FOUR ACES by A. K. Holthaus

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My latest work, FOUR ACES, is my first ever American Western Romance featuring my newest hero, U.S. Marshal Jameson “Jake” Reid in my new series, The 1880 Deadwood Diaries. From the dusty trails of the West Wild to a timeless tale of redemption and hope, this captivating story will leave you wanting more.

What I love about this story is the passion that develops between the two main characters and the surprising twists and turns that catches the readers off guard. I was inspired to write this story after I moved to the historic town of St. Peter and learned about a bank robbery in Northfield, MN, in 1876 by Jesse James and the Younger Brothers.

During their escape, they had traveled through St. Peter down to New Ulm, which is also the setting of the Dakota Indian War fourteen years prior in 1862. Southern Minnesota has a rich history which was been depicted in such books and tv show like Little House on the Prairie. As I am a lover of history, I enjoy visiting these places, walking the ground the settlers would have walked, and seeing the buildings that would have existed during their time. I feel a sense of appreciation for the history, the hardships, and the lives they lived.

With this inspiration, Jake Reid and Emily Taylor emerged. FOUR ACES is a historic tale about second chances in life and love.  Jake is a man with a haunted past trying to learn what it means to live again, and Emily is a recent widow trying to learn what it means to love again.

When I’m not absorbed in researching my next story, I love spending time outdoors with my family. Born and raised in Minnesota, you will always find me outside pitching baseballs, tossing the football around, or skating on the ice playing hockey with my boys. When I do find free time, I am plotting several more stories, starting with a continuation of the 1880 Deadwood Diaries Series called the LUCK OF THE DRAW, as well as a new Regency Era romance.

BIO:

April Holthaus (aka A. K. Holthaus) is a certified genealogist, a visual communications account manager, an all-season sports mom, and a self-published, award-winning author of Historical Romances.  From the Scottish Highlands to the dirt roads of the Old West, April’s stories are noted to be well written, rich in historical details, and full of tension, suspense, and slow-burning romance.

You can find April on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/author.april.holthaus

Or on her Amazon page: https://tinyurl.com/tv77chjj

 

 

About Four Aces: The 1880 Deadwood Diaries

U.S. Marshal Jameson “Jake” Reid has been searching for the notorious outlaw, Harmon Elwood for nearly a year after he robbed the Midtown Lincoln Stage. From horse raids to train rides, every clue to finding Elwood has led Jake to the small mining town of Deadwood. Upon his arrival, he is immediately met with resistance and suspicion and no further at catching the elusive Elwood.

Newly widowed Emily Taylor is doing everything she can to save her farm. Deep in debt, and unable to tend the farm on her own, she is forced to hire a farmhand. Little does she know that the man who answered her ad is really an undercover marshal. When he begins to stir up trouble and the truth comes out, her way of life is threatened as well as her heart. Emily struggles to choose between living the life she had fought for or losing everything she has.

As Jake and Emily become close, Jake finds himself surrounded by conspiracy, blackmail, and a town full of secrets. Can he solve the mystery looming over this town and finally bring Harmon Elwood to justice or will his heart and senses get tangled in a web of lies?

 

 

I’m giving away FIVE e-book copies of FOUR ACES!

I would love for readers to tell me in the comments, a fun/unique little family history story or perhaps a fun historic fact about where they live.

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28 thoughts on “FOUR ACES by A. K. Holthaus”

  1. Love the history behind your book.

    This is the 250 year anniversary of our county. There are several celebrations scheduled and a video history. Of course, the county was settled earlier than that–it was part of an abutting county previously.

    The Susquehannock people were the original inhabitants, and their main meeting spot isn’t too far from me. The King and Queen’s seat in what is now Rocks State Park. It is a rocky area with the Gunpowder running through it. It is not recommended that people climb it because it is dangerous.

    Other history of European settlers began in the colonial era, and once considered for our nation’s capital.

    Our county is located at the top of the Chesapeake Bay, created from the Susquehanna River.

  2. gosh, this book sounds beautiful! I love how the heroine is widowed and so independent and it’s a second chance at romance for her, I rarely find books like that and I just know I’m going to adore four aces. I can’t wait to find it and read it. Also, you’re so pretty! I hope you have a great week!

    • Well as this is my 1st American historical romance I sure hope I don’t disappoint you and that you do truly enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you for commenting.

  3. This is so off topic but, it’s so cool that you’re a genealogist alongside your other talents! I wonder if you’ve ever written a character who is one too. I’m obsessed with researching family descents and I don’t think I’ve ever found that drive in a character before—especially in a western! I think it’s such a niche, I did an essay on the technicalities of it for my class at college a month ago. Anyways, the plot of your book looks so good! I’m definitely getting it!

    • I think I enjoy researching other people’s family trees almost as much as I enjoy writing. Like, I would be ecstatic if that was my full time career. I started doing my research right before my grandmother died who had information up to my 5th great grandfather and now over the years I have found at least a 1000 descendants dating all the way back to the 900s in England. Now, I just help others on the side for fun. If you ever need any help just hook me up! It’s great to meet you and I really hope you really enjoy my story.

  4. Can I just say that I adore your Mackinnon Clan series? lord, those books are such comfort reads, I absolutely love them. I have super high expectations for four aces too and I just know it’s going to meet all of them and do so much more.

    • Really? Thank you. To be honest since that was my first series ever wrote I actually don’t even promote those. I feel with every book I become a better writer. So I truly hope you enjoy my Western romance. As I normally write Scottish I was very nervous to write in a different era. But I am very excited to continue the series.

  5. My husband lived in Northfield when he was young. Jesse James Days were back then and still are a huge draw to the city. It is a beautiful area with the rolling hills, orchards, Malto Meal plant, and farms. Two college campuses grace the city as well. Southern Minnesota is full of history like you said. Thank you for coming to blog here today. I enjoyed your visit. And, I look forward to reading your new book!

    • It is a very beautiful area. As I’m originally from Minneapolis, it’s a nice change of pace to live in these small southern towns of Minnesota. Even though I grew up in the city I’ve never really been a “city girl”. This year I will definitely be going to Jesse James days. Do you still live in Minnesota?

  6. My husband’s paternal grandmother was full blooded Cherokee. My husband and his father has a lot of Cherokee physical traits as well as my children. I also have Cherokee blood on my father’s side, just not as much as my husband.

    • That is really cool. I only have 2% Native American in me. My 5th great grandfather was named Chief WhiteEagle from an Iriquois tribe in Canada. His daughter (my 4th great grandmother) was Morningstar but she took on the name Mary when she married a British captain during the French Indian War. Family history is so much fun!

  7. My great grandmother’s name was Cinderella. The most interesting part of it her grandparents were Quakers. She was married and divorced several times by the early 1900s which very usual for that time period.

    • That is a super cool name! ? Isn’t it neat to find out stories about our ancestors? I’ve done so much research on mine and uncovered crazy details and family secrets about my family that no one ever knew. It’s great to meet you. Hope we chat more!

  8. Your book sounds amazing and I would love to read it. I have not read your work before. As far as fun history about my family I don’t really know any fun history about my family. All I really know is that I came from a large family my father was one of 11 children. I came from a place called High Bridge which was one of the tallest railroad bridges and oldest for years.

    • Its great to meet you. Thank you for commenting! My father also came from a large family. He was the youngest of 9 children. I have one child. When I met my fiancé, he has four so its been a huge change for me! LOL

  9. Our very small town has the metal awnings over the sidewalks in front of the building and looks like a town in the wild west here in Indiana!

  10. My little town that I live very close to is Bear Grass, North Carolina. An unusual physical feature of the town is that, when incorporated, the boundary was a circle with a radius of 500 yards from a white oak “near a well at the stores of Rogers Brothers and Cowing [sic] Brothers.” These limits remain today, making Bear Grass one of the few towns in the state laid out in this manner.

    • Thank you for sharing. Its funny that you bring up about the history of how borders were created. My fiancé and I were just discussing how the borders around the states were created because so many are misshaped. Thank you for commenting.

  11. Welcome, welcome, April (aka A.K.!) We’re delighted and pleased to help you spread the word about FOUR ACES. I think you’ll like dipping your toes into westerns. So many readers love them, and they’ve been around forever.

    Wishing you many sales!

    • Thank you very much for allowing me this opportunity to meet your blog subscribers and readers. I really enjoyed writing Four Aces and look forward to continuing my journey writing western romances.

  12. My town was built in 1917 by the Goodyear Tire Company… they grew cotton for their tires and you still see many cotton fields here today!

  13. The town I live in is was an old mining town at one point. It’s not anymore, but there are still old shafts you can apparently come across if you go far back in the hills.

  14. Oh shoot! I use Kindle Unlimited! I’d love to read your books…sounds so interesting! Wishing you great success on your new western. Historical western romance is my favorite!

    I had an aunt who did most of our genealogy. My mothers sisters(there were 6 including her)said they were glad to move out of Georgia (in 1948)so they wouldn’t marry any kin. About 20 years ago my aunt combined what my daughter learned on my father’s side to my mother’s side. And found out that my father’s 6th grandfather and my mother’s 5th grandfather was the same person! I guess moving to Florida wasn’t far enough away! LOL

  15. I grew up in an area rich in history and we have lived in such areas ever since. We currently live in Jonesborough, TN in the NE corner of the state. It is the oldest town in the state and was the first capitol of the State of Franklin which is what the area was called when it separated from North Carolina before it gained more land and selected a new capitol. Davy Crockett was born about 7 miles from our house. Andrew Jackson was a lawyer in our town before becoming President. President Andrew Johnson worked as a tailor and lived in a nearby town. The area supplied a troop of men – the Overmountain Men – who marched from Sycamore Shoals fort to Kings Mountain to take part in a critical battle of the Revolutionary War. The route is now the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail from Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park to the Kings Mountain National Military Park (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overmountain_Men) It has been and still is a big area for moonshining. The International Story Telling Center is located in Jonesborough and they hold a Story Telling Festival The first full weekend of October. The first abolitionist newspaper was printed in town. It is an area that was mostly Union in sentiment during the Civil War. Many deserters and dodgers hid out in the mountains here. There is so much more about this area. For example, in the neighboring town they hung an elephant. It is easy to find out about poor Mary. I believe it is the only time it has ever happened.

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