Inspirational Western Romance

Misty M. Beller – Storytelling vs. Historical Authenticity

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It’s such an honor to sit around the campfire with ya’ll again! The Petticoats and Pistols family is one of my favorite places to hang out.

I’ve been a fan of historical fiction for as long as I can remember, all the way back to the Mandie books by Lois Gladys Leppard and the Sadie Rose books by Hilda Stahl. Does anyone remember those series?

When I started thinking about my first novel, there was no doubt it would be a Christian Historical Romance set in the west. By my second book in, I had narrowed my focus to frontier life in the Rockies. My happy place!

It can be challenging to write about a time I haven’t experienced and cultures that don’t exist in the same form anymore. I love reading first-hand accounts to help me bring a particular time period to life. I often visit historic forts and talk with those who have studied the time period and setting in greater depth.

(Misty and her son in Badlands National Park)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three years ago, my family and I set out on a 28-day epic road trip to tour many of the state and national parks across the country. We spent about half of our time in Wyoming and Montana, exploring Yellowstone and Glacier, and touring historic and ghost towns. We spent more than one night tent camping without bathrooms and showers!

These experiences definitely make it easier for me to slip into that world as I write. The characters come alive in my mind, and I see the story like a movie in my head. Writing Earning the Mountain Man’s Trust was especially fun to write, as we return to the Coulter Ranch. I fell in love with not just Naomi and Eric, but also sweet little Mary Ellen, their one-year-old daughter whom Eric meets for the first time in this book.

Purchase Links:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C7NCSTTX?tag=pettpist-20

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/earning-the-mountain-man-s-trust

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id6450163846

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/earning-the-mountain-mans-trust-misty-m-beller/1143638415?ean=2940167186491

https://books2read.com/u/3ydLWL

Back Cover Blurb:

In the wild mountains of the Montana Territory, the Coulter ranch is a place of family, second chances…and a hidden fortune.

Naomi Wyatt has finally given up on the man who once promised to love her for the rest of his life—then disappeared after a business trip, never responding to her letters. She’s now alone with a beautiful baby to provide for, a daughter whose red hair reminds her daily of the man she gave her heart to. She has to move on, though, and she did, going west with her sister. When Jonah Coulter asks for her hand in marriage, she knows she would be hard-pressed to find a better father for her sweet child. He’s a Coulter, after all, and he’s proven to be a good friend during her darkest hours.

Eric LaGrange thought he’d lost Naomi forever. But when he finally gets word that she’s in the Montana Territory, he drops everything to go after her…and their daughter? How could Naomi have kept their beautiful child from him? And how could she move on so quickly that she’s already engaged to another man? He loves Naomi so much that he’ll accept whatever choice is best for her, but is that him…or this settled rancher who clearly cares for them. No matter what, he’s determined to know his daughter and become the father he always wanted to be.

With Eric’s sudden appearance, Naomi’s heart is shredded once again. She barely has time to catch her breath before a new threat appears on the horizon. This time she has far more at stake than her heart, and only a Divine hand can turn this disaster for their good.

From a USA Today bestselling author comes a mountain family saga filled with a second chance romance, love triangle, hidden treasure, and faith that heals wounded hearts.

I pray the story comes to life for readers as much as it has for me!

I’m excited to give away a signed copy of the first three books in the Brothers of Sapphire Ranch series to one winner.

To be entered, I’d love to know your thoughts on whether you prefer to read historical romance with a lot historical details, or whether you’d rather have the focus be on the story and characters. Leave a comment below to share.

 

 

Misty M. Beller is a USA Today bestselling author of romantic mountain stories, set on the 1800s frontier and woven with the truth of God’s love.

Raised on a farm and surrounded by family, Misty developed her love for horses, history, and adventure. These days, her husband and children provide fresh adventure every day, keeping her both grounded and crazy.

Misty’s passion is to create inspiring Christian fiction infused with the grandeur of the mountains, writing historical romance that displays God’s abundant love through the twists and turns in the lives of her characters.

Sharing her stories with readers is a dream come true for Misty. She writes from her country home in South Carolina and escapes to the mountains any chance she gets.

 

Author Links:

https://mistymbeller.com/

https://amazon.com/author/mistymbeller?tag=pettpist-20

https://www.facebook.com/MistyMBellerAuthor

https://www.instagram.com/mistymbeller/

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/misty-m-beller

https://www.goodreads.com/MistyMBeller

Meet Mandi Blake, and Hear Her Amazing Journey!

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Hi! I’m Mandi Blake, and I’ve been invited to be a guest author on the blog today.

A little about me…

I write Christian cowboy and small town romance. I live in Alabama where I grew up on a cattle farm. If I’m not reading or writing, I love to travel with my family and explore new places all over the world.

I started writing about six years ago, and I published my first book five years ago. Time is flying on this amazing journey, and I am excited to see what new and wonderful surprises are coming next.

I started off writing small-town romance set in Georgia. It was close to home, and I’m a small town girl through and through.

But once that series was over, I decided to shake things up a bit and write a cowboy series set in Wyoming.

Don’t ask me why. I have no idea why I chose Wyoming. I’d never been there, and I had no plans to go there. Sounds like a challenge, but I was ready to research and see what I could learn. I knew a little about raising cattle. I’d been around it my whole life. I wouldn’t trade growing up on a farm for anything because I had the best childhood.

I wanted that love of the land and hard work to shine through in my stories. The weather isn’t always cooperative in Wyoming, so I assumed an already difficult job had to be ten times harder in the harsh climate.

That was the beginning of the Blackwater Ranch series. Each book followed one of the tough-as-nails Harding brothers, and the last book was about their cousin who also lived on the ranch.

The Blackwater Ranch series was everything I’d hoped it would be and more. I grew so much writing those books. I loved right along with the characters and readers. I met so many people who just happened to pick up the books and like them. Readers became some of my dearest friends.

When the series was over, I wasn’t ready to let go of Blackwater. I immediately started a spin-off series about a dude ranch in the same town, and Wolf Creek Ranch took everything that Blackwater Ranch did for me and quadrupled it. These contemporary Western romances were the stories of my heart, and as they say, the rest is history.

When the Wolf Creek Ranch series came to an end, guess who still wasn’t ready to leave this fictional town of Blackwater. Me!

Through the last twelve books set in this little town, I’d introduced tons of side characters, so I decided to make my next series, the Love in Blackwater series, about some of them.

Since these new books are still so close to the ranches, I get to include my older characters in the newer books!

Y’all, I’m having too much fun.

Have you ever gotten so drawn into a book that you think about the characters when it’s over? My aunt, who is an avid reader, always told me she would envision what the characters might be doing once their story was over.

I get to show readers pieces of the ongoing lives of the characters they’ve known and loved. They sometimes play a big part in other stories, and their “lives” continue long after “The End.”

The first book in the Blackwater Ranch series is Remembering the Cowboy. Noah and Camille’s love story started it all, but even after their happily ever after, we got to see Camille fighting for justice in a courtroom in Better Together, the fourth book in the Wolf Creek Ranch series. We get to see how she juggles a family and a successful career all while being a rock for her friends when they need a hand.

One of my favorite scenes in the book I’m writing now is a wedding where all of the people in town are gathered together. Some of the Hardings have kids! Their fictional lives are being lived in new stories, and I’m so excited for these possibilities.

As something special for you, I’ve put the Blackwater Ranch series on sale. For April 5-6 only, you can get both of the three ebook box sets for this series for 99 cents each (in the US and UK only). You can read the whole series for two dollars or borrow them and read for free in Kindle Unlimited.

I also have a giveaway!

In the comments, tell me about the first book you read that sparked your love of all things Western. One winner will receive a signed paperback copy of the first book in my Blackwater Ranch series, Remembering the Cowboy. I’ll also throw in a matching bookmark and some other little goodies. A winner will be chosen on Sunday, April 7th. This giveaway is open to US residents only.

Thank you so much for having me on the blog today. I hope to “meet” you again sometime.

A Match for Silas

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Hi, Janice Cole Hopkins here and I am thrilled to be a guest blogger on Petticoats & Pistols. It’s my fifth time doing this over the years, and I very much appreciate the opportunity of visiting with you. I’m a huge fan of Western romance because it’s what I mainly read and write. Of course, I wear several hats, and I also enjoy the P & P blogs daily as a reader. Even though I’m a prolific writer who published 16 books last year, I’m also an avid reader who reads over 365 books a year. I know because I leave at least one review each day on Amazon for the books I’ve just finished. Before you question my sanity, I agree that 16 books were too many for any one year, and I have vowed to slow down. I will only be publishing eleven books in 2024 and eleven in 2025. LOL.

I have now published three books in the multiple-author project, The Matchmakers – Agatha Returns. I’d like to share my new release about a blacksmith, A Match for Silas, with you today. Silas has abandonment issues since his beautiful mother left him and his father when he was just a child. His father was also a blacksmith, and his mother didn’t like that lifestyle.

 

Silas appeared briefly in both A Match for Marshall and A Match for Cord, but now, he tells his own story. When even Vanessa, the town flirt, wants nothing to do with him, Silas decides to follow Marshall’s and Cord’s examples and write to the matchmaker. But when his intended bride comes, she’s exactly what he doesn’t

Click to Buy–A Match for Silas

want, someone from high society. However, her circumstances prevent Jacqueline from returning home, so what’s he to do? They decide to take things slowly while he courts her, but he’s so afraid she won’t be happy with a lowly blacksmith that he jumps to conclusions.

Click to Buy–A Match for Merle

For my readers, this will be a series within a series because all eight of my books in this MAP are set in Pinyon Falls, in the beautiful Hill Country of Texas. A Match for Marshall and a Match for Cord have already published, and Marshall and Callie and Cord and Moriah also make appearances in this new book. Then, there will be five more of my books to come in the series, the last being published in August of 2005. The next book is A Match for Merle. This will be Vanessa’s story, and I’ve already written the rough draft. It’s on Amazon preorder now and will be published on July 1. However, any of my books can be read as standalones because they all have a definite ending and never require you to read another book to tie up loose ends.

Do you like a series of books set in the same place that has former characters appearing again? Would you rather read a series like this or a standalone book? What is the longest series you’ve ever read (how many books)?

 

Those who answer all three questions in a comment will be entered into a drawing for a Kindle copy of A Match for Silas.

 

Click to Buy–A Match for Silas

Click to Buy–A Match for Merle

All Aboard! And a chance to win!

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We’re so happy to have Kathleen Lawless with us. Fun, fun!

In the late 1850’s the idea that a Bostonian could one day buy a train ticket to California and be there in less than a week was hard to imagine. Railroads connected thriving Eastern cities like New York and Philadelphia, with people and freight to move. The West was 2,000 miles of mostly wilderness plagued by the physical challenges of deserts, and mountain ranges with snowy passes and steep river canyons.

Luckily, visionaries and entrepreneurs saw the potential, knowing that if the area became accessible, settlers would follow. It didn’t happen overnight, but in January, 1893, the last spike of the Great Northern Railway was in place. 40,000 miles of track had been added to the Western railroads in the 1880’s.

This final settling of the West provided great fodder for my writer’s imagination, fueled by my visit to several magnificent mountainside hotels built in the late nineteenth century along the various rail lines in Canada and the US. It was hard not to be awed by their splendor and majestic bearing, looking perfectly at home amidst the breathtaking scenery. I was particularly enamored by the ones that looked like something out of my childhood fairytales, inspired by Swiss Chalets and nestled into the mountains.

This train is far more modern than those transporting the early settlers and their Mail Order Brides, but I feel certain the spectacular scenery through the mountains hadn’t changed much.

Major railways created these magnificent buildings as a way to entice wealthy passengers to travel across the continent. Since their passengers expected and could afford nothing but the best, the rail lines provided it; from opulent parlors, sleeping cars, and fine dining, to ostentatious accommodation along the way.

Before long, the middle class also began to travel. Hoteliers were quick to offer more modest accommodation at lower prices. As more and more people started to travel, railways traveling through the mountains found building dining spots to feed their passengers more economical than pulling a dining car up the steep terrain. When it became obvious many passengers would happily stay and explore the area, these early locations also grew into railway hotels, with entire towns springing up around them.

Thus, Silver Springs Junction was born, complete with a cagey entrepreneurial grandfather who built his dream hotel in the mountains and willed the town around it into existence. Having raised his four orphaned granddaughters, the old boy is eager to see them married off. The problem is the sisters themselves, strong-willed, modern and independent women, not terribly interested in marriage or a traditional life. What’s a well-meaning grandfather to do?

The Gambler, Book 1 of The Spinster Takes a Groom is available for preorder here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CPMCJVZB?tag=pettpist-20

with a release date of March 12th.

Readers first met the four sisters at the end of Lila, from the Rescue Me, Mail Order Brides. Add your comments below because one lucky reader will win a copy of Lila.

Thanks for stopping by. If I piqued your interest in my writing, please feel free to download Kissing a Cowboy, a chapter sampler of pretty anything cowboy I’ve ever written. Heat levels of my books can vary from sweet to spicy, but the sampler makes it clear which is which.

There is no obligation, and no email collection if you choose to sample my stories. Feel free to share the link with your cowboy-loving friends.

https://dl.bookfunnel.com/jcvjun2198

USA Today Bestselling Author Kathleen Lawless blames a misspent youth watching Rawhide, Maverick and Bonanza for her fascination with cowboys, which doesn’t stop her from creating a wide variety of interests and occupations for her many alpha male heroes.

With over 50 published novels to her credit, she enjoys pushing the boundaries of traditional romance into historical romance, contemporary romance, romantic suspense and women’s fiction.

She makes her home in the Pacific Northwest and loves to hear from her readers.  http://www.kathleenlawless.com

Sign up for Kathleen’s VIP Reader Newsletter to receive a free book, updates, special giveaways and fan-priced offers.    http://eepurl.com/bV0sb1

A River Honoring Culture, by Carmen Peone

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One of the most wonderful celebrations I’ve been to is the River Honoring near Pablo, Montana, home of the Flathead Reservation. And this is where my new release, Renewed Hope, is partially set.

This reservation includes the Bitterroot Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d’Oreilles tribes – known as the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation. This reservation birthed from the July 16, 1855, Treaty of Hellgate.

I first traveled to this area with my husband when he worked for Bonneville Power Administration as a liaison between BPA and tribes in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. Part of his job was attending the River Honoring celebration on the Flathead Reservation to educate youth about power transmission.

The River Honoring is an event that celebrates culture and conservation with elementary-aged children.

Twenty-two tipi stations or loops separate the trail entering the area where the event is held. Plus, a huge tent that holds bagged lunches and supplies.

Tipi stations include fishing weir making, elder stories, drumming, hydropower, Mission Valley Backcountry Horsemen, Fish and Wildlife, Forestry, water quality, fisheries, snowpack, the environment, and so much more.

About 400 4th and 5th graders learned how to maintain and respect the land and wildlife and enjoy their indigenous culture.

They also set up two traditional double ball courts and children ran, laughed, and high-fived each other.

After participating in the River Honoring for two years, I knew it had to slip into one of my stories.

As the events took place, the Flathead River surged through rolling hills, pine and juniper trees, and fields of wildflowers.

The beauty, sounds, and laughter will forever be stamped in my memory.

Giveaway!

Carmen is giving away a signed copy of Renewed Hope and a few photo cards of the Montana setting in which the story takes place. For a chance to win, leave a comment telling her what state you’d like to visit and why.

About Renewed Hope

Can they find her son in time?

Sophie Cayes is on the road to success as an artist. Until her ex-husband threatens to sue for full custody of their son. Upon learning of a guest ranch in Eastern Washington that keeps a room open for women in need, she grabs her son and bolts.

Although Chad Davis loves starting colts on the Seven Tine Guest Ranch, his goal is to have his own spread. Everything’s on course until a woman and her preschool son show up. He’s not thrilled about helping out. Until the boy comes up missing. On his watch.

Along with a tribal cop, they head back to Montana in search of the boy, knowing his dad was the one who kidnapped him. Sophie prays they find him before her ex-husband and his new wife go on the run. Taking her son with them.

About Carmen

Carmen Peone is an award-winning author of Young Adult and Inspirational Western Romantic Suspense and lives with her husband in Northeast Washington and on the Colville Confederated Indian Reservation. With the love of history and the Western woman’s lifestyle, she weaves threads of healing, hope, and horses that lead to happily ever after.

Connect with Carmen

Website and Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | BookBub | Goodreads

Sign up for her newsletter and receive her novella, Gentling the Cowboy for Free.

 

Marlene Bierworth and Her Double Trouble Series!

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Benjamin’s Brides

Double Trouble Series: Book 11

Marlene Bierworth 

Thank you for having me. It has been such a blast writing in the Double Trouble series. The name itself suggests mayhem, and amidst my storyline, involving, a touch of mystery, suspense and adventure, therein lies the question: Which bride will Benjamin choose? Sounds like fun, right? Not so for poor Ben.

I started this title by using my parent’s names (definitely not their story, but their names.) From there, the characters took off and created a happily-ever-after of their own. I have never written a summary plot for a book, and rarely know the direction it will take until I write the first paragraph. It only takes one word, or a particular phrase that comes to mind, to send the story off to who-knows-where. I enjoy writing this way—it’s like reading my own book as it unfolds. Benjamin’s Brides is sweet entertainment you won’t want to miss.

I am a Christian who writes inspirational stories. I emphasize character growth, life’s solutions that usually point to God, a historical setting that are not presented like nonfiction, and interesting twists, while not overthinking plots—they just happen. I do not take this gift for granted, and depend on the Master Author to guide my pen.

Double Trouble! The premise of this series is men who must deal with two women intent on marrying them. If they thought one woman was a handful, two is more than they can imagine. How will they choose the right one, and what will they do with the other one? What if they don’t care for either of the brides? So many opportunities for great stories.

Check out the entire series here.

Join the fans of this series here.

Here is the blurb for Benjamin’s Brides:

Benjamin Slater has been a good brother, raising his younger siblings after his parent’s death. Now, at the age of thirty-five, the family plots to find him a wife. While working in the hills, Ben meets a battered Leona Baron, and offers her a job on his ranch, only to arrive home and find a mail-order bride awaiting him.

The widow, Lea, is relieved to be rid of her husband who made her life miserable. She realizes she is ill-equipped to survive alone and agrees to follow Ben home, both feeling an attraction they cannot deny.

Rose-Ann Grainfield comes from old money. She answers the mail-order bride ad to marry a cowboy—at least that is what she claims. Is there a sinister plan in the works? The spoiled woman will need to grow in character and integrity to win Ben’s hand in marriage against her cowgirl rival, Lea.

When Devon, the prodigal son returns to the Slater Ranch, plans are foiled, love is rekindled, and loyalties are put to the test. Join in this heartwarming adventure, where broken and trapped hearts search to find their happily ever afters.

Pick up your copy today to see which bride Benjamin chooses.

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I have written two books in that series. Isaiah’s Brides is just as entertaining.

Both are available at Amazon or to Read on KU

Benjamin’s Brides: Get your preorder today. Benjamin goes live with his story on January 15, 2024 THREE days from when THIS BLOG publishes. Pick up your copy here.

Isaiah’s Brides:  It is live on Amazon and KU today. Secrets, loyalties, compassion, God’s faithfulness, and a strange twist of fate rule romance in this historical fun and heartwarming tale of love gone bonkers. Pick up your copy here.

So, my question is: Have you ever (in your past or present) had the option of choosing between two persons seeking your commitment?  Either to keep company with—or even marry? I will choose my winner (Isaiah’s Brides – or another western if you have already downloaded it—no problem) from your answers.

I DID! When I met my husband at the ripe old age of 16, I was going steady with another fellow. Paul was a blind date. I dated him as a favor to my girlfriend who was bugging me to go out with a fellow who worked with her boyfriend at the time. (She didn’t like my steady LOL) I snuck out with him (on a double date with our friends) on Friday night and had a good time, but when he asked me to go out again on Saturday night, I gulped. I had a date planned with my steady.

CHOICES—life is all about choices, and I made the right one. Paul and I have been married for 52 years, have 2 grown children. 5 grandchildren, and 1 great granddaughter with another great on the way in May.

So other than family life, I enjoy reading, oil painting, socializing, and traveling. I love cruising and celebrating life with family and friends. And I love meeting new readers and authors online.

Hope you will become my new friend today!

Other Places to find Marlene Bierworth

Dream Creations: Sweet Romance (Facebook Readers Page)

Book Bub Author Page

Friday Newsletter

Amazon Author Page

LAST BUT NOT LEAST: Heartwarming Romance: My business website.

Meanwhile Isaiah and Benjamin await your viewing.

Thanks for letting me spend this time with you all. I look forward to reading your comments. And if you have any questions, you can ask there too. Hope to see you on the Internet soon.

Respectfully,

Marlene Bierworth

Bringing hope & encouragement to the nations through fictional characters & the written word.

Jo-Ann Roberts Has A Winner!

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Friends,

Thank you for stopping by and commenting on my post today! And the winner of a digital copy of “Lefse by Linnea” (Old Timey Holiday Kitchen) is Barbara Raymond.

Congratulations, Barbara! I will PM you to arrange for delivery of your ebook.

 

Cowboys Always Place Horseshoes Up

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This week we welcome award-winning inspirational author Linda Goodnight and she has an interesting blog for us. She also has a GIVEAWAY so don’t miss that at the bottom.

How many of you, as kids walking down a sidewalk, chanted, “Step on a crack and break your mama’s back” and did your best to skip over those cracks? Are you superstitious? I’m not really, but I think it’s fun to hear about them.

Athletes in particular are a superstitious bunch, whether for fun, ritual, or whatever. For instance, one famous basketball player wore the same pair of ankle-flopping socks throughout his career. Serena Williams, the tennis champ, is known to always tie her shoes exactly the same way before a game. Some athletes insist on eating the same pregame meal or wearing the same (sometimes unwashed) article of clothing. Instead of superstitions, they call these “routines” or pregame rituals. Putting their uniform on in the same order. Stretching in the same spot on the nine-yard line. Regardless of whether the behaviors are routines or superstitions, athletes do them because they think they’ll play better if they do. They’ll laugh about it, but they still do it.

Cowboys, including rodeo cowboys, have their own set of unique superstitions. According to one rodeo source, as many as 75% of rodeo athletes adhere to at least one superstition.

Walker Littlefield, the hero in To Protect His Brother’s Baby would quietly grin and shake his head if asked if he was superstitious. He wasn’t. But some of his rodeo buddies were. That’s why I thought it would be fun to discuss some cowboy and/or rodeo superstitions that are still around today.

Let’s look at ten.

  1. Never put your hat on a bed, especially brim down. All the luck will run out. Several theories about the origin exist, including warnings of impending injury or death. Eek! But a more reasonable origin could be the fact that cowboys back in the wild west only bathed occasionally and had headlice. A hat on the bed could spread the vermin. The only thing to do if your hat is accidentally placed on the bed is spit in it, throw it down, and stomp it flat. Problem solved. ?
  2. Place your hat upside down on the table or other surface when removing to keep the good luck inside. Better yet, hang it up.
  3. A horseshoe over the door or tack room brings good luck as long as it’s “heels up.” “Heels down” drains out all the luck.
  4. Never eat chicken before a rodeo. Eat a hotdog instead. You are what you eat.
  5. Don’t wear yellow in the arena. It means you’re a coward.
  6. Never carry change in your pocket when competing. That’s all the money you’ll win.
  7. Don’t kick a paper cup that someone tossed on the ground. It’s bad luck. And could spook your horse!
  8. Never cross your boots when removing them to keep from getting “tripped up.”

       9. Never accept a gift of old boots. You will step into the old owner’s troubles.

 * *10. And my very favorite: Finding a feather in the arena is good luck. It’s a reminder that angels are watching over you.

 So, there you have them, just in time for Halloween!

Leave a comment about a ritual or superstition you or someone you know has. You’ll go into a drawing for a copy of my latest book, To Protect His Brother’s Baby.  GOOD LUCK in the drawing!

 

About Linda:

Linda has appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, Publisher’s Weekly, and Christian bestseller lists, and her romance novels have been translated into more than a dozen languages. A  former nurse and teacher, Linda loves writing fiction that carries a message of hope and light in a sometimes dark world. Linda enjoys cooking, reading, and travel. Next on her bucket list are Israel and Scotland. She lives in Oklahoma with husband, Gene, who, ironically, doesn’t travel at all.

10 Years of Chasing Dreams

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I’ve been thinking a lot about dreams.

Some dreams are small. Some are huge. Some seem attainable. Some seem beyond our reach.

But the thing about dreams is that they don’t chase us. We have to go after them to make them come true.

I thought it might be fun to share some “dream” quotes today. I love this one because it is a call to action. To not just dream about how our life could be, but to live the life we dream.

I also love this reminder that it is NEVER too late to pursue a dream. Age is only a number, not a stumbling block.

This Walt Disney quote is one of my favorite “dream” quotes. It’s a reminder to me to have courage.

You see, ten years ago, I left my day job to pursue a full-time writing career (passion!). My husband nudged me to take a big leap of faith and I haven’t regretted for even one minute that I walked away from security and stability to chase my dream.

 

And this quote speaks to my heart. When I left my job, so many well-meaning people acted like I’d lost my mind and poured in advice. Suggested I beg for my job back. Asked if I wasn’t too young to retire. Let me assure you, I’ve worked harder and longer the past ten years than I ever did at any of the jobs I held over the years.

And that’s because of this quote. Dreams don’t just happen. You have to work for them. Work hard. Sacrifice. Put in the sweat and determination (tears and blood – paper cuts count, don’t they?).

I’ve been pursuing a dream for ten years not just for myself, but also for CC. He believes in me whole-heartedly and it would shred my heart to let him down. And then there are my faithful readers who have become friends and so very dear to me. I am so blessed by them, and their encouragement and kindness.

So I keep dreaming bigger dreams, and then working hard to make them come true. And I will tell you, there are a lot of times I have no idea what I’m doing. There are a lot of days I’m scared by the goals I’ve set. But I love what I do. And am so grateful and so incredibly blessed to be able to do something I love every day.

What’s one dream you would like to pursue,

or that you’ve already made come true?

 

Oh, and before I forget, be sure you pop over to enter my big 10-year anniversary giveaway!

Here Comes the Judge–and a giveaway!

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The original inspiration for this book series appears in book #2 of The Wyoming Sunrise Series.

A woman justice of the peace.

I read a biography of Esther Hobart Morris, the first woman justice of the peace in America…possibly in the world.

Such a fun read. It’s full of the struggle for women’s suffrage and Esther was a champion of that cause.

Very soon, just days after women were given the right to vote in Wyoming, the current justice of the peace in South Pass City, Wyoming, when told he’d have to swear in women on a jury, quit. He didn’t just quit, he stole the record book containing precious legal records in South Pass City. It was never recovered.

When he quit, Esther was appointed to his old job. He just threw such a fit, the old Judge that is, that Esther could have arrested him.

But she didn’t. She said, “We’ll just start this new era with a fresh book and forget the past.”

So I decided my pretty little seamstress, a good friend of the heroine in book #1 Forged in Love, should be the second justice of the peace. (or anyway, real early on).

Nell Armstrong just wants to sew pretty dresses. She likes to put ribbons and lace and ruffles on flowery dresses.

Mary Connealy

The only trouble is, there aren’t that many women in Wyoming and those there are, make their own clothes. So she made the mistake of making a pair of chaps for one cowboy (she had to take an old pair of his and learn to copy it, he even brought her in a nice piece of leather). And now the orders flood in and there is no escape. She’s got a booming business and is making a lot of money and she hates it.

 

She is also the widow of a lawman. So when the DeadEye Gang leaves several dead men at the sight of a stagecoach hold-up near her home for Pine Valley, Wyoming, she helps investigate. She asks the sheriff insightful questions. She knows the law and she insists they check the bodies which have been brought to town.

When the old justice of the peace announces plans to move to Nebraska, she gets offered the job.

Newcomer to the area Brandon Nolte and his three daughters are in desperate need of dresses. Brand can’t sew and his daughters refuse to come to town wearing their ramshackle trousers and boots. Nell is thrilled to help, but Brand had no cash money for such frivolity as dresses.

And then there’s another stagecoach holdup and Nell finds herself in the crossfire of the dangerous gang.

Leave a comment…how about how desperately YOU want it to be SPRING!!! To get your name in a drawing for a signed copy of Forged in Love.

The Laws of Attraction

Book #2 Wyoming Sunrise Series

If widowed town seamstress Nell Armstrong has to make one more pair of boring chaps for the cowboys in her tiny Wyoming town, she might lose her mind. So meeting Brand Nolte, a widower father struggling to raise three girls, seems like her dream come true. Brand has no idea how to dress the girls, and Nell finally has a chance to both create beautiful dresses and teach the girls to sew.

But Nell is much more than a seamstress, and the unique legal and investigative skills and knowledge she picked up alongside her late lawman husband soon become critical when a wounded stagecoach-robbery survivor is brought to town. As danger closes in from all sides, Nell and Brand must discover why there seems to be a bull’s-eye on their backs.

Fan favorite Mary Connealy invites you back to 19th-century Wyoming for this adventuresome Western romance, complete with a budding romance, witty banter, and an absorbing mystery.

Click to pre-order from Baker Book House

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Petticoats & Pistols