It’s Exciting! Ransom Canyon Coming to Netflix!

by

I’m so happy to announce our dear friend Jodi Thomas wrote the book Ransom Canyon in 2015 and it’s coming to Netflix this Thursday, April 17th! This has been several years in the making since she and Hollywood producer Dan Angel began talking.

Ransom Canyon the book is a compelling, emotional series set in a small West Texas town where family can be made by choice rather than by blood. Staten Kirkland is a rugged and practical rancher who’s having a secret affair with Quinn O’Grady, a woman with secrets of her own. The lives, loves, and ambitions of four families converge in a story that’s hard to forget.

I don’t know about you, but I can hardly wait. This is going to be excellent. And we only have two more days to wait!

Here are the actors:

I’m thrilled for Miss Jodi. She wrote a fantastic series that is so memorable that I can still recall the characters and storylines after ten years. There are so many great story people but Yancy Grey has always lived in my heart.

Here’s the book trailer in case you aren’t convinced yet.

Are you excited yet? I sure am!

Have you read the book? Here’s how it opens:

“Staten Kirkland lowered the brim of his felt Resistol hat as he turned into the wind. The hat was about to live up to its name.”

A true story. After this book came out, the Resistol company sent Jodi their top of the line western hat for women. Here she is wearing it. I always thought that was a cool story.

 

I may have to dig my copy of Ransom Canyon out and reread it. What do you like most about books that are translated onto the big screen? My favorite thing is watching the characters come alive. Do you plan to watch it?

 

Winnie’s Winners

by

Hello everyone – so sorry I’m late getting this post up. My only excuse is how busy this week  has been. I had the winners selected but totally spaced on posting this.

And because I made you wait for it, I am going to award a prize to all 16 of you who left a comment! So if you are one of the people who left a comment before April 16, send me your mailing info along with your selection of any of my books EXCEPT the upcoming book An Amish Widow’s Promise. You can find a complete list of the titles, including the books published in multi-book volumes.

New Release Coming Soon!

by

Hello everyone, Winnie Griggs here. As we begin this Holy Week, I want to pause and wish each of you a joyful and blessed Easter season. Whether your days are filled with sunrise services, egg-dyeing with grandchildren, or simply soaking up the signs of spring—new life, green buds, and muddy fields—I hope your heart is filled with peace and renewal.

On the book front I’m thrilled to announce that we are just a couple of weeks away from the April 29th release of An Amish Widow’s Promise, the 2nd book in my Sweetbrier Creek series.

I’ve always been drawn to the kind of heroes who earn their place quietly—not with grand gestures or dramatic declarations, but with a steady presence, practical kindness, and unwavering character. The kind who fixes what’s broken without being asked. Who listen before they speak. Who care for what matters to you—because it matters to you.

When I sat down to write this book, I knew I wanted a hero like that. A man who wouldn’t try to sweep the heroine off her feet, but who might… catch her anyway.

Daniel Beiler doesn’t come in with romantic speeches or daring rescue missions. Instead, he shows up every day—rain or shine—to tend the orchard. He teaches Miriam’s six-year-old son how to draw maps. Fixes a sagging fence without being asked. Brings a pie as a thank-you gift (well, technically it’s from his sister-in-law, but he remembered to deliver it—very important hero points).

But Daniel isn’t perfect. He makes mistakes—sometimes big ones. He assumes instead of asking. He pushes too hard or moves forward without looping Miriam in. But what makes him special isn’t that he gets everything right from the start—it’s that he listens when he gets it wrong. He owns his missteps. And then he does better. That quiet humility? That’s its own kind of strength.

Because what truly sets him apart is this: he sees through to the heart of both Miriam and Jonah.

He sees a little boy who’s lost his daed and is eager for connection. He sees a widow carrying the weight of a farm, a home, and a deadline she didn’t ask for. And even when they clash—over orchard methods, over parenting, over control—he never tries to silence her. He listens. He adapts. He keeps showing up.

And that, to me, is the mark of a true keeper.

So tell me—what makes a hero a keeper for you? Is it strength? Gentleness? Humor? That one scene that makes you melt?  Join the discussion for a chance to win a copy of this book or any other in my backlist you select.

AN AMISH WIDOW’S PROMISE

What if the man who understands your son… doesn’t understand you?

Widow Miriam Lapp has three months to find a husband. Not for love—but for security. For her son. For the orchard that’s been in the family for generations.

She’s not looking for romance or someone with big ideas and opinions. She’s looking for someone safe. Predictable. Willing to follow her lead when it comes to the orchard.

But Daniel Beiler isn’t any of those things.

And worse yet, he stirs up a whole mess of emotions Miriam thought she’d left behind for good.

He’s not one of the men her well-meaning would-be-matchmaker neighbor is lining up for her. But he’s the one Jonah is growing attached to. And maybe—just maybe—the one Miriam is starting to trust… even when she doesn’t want to.

If you love quiet heroes with strong hearts, precocious kids, and a love story that simmers before it sizzles, I think you’ll fall for this one.

To Preorder, you can use this LINK

 

Lynne Lanning Has Winners!

by

Miss Lynne, we really enjoyed chatting with you and learning new things about the old West. Come back soon!

Now for the Drawing………

Two commenters will win a copy of Mail Order Station Master!

And the lucky winners are………..

ANN STEWART

VICKIE J

Woo-Hoo! I’m dancing a jig for you ladies. Now watch for Miss Lynne’s email and check Spam if you don’t see it.

Range Wars–and two giveaways!

by

By Lynne Lanning

Thank you so much for stopping by for a few minutes to share my adventures on this Historical Western journey. And my, what a thrill it is! The West was built by a conglomerate of people ranging not only in age and culture, but also the downtrodden trying to survive and live free, to the thrill-seeking entrepreneurs.

Search the history of Western expanse you’ll learn about railroads, cattle drives, new towns built, and range wars. I mention these four, as it seems most of my stories are written around them. You can’t mention one without the others being involved somehow. It’s like a chain of events.

Did you know . . . For over 300 years, the longhorn cattle roamed free across the plains of Texas? No one claimed or wanted them, they had no use for more than a few at a time, and they were considered more dangerous than a herd of buffalo, scaring everyone. The plains of Texas were full and over-running!

Before the railroads, a few rough and tough entrepreneurs decided to take on herding these dangerous beast to far reaches of the West. They could sell beef to the locals, sustaining a living…BUT the big money was in supplying beef to the East. Enter – the cattle drives, with all the hunky, handsome heroes we call cowboys! (But that’s another story…)

For decades, these entrepreneurs (Cattle Barons) became rich, increasing their herds and sending the cattle East. When the railroads came, it became an even more lucrative business. The cattle grazed on free-range land, which was unused land owned by the government. The Cattle Barons may have owned hundreds, or even thousands of acres, but they were using tens of thousands that they didn’t own. For decades, it wasn’t a problem, until…Enter – the Homesteaders.

Click to BuyThe government wanted to occupy and settle the West, coming up with some great incentives for people through Homesteaders Acts. But guess where these homesteaders were legally moving to? Right in the midst of free-range grazing land!

Arguments and deadly fights ensued for years. The Homesteaders refused to give up their homes, and the Cattle Barons refused to give up the grazing land they had used for generations. Not only did the Cattle Barons eventually have to move their herds and reduce them drastically, but some had to reroute their trails to cattle markets and railheads by miles around mountains, or pay (by the head) to cross someone’s property. Their lives, and livelihoods changed forever.

The Cattle Barons had done the same as they had for generations; the Homesteaders were legally taking advantage making a better life for themselves; yet hundreds of men, women, and even children died because of it. Some men, (like William Bonney aka Billy the Kid), even became outlaws over it.

I put myself in the shoes of both sides and can see how there was a huge problem.

Several of my books are written about, or at least mention, Range Wars. I am excited to announce that Mail-Order Stone Mason is a Finalist in the 2025 Selah Awards Western Category! Love can blossom even in the midst of such dangerous surroundings!

Buy – Mail Order Stonemason 

And…be still my heart…To Trust A Heart is a Finalist in the Historical Romance Category! What an HONOR!

 

Buy – To Trust a Heart

Two lucky winners will receive another great story that incorporates a small Range War, young entrepreneurs, building a railroad and a town – Mail-Order Station Master. My question for you is what information or fact caught your eye in my post about the West? I’d love to hear your opinions about the Range Wars. We have lots to talk about.

Buy – Mail Order Station Master

The Old West is so intriguing, and that’s where I park my wagon and stay for weeks at a time as I write one incredible tale after another! I can vividly see it in my mind as all those brave ancestors made their way to an adventure of a lifetime…and I’m so glad they did!

Find out more about me and my love of Western Adventures:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0B6R33BXX?tag=pettpist-20

 

So I Watched This Series – by Pam Crooks

by

Yellowstone to Yosemite, narrated by Kevin Costner. 

It’s a beautiful three-part series with breathtaking scenery and a fascinating look into the working relationship Teddy Roosevelt had with naturalist John Muir. Together, they devised a plan to appeal to Congress to preserve the national parks in our country–and much more.

Born in 1838 in Scotland, John Muir moved with his family to Wisconsin at the age of 11. His father was a harsh taskmaster, and John fled home in his 20s, roaming the state, then escaping the Civil War draft in Canada until finally settling in Indianapolis to work in a wagon wheel factory. He had a flair for inventing machinery, and when an industrial accident nearly blinded him, he believed he’d been given a second chance to pursue his dreams. He headed west to wander throughout California. He lived three years in Yosemite Valley and longer in the Sierra Nevadas, supporting himself with his writings about nature.

At the age of 42, he decided to settle down and raise a family. He married, had two daughters, and managed his wife’s family’s orchard in California. As the years rolled by, the wandering urge returned, and he felt compelled to see his parents and siblings in Wisconsin. It’d been 20 years, and he reached his father just in time for his passing.

The trip had been grueling, but he withstood the pain to remain in commune with nature and to become closer to God. Through his essays, he acquired fame and respectability, which eventually inspired President Theodore Roosevelt, a conservationist as well, to arrange a meeting with him in 1903. With Muir as his guide, the president spent three days camping in the California wilderness, avoiding the comforts of hotels to experience the wilderness first hand, including a ferocious blizzard. Their intense discussions revolved around the importance of protecting wild areas like Yosemite and cemented Roosevelt’s growing desire to expand the national park systems.

In the end, due to Roosevelt’s actions, that three-day camping trip resulted in five more national parks being established, along with 18 national monuments, 55 bird sanctuaries and wildlife refuges, as well as 148 million acres into 150 national forests.

Those numbers are even higher today as our leaders secured strong protections on federal lands.

Pretty cool, huh? Of course, the whole evolvement of national parks in the United States was much more fascinating in the series rather than my little summary here, and Kevin Costner does a superior job narrating.

I invite you to settle in and watch the three episodes if you can. I found it immensely informative. We watched the series on Fox Nation, but it’s also available on Roku and YouTube.

Have you seen Yellowstone to Yosemite yet?

Have you been to any national parks or national monuments?

Do you love to spend time in nature, camping or hiking?  Or even just sitting by a lake or a river?

To stay up on our latest releases and have some fun, too, join our Facebook Reader Group HERE!

Our Next Guest is Lynne Lanning on Friday!

by

On Friday, April 11, 2025, we’ll welcome author Lynne Lanning! And that’s a big Yee-Haw!

Miss Lynne is going to talk about some old West facts that you may or may not know. It’ll be so interesting and you might learn something.

She’s also toting Mail Order Station Master in her saddlebags to bestow on two lucky commenters!

All we need is your help in showing her some love so hitch up that wagon and come over to chat.

Good things happen on Petticoats and Pistols so don’t miss out. Check every day.

A Texas Jewel

by

My dear mother-in-law passed away at the end of March, and the Witemeyer clan is feeling her loss. She was a feisty woman who was always ready to give an opinion and who loved people, especially family, with a heart as big as Texas.

Even before I started writing books of my own, Hilda and I discovered a shared love of romance novels. We passed books between us, though she read much faster than I did. And when I shyly admitted to her that I had decided to try my hand at writing my own stories, she didn’t bat an eye. She had complete confidence in me from the very start and supported my dream without hesitation.

She had struggled with her health since the end of January and spent most of that time in the hospital or a skilled nursing facility, yet whenever I visited her, she never tried to wheedle me into extending my stay. She’d shoo me away with a smile and tell me to “Go write me another book.”

She read all of my novels and bought extra copies to share with friends and extended family. Her support was such a blessing.

I think one of the reasons she supported my writing with such fervor was because she was a creative person herself. She painted wonderful landscapes and floral still-life art. Some of my favorites are ones that show her love of Texas, her home for the last 54 years of her life.

I adore this Texas landscape with the bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush. This hangs in a place of honor in her home. She gifted this next one to my husband and I when we moved into our house. I love the old barn and the country setting.

She loved to examine my book covers and tell me thing about the lighting and design choices that my untrained eye had never considered. She fostered creativity in all of her chidlren and grandchildren, and her home proudly displays various cross stitch, crochet, and drawing projects collected from various generations of Witemeyers.

She will be greatly missed, but her love for art, for books, for family, and for Jesus lives on in all of us who have been touched by her life.

Do you have someone special in your life who has fostered your dreams or goals?

 

It’s Raining eBooks!

by

Howdy!  Welcome to a terribly terrific Tuesday!

Okay, so it’s not exactly raining books, but do you remember old pop song, “It’s Raining Men”?  I loved that song and it popped into my head while I was writing this blog.

What I mean by it’s raining books is that I intend to give an ebook to each person who leaves a comment on the blog.  Let me explain:  I plan on having two new books coming out soon (the Good Lord willing).  One is a Historical Romance/Native American, book #5 in The Medicine Man Series.  And the other is a Young Adult story, Novella #2 in The Untaimed West series.  So, to celebrate these two books that I hope will be soon released, I’m giving away either book #1 in the Young Adult series, THE ADVENTURES OF GOOD EAGLE AND MISS STARLING, or book #4 in The Medicine Man series, SHE BRINGS BEAUTY TO ME to each person who leaves a comment…reader’s choice.  This offer expires, by the way, at 11:59 PM on April 8th, 2025.  Also, if you could please let me know on your post which book you would like, I would appreciate it.

So, I should probably tell you a little about each one of these stories, and to do that, I’ll leave a synopsis of each story.

THE ADVENTURES OF GOOD EAGLE AND MISS STARLING

Montana, 1847 

When my life is turned upside down, I have no one to turn to except Uncle Jed, a fur-trader who lives deep in Indian Country; a man I have never met.  I was expecting to be greeted by my Uncle Jed at a place called Fort Union, a fur-trading fort some two thousand miles above St. Louis.  But, when I finally arrive at the fort, I am met, instead, by an eighteen-year-old Indian, Good Eagle, who swears my uncle has sent him to meet me.  Would you trust this boy, a youth only two years older than my sixteen years?  I certainly didn’t and I told him so.  However, although I was polite, he took offense.

As the steamboat continues its way to my uncle’s fur-trading post, Fort Lewis, the Indian boy, Good Eagle, has declared that my heart has panther’s claws around it.  Yet, though he seems to dislike me as much as I do him, because of the promise he gave to my uncle, he has no option but to guard me.

But, when my life is threatened and Good Eagle saves me, I experience a change of heart about this young man; I decide I will “bury the hatchet” and become friends with him.  Imagine my surprise when he refuses my offer of friendship.

Can I ever change Good Eagle’s mind about becoming my friend?  Or will his first impression of me remain to forever haunt us?

 

SHE BRINGS BEAUTY TO ME

 

A woman deserted.  A troubled warrior.  A passion denied.

1855

When eighteen-year-old Czanna Fehér is forced to flee her home in Hungary, she journeys with her younger siblings and her father’s manservant to Montana in search of her cousin. Mourning for her recently deceased parents, she sings a prayer to the grand, Montana mountains.  From the first moment Stands Strong hears Czanna singing, he is transfixed.  When he meets her, he is captivated as much by her dark beauty as he is by her voice.

But, after the family’s hired guide steals their money and runs, her father’s servant leaves Czanna to go and serve justice to the man, leaving Czanna desolate and in charge.  Being of the gentry class in Hungary, Czanna knows she and her siblings cannot survive in this land without help.  When Stands Strong comes to her aid, she realizes she must trust this man.

Lakota born, though raised by the Blackfeet, Stands Strong descends from a long line of medicine men, but this legacy seems to have skipped over him.  Accepting this, he has become an expert scout.  But, when Czanna attempts to hire Stands Strong as their guide, offering him the “evil gold rock” as payment, he suggests marriage to him instead.  Czanna refuses him, even though the flame of love is burning heatedly in her heart.

Can two people from incompatible cultures ever come together?  Or are their star-guided paths meant only to briefly cross?

Warning:  A sensuous romance that might cause a desire to go West in search of love and adventure.

I’ll leave you today with a little bit about the new book which is currently in editing, entitled, SHE BELONGS IN MY WORLD.

 

Coming soon: SHE BELONGS IN MY WORLD

Beauty, treachery, and an untamed wild love

Liliann Varga had been too young the first time she met and fell head-over-heels in love with the Blackfeet Medicine Man, First Rider, the man who saved her father’s life. Besides, he was newly married to a woman of his own tribe. But years later, when Liliann’s husband has committed a terrible aggression against her, it’s First Rider who once again is called upon to put his healing skills to use.

First Rider has come to heal Liliann, not to seduce her. But his reaction to the grown up Liliann, the little girl who used to be his shadow, is entirely masculine and sensual. Though he’d vowed to bring his first wife back after her capture by an enemy tribe, he’d failed and she had died, causing First Rider to nearly lose his mind. Could Liliann be his second chance at love?

Enacting a “scout’s revenge” against Liliann’s cruel husband would leave the man alive but broken, and it would also set Liliann free. But, just as their love deepens, a report emerges: First Rider’s wife is still alive.

To discover the truth or lies of the report, they both embark on a dangerous journey through the Backbone-of-the-world Mountains. But, with little more than a bow and a gun, can they survive the beautiful but treacherous snows to find a world where they both belong?

****

Well, that’s all for today.  Hope you enjoyed the blog today and I hope, too, that you’ll leave a commit.

 

 

 

It’s Yee-Haw Day!

by

Welcome to Yee-Haw Day, the once-a-month day we’ve reserved to share our news with you – all sorts of fun news!

So check out the post below to get the details on the kinds of things that make us go Yee-Haw!!

Sarah Lamb

I’m so excited to share my brand new release with you! You’ll find it in ebook, paperback, large print, and soon, audio!

You can click here to read more! 

Cathy McDavid

Well, I did a thing! I created an audio book of my Christmas Stocking Sweethearts novella, MERRY’S CHRISTMAS COWBOY.

Full disclosure, the audio book is AI narration. But rest assured, the story is an original work written entirely by me. Only the naration is AI.
I don’t think the voice sounds bad. You can listen to a sample if you click the Virtual Voice Sample button on the Amazon page.  Here’s the link of you want to check it out 🙂

Merry’s Christmas Cowboy Audio Book on Amazon

Karen Witemeyer

I’m excited to announce that both Cloaked in Beauty and If the Boot Fits are finalists for the Selah Award in the Western category. YeeHaw!