her apron before pulling out her mace key chain. It was the color of a purple highlighter. “I might have said a few provoking words about her mother… But that’s beside the point. I had the situation under control. I’ve got my mace. Carry it everywhere since Granddad passed.”
Lil groaned, her mind filled with images of Gran spraying innocent fools in the face, all of which were more comfortable than knowing that carrying mace around was just another sign that Gran felt a little less safe in the world without Granddad around.
“Gran. You know that doesn’t make you any safer. And were you planning to wait until after she hit you to use it?”
The woman cleared her throat, the disapproving sound instantly transporting Lil back in time to her second grade teacher’s class, Mrs. Donkin. Students in Mrs. Donkin’s class were guests in her realm and were expected to act accordingly.
Lil hadn’t liked the sound coming from her teacher, and she certainly didn’t like it coming from a stranger in her own kitchen.
“I’m with the Bank of—”
Lil cut her off with a raised hand. “We all know you’re from the bank—” There were certain professions a person couldn’t hide, no matter how hard they tried—cops, bankers, lawyers, teachers, pastors, and cowboys—each one was obvious a mile away. “As modern bankers aren’t known for door-to-door recruitment, it then seems pretty safe to assume you’re from the bank we do business with, the Bank of Muskogee. Now, we don’t have much in our accounts, so we wouldn’t be the kind of clientele they’d send a representative out all this way to for a friendly check-in. That means you’re here about our larger investment, this ranch. I run the books here, so I can think of a whole host of reasons you might be interested in paying us a visit regarding the ranch. What I can’t think of, though, is a single damn reason you would be in my kitchen, in my home, lifting a hand to my grandmother. I find that so stupefying that it seems only natural to assume you’re capable of anything, moving me toward my only recourse—the use of force to protect myself from attempted injury.”
The woman huffed at Lil’s words but refrained from commenting until she’d risen to her feet, straightened her skirt, dusted off her suit jacket, and patted her hair.
Then she said, “I am with the Bank of Muskogee, and Miss Lilian—I assume you are the Miss Lilian described in my file—I would be happy to explain myself to the authorities, including how you assaulted me, so go ahead and call them.” She had patted her file when referencing it and now stood tapping her foot on the tile flooring. Lil and Granddad had spent weeks one achingly hot summer installing the incredible discontinued turquoise tile. Gran had gotten them for a steal, importing them direct from a Jamaica-based tile maker she’d met in an online forum about beading. The labor had been hard, the result worth it. No one else in Muscogee had a kitchen floor like Gran’s, which was just how she liked it.
The woman’s tapping was becoming irritating, so Lil smiled her mean smile and said, “Nobody said anything about calling anybody. I rather think I’d drive leisurely down to the station to let everyone know what happened after-the-fact if you understand what I’m saying.”
The woman’s mouth made a little O of outrage, and she clutched her file in front of her. “I assure you, I will make a note of this hostility in my file.”
Lil rolled her eyes before crossing her arms in front of her chest. “What’re you here for?”
The woman lifted her nose in the air. “As I was getting to before your grandmother verbally attacked me—”
Lil let out a low growling noise, and the woman stopped talking to take an audible gulp.
“As. I. Was. Saying. The Bank of Muscogee sent me to deliver the news that your bereavement grace period has ended. I am also to remind you that, as per the terms of the agreement, you, the heirs of Herman Island, may, without a down payment, begin making adjusted mortgage payments beginning November of this year. Alternatively, with a new down payment, an adjusted payment set at a rate equal to that of the average final six payments of the previous mortgage is available to you. If none of those options are feasible, you are free to leave the ranch and all of its associated troubles—my file indicates difficulties securing improvement permit approvals and equipment rentals, as well as challenges with making timely mortgage payments—to the bank.”
“Now, what nonsense are you talking about?” Lil asked, eyebrows and nose screwed up in genuine bewilderment. “That file of yours might paint a part of the picture true, but without a doubt, this ranch has one thing going for it, and that’s the fact that it’s paid for.”
The woman shook her head, the movement mechanical like a clock, her expression a blend of smug and pleased that Lil’s mind immediately coined smleased. “Not for the last six and a half years since your grandfather walked through the doors of the central street branch and applied for a reverse mortgage.”
“What?” Lil’s mouth dropped open this time. “You mean those things sleazy banks use to prey on lonely old folk without kin?”
The woman had the gall to look affronted. “Reverse mortgages are an important mode of financial freedom for seniors without traditional options!”
Lil shook her head, amazed. The woman moved like a clock and spoke with all the heart of a robot. “You’re telling me that the Bank of Muscogee somehow fooled my granddad into signing his land away?” Heat built in her chest, making its way upward toward her neck and face.
“The Bank of Muscogee was merely the facilitator. Your grandfather walked in, submitted the appropriate paperwork, and walked out with 1.2 million dollars.”
Lil laughed. “$1.2 million? Lady, you had me going. You truly did. But you lost me at 1.2 million dollars. I spent nearly every day of the last two years of his life with my granddad. If he’d have had a million dollars, I would have known about it.”
Gran, having been quietly observing the exchange, chose the moment to reenter the conversation. “She’s telling the truth, Lil.”
Lil’s head whipped around to face her gran. “That’s crazy, Gran. Where’d the money go if he did it?”
“I found the money.”
All the heat building inside abandoned Lil as swiftly as it’d arrived, leaving her shivering in the morning warmth of the kitchen.
“He set up a separate account. Most of it’s gone. Spent on the ranch before you go worrying,” Gran said, looking severe and firm. “Your granddad was a good man. I haven’t worked it all out yet, but the secret was his only sin.”
Some of the tightness left Lil’s chest at her gran’s words, but she mumbled, “It’s a big enough sin.”
“Lilian Island, I’ll not have you speaking ill of the dead.”
“How could he have done this?”
For a moment, it was as if the bank representative had disappeared, and it was just the two of them, a bewildered granddaughter trying to understand the world from her weary widowed grandmother.
Gran shook her head, the motion small for all the volumes it spoke. “He must have had a good reason.”
The woman from the bank cleared her throat. “Yes. Well. Your grandfather’s motivations notwithstanding, it is my task to get your signature on this paper, which states I’ve informed you of the terms of the reverse mortgage.” She held up a multipage form, the top few pages folded back to reveal a signature line at the base of a long page, which she jabbed with a finger Lil knew had done more than its fair share of pointing.
Gran’s eyebrow ticked up, and Lil’s stomach tightened on reflex—years spent under the woman’s watchful eye had taught her to be wary of that look.
Gran was irritated and through with the woman’s presence in her kitchen.
Without speaking a word, with barely even a glance in the woman’s direction, Gran’s arm flashed out and signed the paper, the whole motion eerily like the one she had so often reached back and used to smack some sense into her old fool cowboy of a husband.
Lil wondered if the millions of tiny memories she stumbled into each day on the ranch would always hurt. This deep into them with no sign of abating, she’d nearly reconciled herself to the fact that chances were they would.
On a groan, Lil said, “Gran, you can’t just sign like that. You didn’t even look at the document.”
The bank woman virtually salivated. “Thank you, Mrs. Island. I’m sure the bank will be pleased with your response.”
Gran scoffed, still not looking at the woman. “I’m sure they will be SherriDawn Daniels, but, as I was saying before you so rudely lost your temper after I invited you into my home, it won’t get you any closer to knowing who your real daddy is.”
Lil grimaced, and SherriDawn—old enough to be Lil’s mother and, who had, according to Gran, been one of the wild girls Lil’s mother had palled around with as a teen—actually growled.
Lil’s hand tensed at her side, ready to repeat the scene from earlier if need be.
But this time SherriDawn held her temper, instead, plastering a broad smile on her face, saying through clenched teeth, “I’ll just be on my way, now, Mrs. Island. It was nice seeing you again.”
Gran cackled. “Don’t you lie to me, SherriDawn. I’ve seen right through you since you were fifteen years old, and don’t pretend like it isn’t true.”
The growling sound moved lower down into her throat, but this time SherriDawn took the wise course: she shut her mouth, clasped her briefcase, and swiveled narrowly to the door.
Watching her walk away, so prim and proper that it seemed anally uncomfortable, it was hard to imagine SherriDawn might have been wild enough to ride with her mother. In Lil’s mind, her mother represented all that was wild and dangerous, as well as what happened when you chased after it. She’d been wild enough to run around and have herself a baby by a mystery man she refused to name at sixteen. Wild enough to run off and never come back, leaving that baby to be raised by her grandparents.
SherriDawn didn’t seem like she had the balls for all of that.
After the door slammed shut, the old screen let to fall without care by SherriDawn on her way out, Gran gathered herself with a shuddering breath, which she then let out on a long theatrical sigh.
Lil’s Spidey senses tingled.
Given what Gran already seemed to know about things, the whole scene with SherriDawn now seemed put on. And Gran’s long sigh was telling. That meant that all of it—goading the bank woman, the dramatic reveal, perhaps even the sheep and the goats, now that Lil was thinking about it—was part of one of Gran’s plots then.
If she knew her gran, and she did like the back of her hand, this one would be related to the reverse mortgage but would be no less outrageous for being grounded in their real problems.
Gran put on a sober look before sighing. “Everyone ought to be here—I only want to say this once.” Then she opened her mouth and hollered at the top of her considerable lungs, “PIPER! TOMMY!”
Piper, their petite red-haired farmhand, came running in first, clearly having grabbed the closest thing at hand to use as a weapon if needed—a horseshoe.
Tommy, Lil’s live-in cousin from Granddad’s side, had a rifle.
Steady, dependable, Tommy.
“What’s going on?” they asked in unison.
“You’re all going to want to sit down for this,” Gran said with an arm toward the kitchen table and more weariness in her voice than the unveiling of a scheme usually allowed.
Following her grandmother’s gesture, Lil noticed for the first time the plaid thermos of coffee that sat in the center of the round table.
It wasn’t the new stainless steel one.
Gran had taken out the plaid one. She reserved the plaid thermos for tough conversations.
Four chairs sat around the table, each with an empty coffee mug in front of it.
Lil’s seat, where she sat now that she knew what was going on, was the east point of the compass of their table.
Gran sat in the north, Tommy the south, and Piper the west.
Granddad had always been in the northeast, a steady anchor between Gran and Lil.
Without him, they held each other as best they could, but both had become more prone to drifting.
Gran waited for everyone to pour a cup before she spoke. “I’ll start with the good news. We have each other. We have our stock, and, for the moment, we have the land.”
“Not a promising start, Gran,” Lil observed.
“It is when it might be all we’ve got,” Gran said simply. “Unbeknownst to me, Granddad took a reverse mortgage on the ranch in the years before he died. I received a letter informing me of this in the mail last week.”
Lil frowned. That Gran had sat on information this critical for a week settled about as well as lemon juice in cream.
Gran continued, “After some digging, what I can piece together is this: about five years ago, Granddad lost the Wilson drive contract.”
Lil shook her head. “That’s impossible. He went right up until he died. That’s half the reason he got sick in the first place.”
Gran placed a hand on Lil’s wrist, just below where the hand attached to it had clenched into a fist.
Gran, never one to pull her punches, said: “He didn’t go. He kept a separate bank account for the money, and he tracked his expenses. He spent the time in Tulsa at a hotel renting movies and ordering room service.” A half smile broke through the frustration. “Greedy old cuss.”
But it wasn’t an endearing foible to Lil’s frame of mind. He had lied to them, and, in his own words, like all lies, it had spiraled into an avalanche of deceit.
“In the agreement, he included a provision to give us extra time before we had to make a decision, but that time is up. We have sixty days to come up with a down payment for the ranch, following which the bank will establish monthly mortgage payments. Every way I’ve looked at it, it’s our only option. We would never be able to afford the payment the bank offered without the down payment. But nobody is going to evict us from land my husband’s family has held on to, hardscrabble as it’s been, through hell on earth.” The last she directed specifically to Lil and Tommy. Through their granddad’s line, Tommy and Lil were Muscogee Creek Freedmen, the descendants of enslaved people under the double burden of being property during the relocation and later forced removal of the Muscogee from their homelands in the southeast. And after the tribe disenrolled the freedmen in the seventies, their citizenship revoked in a blow her granddad had never quite recovered from, this land, this dry patch of Oklahoma allotted to their family after the Civil War—insignificant dust mote of a ranch that it was—was the only proof they had left, the only hint as to how their family had ended up in Oklahoma in the first place. Tearing folks from their history was one of the ways to break them, so Lil’s family had held on to theirs through their land—through cultural hostility, the dust bowl, outright deception, attempts to steal, and everything else that time and life had thrown their way.
They had refused to sell even when their neighbors, cousins, and relatives packed up and left, seeking the green of other pastures and the heat of other suns. The Islands had stuck it out, and the reward was being able to say they’d held on to the first and only thing they’d ever been given.
Until now.
Lil was glad she had taken Gran’s advice to sit down. The floor had become somewhat less substantial beneath her boots.
It occurred to her that they were nice boots. She could probably sell them for some quick cash. It wouldn’t be anywhere near enough if what she thought might be true was true.
Sixty days wasn’t enough time at all. Lil frowned. They had a cash reserve of five thousand to keep them and the stock fed through a pinch, and they had the value of their stock itself, which could bring in another eighty thousand in a quick sale at auction, but as far as she knew, they didn’t have any other assets.
Her 1980s Toyota was too beat up to be worth anything, and she didn’t own any personal items of value.
Finally, she found her voice. “But why would Granddad do something like that?”
Gran sighed. “I don’t think that he could admit he was too old to do it all himself anymore. Looking at his paperwork, in addition to withdrawing the amounts it took to look like he’d still been going on the drives, it looks like he’d been dipping in those funds rather liberally.”
“Rory…” Lil grimaced. She had wondered where he’d scrounged up the money for a papered Arabian filly.
Now she knew.
Gran nodded. “And Gorgeous,” she said, referring to the brand new Subaru station wagon that sat in her driveway, souped-up with every safety and luxury feature available.
Lil brought her fingers to her temples and rubbed. “So how much is left in his secret pot then?” she asked.
Gran shook her head. “Just ten thousand.”
“What?” Lil gasped.
Whining wasn’t her usual way, but, as the woman from the bank had gone, and there was no one left to throttle, it was the only option available.
“Don’t be theatrical.” Gran’s comment was automatic, so much so that Lil wasn’t even sure the woman noticed she’d made it, nor that, as far as statements went, it was the pot calling the kettle. “They want twenty percent for the down payment. We don’t have that.”
Lil groaned. “Nor enough for the mortgage payments after that. We’re barely making it by as is.” Lil couldn’t tell the truth: they weren’t making it. She had been contemplating selling equipment to stretch the final distance to make ends meet. Every month it was a struggle, but Lil had been somehow managing, just eking it out of the red. A mortgage payment, any mortgage payment, would break them.
Gran waited a beat after Lil’s interruption, punctuating the unspoken admonishment with a lifted eyebrow and communicating clearly without words: Are you done yet?
Lil blushed.
“But—” Gran continued. “We have each other. And we have Lil.”
The way her gran said her name made the hair stand up on the back of her neck, but when she opened her mouth to question, her grandmother lifted her palm to her, a signal to Lil to hold her tongue.
Out of respect, she did.
“Lil. You’re on temporary reassignment.”
“What are you talking about?” Lil asked.
“I’m the owner, aren’t I?” she asked.
“Yes, but we agreed that I was in charge of daily operations.”
“I’ve changed my mind.”
“Gran.”
“I can do your job. Nobody but you can do what we need you for now.”
Here was the plot then. Lil’s skin crawled with a warning, but she asked anyway, “And what is that?”
Gran handed her a glossy quarter sheet flyer in response. Lil read the largest print and then set it facedown on the table and brought her fingers to her temples.
Gran’s voice was soft when she next spoke. “We need the money, Lil. I don’t see any other way.”
Lil groaned.
Gran added, “You’re the best there’s ever been.”
The old woman wasn’t pulling any punches.
Lil’s voice flirted with the edge of hysteria. “Says a nobody’s grandma with a stopwatch and pasture.”
“‘Nobody’s grandma?’ Excuse you.” She pointed to the third line of the flyer, “Did you see the prize? There are no points required, just a qualifier. It’s part of the whole thing. Like American Idol.”
Lil went ahead and dove fully into hysteria. When she spoke, her voice squeaked high to low like a pubertal boy. “American Idol?”
Gran’s next words had the same effect as being hit by a bucket of cold water: “You could ride a bull.”
Lil’s body froze and tingled at the same time.
She hadn’t stepped foot in an arena in years and never competed in a PBRA-sponsored rodeo.
She had walked away a junior champion and ridden pro a few times in the Indian National Rodeo rodeos. Still, the world of rodeo mostly had forgotten about her—except for the few administrators who would always remember her as the girl who had tried and failed, over and over, to get women into the PBRA’s, the Professional Bull Riders Association, rough stock events. Because in Lil’s mind, what did it matter if she won every other event if she couldn’t win on the back of a bull?
She was skilled enough to have made a good living between women’s events in the PBRA and the Indian rodeos, but if she couldn’t ride a bull under the banner of PBRA, she didn’t want any of it.
So she rode for a college scholarship and then quit when she graduated instead. And then she’d come back to the ranch. End of story. And that was good enough for her.
Since her retirement, rodeo had opened up a lot, and she was happy for the younger generation. A handful of girls had even been allowed on top of bulls. None had made it far, but Lil knew it was only a matter of time.
She shook her head with a sigh. “I can’t, Gran. I’m rusty as an old nail, and there’s just too much to do around here. Besides, the ranch is too much for Tommy and Piper to run on their own.”
Gran snorted. “You work in the office most of the day, anyway.”
“Gran, you don’t have the energy for it,” Lil insisted.
“Energy? Hell, after more years of doing it than you’ve been alive, I could do the ranch’s books half asleep—and have! I just let you take over because it’s a snoozefest.”
“Snoozefest? Gran, do you hear yourself?” Lil turned to Piper and Tommy for help, “You don’t support this, do you?”
Both shrugged.
Piper said, “We trust Gran.”
Gran crossed her arms in front of her chest and lifted a brow. “They trust me.”
“It’s a lot more work,” Lil tried.
Tommy said, “We’ve been doing more and more of it while you’ve been up there pinching pennies.”
Lil’s cheeks heated, but she didn’t contradict him. He and Piper had been pulling more and more of her weight as she tried to do the impossible.
The impossible that she wasn’t very good at. The impossible that Gran could do in her sleep—which was true. Gran ran a tight ship, whatever ship she came to, and she had been far more organized in running Swallowtail Ranch than Lil could ever hope to be.
They had supported her through the last sad and stumbling years. Participating in this crazy scheme was what they were asking of her in return.
Mentally sweating, Lil pushed her chair back, its legs screeching across the floor, and stood up. Turning around, she headed to the door without saying another word.
“Where are you going, Lilian?” Gran only used her full name when she got stern.
Lil stopped mid-step. “I’m going to clear out my desk,” she said.
Behind her back, Gran smiled. Lil didn’t have to see it to know it was true. Gran always smiled when she got what she wanted, and she always got what she wanted.
“Don’t worry about that now. You’ve got training to do. Gotten a bit out of shape, if you ask me.”
Piper erupted in a fit of witchy cackles as Lil stormed out of the kitchen. Ignoring them all, Lil went to her office.
On the second floor of the farmhouse, the room used to be her gran and granddad’s bedroom, but she and Gran had turned it into the office after he passed. Gran said she couldn’t bear to sleep in there alone.
It made a lovely office—wide and bright, with delicately framed French doors that led to a weight-bearing balcony. Weight-bearing because Lil’s summer project last year had been to reinforce the support beams, replace the decking, and weather coat the whole thing.
She figured that should get her five years’ worth of good use of Muskogee’s extreme annual mood swings before she’d need to do any repairs. That is if she kept up on refinishing it every year, which she had planned to, since walking out on the balcony had preserved her sanity after a long stint of pushing paper many a time.
She walked through the doors and stood there now, enjoying it while she could still call it hers. There were bills to pay, orders to fulfill, and emails to respond to, but that wasn’t her job now. Now her job was to enter a rodeo contest and try to win some money to save the ranch.
Marcella Bell was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. She is a registered yoga teacher, an avid reader, a honeybee enthusiast, and a lover of travel, corvids, and karaoke. A wife, mother, and child of a multicultural household, Marcella is especially interested in writing novels that reflect her family history, as well as the people and places she’s known throughout her life.
