From Rodeo Star to America's Bachelor: "Bet On A Cowboy" by Julie Benson

Love Is The Wild Card . . . Commitment phobic Colorado cowboy Griffin McAlister has it all figured out. Do the reality dating show, get the money his family desperately needs and go on with his life. Actually falling in love was never part of the deal...least of all falling in love with the show's spunky director.


 Maggie Sullivan knows she's found a star the minute she meets Griffin. But as she gets to know the man behind the dimples, she realizes she might have found something more. It doesn't matter, though; she has a job to do. Besides, how could he ever notice her while he's busy wooing ten gorgeous women? Now Griffin has a choice to make: stick with the plan and lose Maggie forever, or risk everything for a chance to win her heart!

He's a former rodeo star, in line for a Professional Bull Rider's championship, literally leaving his closest competitors "in the dust."  But severe injuries in a terrible auto accident ended that dream and effectively ended Griffin's sense of self-worth, his dreams of being a contributing member of his family, his sense of being someone who could hold his head high.  Yes, his family loved him, but he had passed over a college education and was now working the family ranching operation, just another ranch hand.   His brother had brought in a nice chunk of change due to a modeling contract, so Maggie Sullivan's offer to  make him the bachelor every man in America envied--rejected outright at first--began to look pretty good when he found out how much money he could make to help pay for his mother's costly cancer treatments.  The problem?  He really didn't want a wife--the ultimate goal of the TV show.

Maggie was a dedicated woman--dedicated to her job and dedicated to saving sufficient money so that she could have a child through the miracle of modern artificial insemination.  She had finally given up on the possibilities of having a child the "normal" way and had no illusions that anyone like Griff could ever see her past the 10 beautiful women who would fill his life for 10 weeks.  So she just did her job, working hard to keep her focus on the demands of the "higher ups," while working very hard to protect her heart from the pull of the most beautiful man she had ever encountered.

This is truly a fun read, filled with ups and downs emotionally, fun and joy, sadness and pain, hopes and hopelessness.  It is a story set against the close ties of family, the deep love of two men for their ailing mother, and the deep feelings that come from dreams realized and dreams lost.  It is easy to read in the sense that it is well written and the story flows from scene to scene.  The characters have the sheen of realism, especially as the reader sees the development of the story mostly through Maggie and Griff's eyes.  There were tears from time to time followed close on with chuckles.  The women of the TV show were unbelievable at times, yet most of us recognize people with that sort of unrealistic expectation, especially those of us who live in Southern California.  It's just a very good story and a fun read.  I think lovers of fun romance stories will enjoy this novel.  I give it a rating of 3.75 out of 5.

This novel was released by Harlequin in June, 2012.

She Stole My Guy And You Want Me to Plan Her Wedding??? "When We Touch" by Brenda Novak

You’re invited to a wedding in Whiskey Creek, Heart of the Gold Country.

Unfortunately, it’s the wrong wedding. Olivia Arnold is arranging the festivities—and it’s the hardest thing she’s ever done. Because she should be marrying Kyle Houseman. They were together for more than a year…. But her jealous sister, Noelle, stole him away—and now she’s pregnant.

All their friends in Whiskey Creek know as well as Olivia does that Kyle’s making a mistake. His stepbrother, Brandon, knows it, too. But Kyle’s determined to go through with it, for his child’s sake.
Olivia’s devastated, but surprisingly Brandon—the black sheep of the family—is there to provide comfort and consolation. The intensity between them, both physical and emotional, shows Olivia that maybe Kyle wasn’t the right man for her… But is Brandon?


I can't even imagine what such a situation would feel like, nor can I even imagine a family that would even think of asking the sister that has been rejected to plan the wedding of the spoiled and triumphant sister who has "stolen" her sister's almost-fiance.  And yet, that is the setting in which this story occurs.  It is a deeply emotional tale, filled with pain and that sense, right from the beginning, that no one can really understand parents who could be so clueless to the brokenness that one of their daughters has caused the other, or who have never actually recognized the mean spirit that lives within that spoiled brat of a human being. 


The other mystery, at least for me, is why Olivia would even cave in to these people.  Yes, that's been the family tradition--Noelle gets her way, and Olivia is drawn in as the co-dependent handmaiden to her sister.  Time and time again Olivia gives in, all in the name of family peace, and the person who is injured time and time again is Olivia herself.  Now not only has Olivia's family betrayed her once again, but the man she had been with for over a year has demonstrated his weak moral fiber in even caving in to Noelle's seduction--as if he had never seen that woman in action during the year he had been involved with Olivia and her family.  What a wuss!!  I have to own up to being really irritated to nearly everyone in this story for a good part of the story.  I know from my own counseling experience that dysfunctional families pull these kinds of hurtful actions on one another, their individual members are out of emotional balance, and the end result is the kind of wound that can often linger years before healing.


And then there's Brandon . . . Kyle's stepbrother, a relationship that has been strained and contentious ever since their respective parents married.  Brandon felt like he lost his family when their parents married and Kyle became the favored son.  So he "did his own thing" and became the "square peg in the round hole" and lived his own way.  He and he alone felt Olivia's pain, recognized the unhealthy atmosphere of the entire circumstance, drew Olivia into an embrace of understanding and a haven of comfort she had long stopped expecting from her own parents.  I really liked Brandon a lot!


This is not an easy novella, not the kind of happy-go-lucky romance that could be a pleasant reading interlude.  No, this short work stretches the reader's emotional boundaries, makes the mind work, has a most definite distress component, and certainly sets the reader up for asking some serious questions of the narrative.  Perhaps that's why this story stands out for me.  It made me work, and in the "working" I experienced an even greater sense of satisfaction when I reached the end.   It is a novella that adds to the Whiskey Creek family of characters as it moves the reader toward future stories to come out of this very small, intense, and closely connected community. A really terrific read.  I give it a rating of 4 out of 5.


This novel was released 31 July 2012 by Harlequin under its Mira imprint.

Traveling America Without Air Conditioning . . .

Yes, no air conditioning.  We began our journey across America at the end of June, heading first to Pittsburgh for a conference--knowing that we would have a wonderful time when we arrived. We were also looking forward to the drive itself.  That is, until our air conditioning failed the very first day of our trip.  And the outside temperature was in the low 100's.  As it happened, it was a record-setting heat wave that spread from the Western Midwestern states all the way to Pennsylvania.

I know what it means to be hot but to be hot and surrounded by extreme humidity is quite another thing.  And because the automatic fan action of the system failed as well as cooling capacity, we had to roll down the windows just to get some really hot wind moving.  Were it not for the spray bottle that managed to cool us frequently, I'm not sure either hubby or I would have made it.

I remember the trips across the country without air conditioning when I was a kid, and thought often that I would never have to endure such an experience ever again.  But little did I realize that such would be my lot this very summer.  Somehow life has given us another reminder that "while we are making plans, life happens."  So onward we go, journeying from Pittsburgh after our week there to visit with friends in Virginia, and now on to Georgia where it rained massive amounts both on the drive southward as well as after we arrived.  Things are certainly green down here, but the air is thick with humidity to the extent that it feels like a sauna.

One good thing so far:  our 1980 Mercedes 300D diesel is behaving wonderfully other than the climate control unit.  We are getting excellent milege and believe it or not, gas is still going down in cost.  In South Carolina, regular unleaded was $2.86.  Quite a change from several month ago.

So onward we go . . . traveling to Alabama at the end of this week, visiting with family and new and old friends.  It looks like the heat and humidity will persist.  Oh well . . . we can honestly say:  "There will be a "hot" time in the old time tonight."

America the Beautiful . . .

O beautiful, for spacious skies,











For amber waves of grain,













For purple mountains' majesty












Above the fruited plain,

America, America, God shed His grace on thee . . .

And crown thy good with brotherhood,

From sea to shining sea!

A very happy and blessed July 4th, everyone!!

A Really Reluctant Dad -- or -- "An Unmistakable Rogue" by Annette Blair

Married and widowed in short order, Chastity Somers vows to claim her bridegroom's inheritance as the long-lost St. Yves, Earl of Barrington. But she must contend with Reed Gilbride, who also believes himself the missing St. Yves. The dangerously handsome military man has the power to derail all her dreams.

I know Father's Day was 10 days back, but this story captivated my interest and I wanted to share it with my visitors/folloapwers.  I haven't posted much for a while as we are getting ready to mozy down the road toward Pennsylvania, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama and then back home during July.  But as I was reading this book, I couldn't help but think about Father's Day, my own dad, and what it must have been like to be growing up in a society where being a child was a dangerous thing.  

We read historical romances and see children who cosseted and spoiled, but Charles Dickens had it right when he painted the picture of children whose lives were seriously in danger from starvation, poverty, cold, and most of all, neglect and disinterest on the part of the greater society.  In this entertaining historical novel, set in the years just after the Battle of Waterloo, characters and relationships which were first introduced in this series' first book continue to make their appearance.  Reed Gilbride was a decorated officer in the war, but when he returned to England he was a man at loose ends--no family, no roots, and no knowledge of who he really was.  A  mysterious note causes him to begin his search for information that will prove that he is the heir of a long-dead earl.  But in his search he encounters a gutsy, sassy, and determined woman whose love for all things helpless has caused her to take charge of a whole cadre of children, apparently abandoned by people given responsibility for them by their desperate mother.  And the last thing Reed Gilbride needed in his life was a sassy woman loaded down with children. . . UGH!!

Yet the one thing Reed couldn't seem to avoid was the way his emotions resonated with these kids--he saw his own pain, he remembered his own drive to survive, he empathized with the defensive walls that enclosed their hearts because they didn't want to endure anymore loss and its resulting pain.  He saw Chastity's drive and experienced her warmth and generosity, he did all he could to avoid her giving ways and responding to her ways of including him as even a temporary member of her household.  Yet through it all he began to experience the rejuvenating effects of the kindness she brought into his life, the connections he couldn't seem to resist with those delightful kids.

This is a story about another battered and bruised and deeply injured veteran of the Battle of Waterloo, a member of the Rogue's Club--a small group of English officers who vowed to "be there" for each other and any survivors of those who didn't return from the war.  Yet Reed felt he had so little to give since he couldn't even figure out who he really was.  The kindness and grace Chastity injected into his heart not only changed the direction of his life, it renewed his belief in himself and opened his heart to others far more than he could ever have expected.

This book is a fun read in so many ways but it is also one that tugs strongly at your heart strings.  It was first released a number of years ago and is now being re-released.  How glad I found it and have had opportunity to read and enjoy.  It's a wonderful book that is built around the journey of discovery of a man whose desire to be a father was absolutely nil.  And yet, of all the Rogues, he came farthest in realizing a dream he wasn't aware he even possessed.

It's a great book and one that I think is even better than the preceding ones.  It certainly grabbed me, and I hope you can get hold of it and enjoy it as much as I did.  I give it a rating of 4 out of 5.

Widowed, penniless Sabrina Whitcomb isn't looking for romance. What she needs is a husband, and she knows well enough that romance and matrimony aren't always compatible. While providing for her twins and the child she now carries is paramount, wedding a virtual stranger--even a wealthy one, like Gideon St. Goddard, Duke of Stanthorpe--is no light matter. Sabrina knows the friend who arranged the union would not promise her to a true scoundrel, but one look at her future husband convinces her that he is a shameless rogue. A shockingly handsome and desirable one, at that. Why has he agreed to marry her? When Gideon flashes that wicked, seductive smile, the reason hardly matters, but the chance that he'll steal her heart becomes all too real.

This is a novel, first in a series, that was first published in 2002 and has now been re-released to the delight of historical romance fans and those who are especially fans of stories set in the post-Napoleonic era.  Six English officers, facing death before the battle of Waterloo, determined that they would enter into a pact together--not truly an original plot line--yet these men agreed that they would not only care for one another but they would also accept responsibility for looking out for any families who were left behind if one of them were to be killed.  And so began the saga of The Rogues' Club and the stories of four of these six British officers.

Sabrina had lived through circumstances that most of modern women can't even conceive of as being possible.  Yet for her--a woman who had literally been "sold" into marriage by her father in exchange for money and who was again "sold" by her husband because he couldn't pay his gambling debts--finding herself betrothed to the Duke of Stanthorpe didn't sound all that bad.  It was a marriage arranged by her brother-in-law--half-brother to her now-deceased husband--and upon whose assurances she relied that the Duke was a man of honor who would keep his word and provide for her and her children, regardless of how well they ultimately rubbed along.  But this is a story that once again reminds readers that secrets don't make for good relationship foundations and for both Sabrina and Gideon, it is a lesson that can cost them both dearly.

Ms Blair is an author with an impressive string of published stories and novels, whose books have received awards and award nominations and whose fans keep on loving her books.  For those of us who are only now discovering her work through the medium of e-publishing, it is a new and wonderful gift and one that just keeps on giving.  It is the kind of story that worms its way into your mind and emotions, whose word pictures enliven the imagination and tickle the funny bone, whose characters are stalwart and picturesque and sometimes scary.  Yet in the midst of real life and real living and real relationship emerges a genuine and winsome love story between two people of honor and deep sensitivity, passion and joy, whose capacity to love just keeps on growing.  And even amid the sexual heat and tension, there is the discovery of great joy and a kind of cutting edge pleasing of one another that comes when people are more concerned with giving than they are with taking.  

I have to confess that I was absolutely "hooked" on this author and this series.  I went right to the internet and bought all the remaining books in the series, some of which I will share as time goes on.  None were a disappointment.  I loved Sabrina--a mother of deep care and commitment to her children, whose twin sons spent time taking care of her in so many little and delightful ways.   But my favorite was Gideon--a many who came home to a wife he didn't know, a man of honor who was willing to do right by his dead compatriot's sister-in-law, and found the joy of his heart and the light of his future days.  It's a marvelous love story and one that will vastly entertain historical romance fiction lovers.  It really shouldn't be missed and right now it's also a great bargain.  I give it a rating of 4.25 out of 5.

Life Lessons Aren't Always Easy -- "The Wrangler" by Lindsay Mckenna

Can a city boy make good in the Wild West? After Wall Street collapses, investment banker Griff McPherson trades in his suits and ties for Stetsons and cowboy boots. He returns to the Wyoming ranch he co-owns with his brother, but it's not exactly a happy homecoming. So to prove to everyone, including himself, that he belongs back in Jackson Hole, he takes a post as a wrangler on another ranch. Air force lieutenant Val Hunter has just returned to the Bar H ranch to help her ailing grandmother run the property. While it is full of unhappy memories, Val is determined to do right by her home. Her new hire is easy on the eyes and a tough wrangler to boot, yet her instincts make it hard for her to trust him. When a nefarious neighbor endangers her land, Val is forced to accept Griff's help-but will she finally be able to open her heart?

It is no surprise that contemporary romance writers take their cues from all that is going on in today's world and with the significant down-turn of the world economy, there are stories galore to be told. But there is also another truism that surfaces often in romance fiction and that is the fact that one can never really "go home."  The hometown is different--even when it seems to have not changed--and people are different.  Every new person who comes to town changes that community just a little.  Nothing is ever quite the same.  In the case of this hero, there is absolutely no welcome mate put out for him.   Griff hoped and planned on being welcomed by his brother, but no place awaited him.  He had ignored his brother in the fat-cat days of his financial successes, he had even turned down his brother's plea for financial help to save their family's ranch, and now he is picking up the pieces of his own life.  He's barely holding it together--working a low-paying job, looking for odd jobs on the side, hoping for a better ranch job to come along so he can at least keep body and soul together.

The heroine of this story is another unwilling returnee to Jackson Hole--an air force pilot of note whose family obligations have now intruded on her personal life path and she is back on the ole homestead.  She really loves her grandmother, but this isn't quite the future she had planned.  The real heroine of this story is, in my opinion, the grandmother.  Now she certainly isn't involved in the romance part of the story--an elderly rancher who is as sharp as a tack, who knows the ranching business forward and backward and also knows how to invest wisely.  She's now been hampered by a bad hip and resulting surgery, and yet that doesn't mean that she is ready to pack it in.

This is a story of redemption and recovering one's perspective in life.  It is teaching three people the wisdom of backing up, taking a long look at the "big picture" and coming to some different conclusions.  It is also about finding ways to rebuild bridges of relationship that have been seriously damaged and finding that in the middle of hard times and personal chaos, there still lives honor and integrity within good people.

I have read one of the previous novels in this series and found it to be so good that I was excited to move on to this next story.  I happen to like cowboy romance a lot anyway, but the story of the two brothers, their anger and disconnect, their need to find their way back to each other is an important part of both these stories.  This story is especially compelling in teaching the lesson that circumstances don't shape character;  they reveal character, and it is the important lesson that Griff has to learn about himself and those around him.  He also finds out that all those Wall Street skills he thought had no part of his life anymore really were just sitting there waiting to become vital once again, even if the setting is hundreds of miles West of New York City.

Good writing, good plot, good characters and when they are all put together they come out as a compelling and entertaining novel that cowboy romance lovers will enjoy.  It's worth the time to read and I even think readers may want to go back and read some of the novels that appeared earlier in this series.  I know that will be true for me.  I give this a rating of 4 out of 5.

This novel is published by HQN Books and is being released in June, 2012.