This month I’m celebrating the release of Lone Star Father—the final book in my Cowboys of Stampede, Texas series from Harlequin Western Romance. The stories revolve around three brothers who are doing their best to look after the family ranch and their grandfather, the mayor of Stampede. When Grandpa Emmett’s former high-school flame, Amelia Rinehart, sets her sights on renovating the old pueblo, Grandpa digs his boot heels in. Amelia enlists the help of her great nieces from Wisconsin and suddenly the Hardell brothers are having second thoughts about assisting their grandfather in derailing the town matriarch’s plans.
Reid Hardell never imagined he’d become a single dad or that he’d ever return to his family’s ranch in Stampede, Texas. But for his newfound daughter’s sake, Reid is coming home, hoping his estranged brothers can help him master fatherhood. Life in Stampede has an unexpected perk—reconnecting with gorgeous Scarlett Johnson. Until Reid discovers she’s the new social worker on his custody case.
In working with Reid and his daughter, Scarlett finds a connection she thought was impossible. She wants more than anything to be part of their family, but a relationship could jeopardize their case and her job. How can she turn away from having everything she’s ever wanted—even if it’s the right thing to do?
***
I’ve written lots of contemporary westerns using different locations for my stories and Texas Hill Country remains my favorite. Even though I love Texas, my roots are planted deep in my blue-collar hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin. When I create towns for my stories, I always include bits and pieces of my old stomping grounds. More often than not you’ll find an old Woolworth building in my stories. I have fond memories of shopping at Woolworth with my grandmother and eating hotdogs at the lunch counter. The basement of the old Woolworth store in Janesville sold goldfish and pet supplies. The main floor sold clothing, shoes, health and beauty products along with household goods and gadgets. The third floor sold fabric and sewing supplies.
The fictitious Woolworth store in Stampede, Texas, closed its doors decades ago and now the basement houses the town library. You’ll find other tidbits of my childhood in this series like traveling carnivals, petting zoos, wheel barrow rides, tree houses, and a beautiful Victorian home much like the one I grew up down the block from. And what would a series be without a vintage motel in it?
Giveaway!
For a chance to win a signed copy of the first book in my Cowboys of Stampede series, The Cowboy’s Accidental Baby, share something you enjoyed doing as a child with a grandparent or parent. ***The winner will be named in the comment section of this blog post on Sunday June tenth!
Bronc rider Gunner Hardell never plans past the next stop on the rodeo. When he’s home in Stampede, Texas, he’s part-time manager of the run-down Moonlight Motel, to get his crotchety grandpa off his back. Then he meets interior designer Lydia Canter—hired to renovate the motel—and suddenly the gig gets a whole lot more appealing…
Lydia is looking for love, but there’s nothing wrong with some Mr. Right Now while she waits for Mr. Right. But one steamy night with Gunner has unexpected consequences. And she would rather raise their baby alone than give the good-time cowboy a chance to break her heart. When Gunner learns he’s going to be a daddy, he’s determined to prove to Lydia he really is her Mr. Right!
I may have grown up in the Midwest but my favorite place in the whole world is Arizona. Hubby and I are recent empty nesters living in Phoenix and we like to take off and explore the Grand Canyon State every chance we get. I’ve been writing contemporary western romances since 2004 for Harlequin and also write contemporary romance for Tule Publishing Group in addition to romantic women's fiction for Berkley-Penguin Random House. When I’m not writing I like to spend my free time junk hunting, researching ghost tours and exploring Route 66. I invite you to visit www.marinthomas.com to learn more about my books and where I hang out on social media.
Grandpa and I would walk to the neighborhood store where I would by a Delaware Punch soda and a candy bar with my money. Which always was a little short. Grandpa seemed to always be able to cover the shortage for me. I was only 5.
Jerri-I love this memory about your grandfather!
My grandparents always came to my hometown to buy their groceries at the Winn Dixie grocery store because there was only a very small grocery store where they lived. I always looked forward to the visits. My grandpa always bought me a box of miniature Reese cups. The miniature Reese cups just don’t taste as good now as they did when they came in the little box or maybe it was just because Grandpa bought them for me. Ooooohhh how I miss my grandparents.
Glenda, Win Dixie sounds like the Piggly Wiggly my grandparents shopped at 🙂
I always enjoyed coming to East Texas to visit my Grandparents. My grandparents lived in small communities that are only ten miles apart. My Nanny, my mother’s mother I enjoyed going shopping with. We often went to the outlet mall in Corsicana, Texas. She was a shopaholic and I unfortunately inherited that trait. My grandmother, my father’s mother, I enjoyed cooking with. I especially enjoyed that our of tons of grandkids I was the only one allowed in the kitchen. I always lived off somewhere and all my females cousins lived in the near vicinity. I’m sure they were allowed in the kitchen when I wasn’t around though. Cooking is one of my favorite things to this day. My step-grandfather, which wasn’t my step-grandfather way back then but I do not want to leave out, owned a gas station/store, about a mile from my Danny’s house. We would walk down to his store to buy a candy or a cold soda on occasion. He never take our money though. He give us a small bag with penny candy of our choice and we would drink a baby coke out of the glass bottle before we walked back home. I do believe he favored us bevause he loved my Daddy. My Daddy and his daughter were high school sweethearts and after my parents divorced they reunited and have been married for 38 years now. I have never read one of your books. I just started reading again in November of 2016 after decades of not reading. I’m almost finished with my 135th book. A giveaway is an awesome way to find a new author to add to my go to authors list.
Great story, Stephanie!
My grandmother allowed me to make biscuits with her. She’d give me dough and a small lid to use as a biscuit cutter. This past winter my 4 year old granddaughter and I made biscuits several times also. The circle of life!
Blessings!
Connie
cps1950(at)gmail(dot)com
Connie, it winds like biscuit making with your granddaughter is going to be a special tradition for you two 🙂
I loved staying with my Grandmother for a week in the summer(many years ago. Grandma didn’t drive, so we would walk to the country store. That was a great treat for me, as I lived way out in the country.
Estella, I’ve walked to the grocery store plenty of times with my grandmother when I was a little kid 🙂
I remember going to my grandparents house a lot but they had 11 children and somewhere around 50 grandchildren. My grandmother would fix us a half of bologna sandwich out of a roll of bologna that she sliced. Also enjoyed going fishing with my dad, we would go out on the river with his boat and spend most of the day fishing. I still love to go fishing just don’t get to go anymore. My grandpa fish a lot also.
Quilt Lady…50 grandchildren!! Yikes, lol! What fun times for everyone 🙂
I have several great memories from spending time with my grandmother. One of my favorites is picking strawberries and selling them from her road side stand.
Janine, picking strawberries with your grandmother is such a sweet memory!
Had wonderful memories. When I was very young, around 7 or 8 I loved going to New York every Sunday. We always stopped at a restaurant where the whole wall had food in little cases. I think it was called Horn & Harducks .You put your money in the slot for your choice and then slid the door open to get it. My sister and I thought this was the best thing ever. And what fun to go to the Woolworths near our house every Saturday to eat lunch. Your book sounds is a great read. I’ll definitely be checking out the show series.
Carol, glad to hear someone else has childhood memories of Woolworths!
I loved going out with my grandmother when I was young. She would treat each of her grandkids to a day out of shopping, lunch and the movies on a Saturday. It would be an occasion where we would dress up in our “Sunday” best. As I got older we travelled together doing the things we loved to do. Shop, eat and see new things.Those memories will always be special in my mind. My grandmother and I were always close right up until she passed away.
Kathleen, a shopping day with grandma is so sweet what a great memory!
Woo-Hoo! Congratulations on the new release, Marin! I love the premise of this story and the cowboy! Most certainly the cowboy! 🙂 🙂 🙂
I, too, remember Woolworths. That was such a fun store to shop in. In the town I grew up in we didn’t have one though. We had a Wackers. Strange name for a store I know but it was built on the same model. Tons of interesting counters. Each Saturday our family would go to town and spend the whole day. We’d walk up and down Main Street, looking in the stores and at the people. Other families did the same so it was kinda like a huge family gathering. Fun times. I miss those days when a person enjoyed simple pleasures. Everything was laid back. No one in a rush.
LOL, Linda, love the name Wackers! I hear you about missing those laid-back days-me, too!
Spending the whole summer with my paternal grandparents.
Lucky you, Kim!
I loved growing up on a farm and my grandma showed me how to bake things. Country life is so simple and fun! I miss that.
Susan, baking with grandma is special-even though my grandmother wasn’t a good cook from scratch she made a mean box cake!
eating her spaghetti sauce. It’s the best recipe.
Anon, hopefully you still use your grandmother’s spaghetti sauce recipe!
On Thursdays my grandmother would take her eggs to town to her regular customers’ homes. Most of them were her friends. In the summer she would sometimes take one of us girls with her. When the eggs were all delivered we would shop at Kresges and Woolworths. I remember one time buying popcorn and going to the park a block up the street and sitting on a bench and feeding the birds as well as ourselves. The park was downtown and had a bandstand and the library. The park and library are still there and beautiful. Kresges and Woolworths are long gone but your blog has brought the memory back, thanks.
Alice, you’re so welcome for the memories…we all need to look back and appreciate the simple times in our lives every once in a while!
I loved visiting my grandparents… always had a great time… they were big on gardening, so I remember helping pick strawberries, tomatoes, string beans, peas, and corn… 🙂
Colleen, I helped my grandmother water her garden each summer when I visited her house and she never got mad when I made muddle puddles 🙂
I liked to go camping with my grandparents! Or even just visting at their house and seeing all their outside cats and kittens!
Katie, if my grandparents had been pet owners I’d have visited them all the time!
I loved doing everything with my grandmother. She was a special lady and I named my daughter after her. One thing I enjoyed was just sitting and talking with her. She lived next door and every Saturday morning I would sit in the kitchen with her while she cooked and just watch her and talk.
Linda, my middle name (Elizabeth) is my grandmother’s name 🙂
I grew up in northern New York and also have fond memories of the Woolworth’s in town. It took forever (we are talking the late 1950’s-early 1960″s) to save enough money to buy Christmas presents for gamily members. One summer, I saved enough to take my grandmother to the snack bar for an ice cream sundae. Where we live now in TN, the local Children’s Museum has been housed in two old department stores. One was a JC Penney and I think the other was a Woolworth’s. I grew up in the country, but the local town had many wonderful old victorian and older houses.
I loved staying with my grandparents. With my paternal grandmother, I would work in the garden, learn a few recipes (I love her filled cookie recipe), and enjoy her meals. I learned to love poached eggs on toast at her house. With my maternal grandmother, I learned to sew. She helped me sew a lined linen suit. I insisted on doing it all myself. I know it drove her nuts with how long it took. It took me about a week and it would have taken her a couple of days.
Patricia, gardens and cooking with grandmothers go hand-in-hand-thanks for sharing the lovely memories!
I loved going fabric shopping with my grandma and with my mom. I loved looking at the pattern books, too.
Denise, my grandmother loved to sew. Shamed three of my Christmas dresses when I was a little girl.
My grandmother used to take me into New York City to see the Rockettes.
Cool beans, Debra–the Rocketts!
My younger brother and I would always spend a week at my Mom’s parents over the summer break. While my grandpa was a long retired farmer, he still worked part-time or always had something going on, but he took us at least one evening out to fish. I couldn’t tell you where we went, him and his little pinto wagon knew the way and grandma would always fix the fish for supper the next evening.
Grandma used to help me sew little things for the Barbie dolls she kept, and we one year while an older cousin was living close, we made denim purses out of a pair of grandpa’s old overalls. I still have it. I wonder what my brother was doing while us girls sewed?
And many evenings we would play Chinese checkers with grandpa while eating ice cream. Such good memories. I miss them.
Kathy, you brought back a memory I have of my grandmother-she too, made little clothes for my Barbie doll. I remember a small hat and a coat made from a piece of felt. Grandparents are special people-we’re lucky to have these memories.
Congratulations to Denise~the winner of a signed copy of the first book in my Cowboys of Stampede series…The Cowboy’s Accidental Baby!
Thank you!
Congratulations Denise!