Welcome to the Southern Sweethearts Blog Tour! Between us, Janga and I recently read the August 26th book releases from Marilyn Pappano, Laura Drake and Sandra Hill and share our thoughts about those books below. Be sure to read all the way to the end for a chance to win the terrific Blog Tour grand prize package! ~PJ
A Love to Call Her Own
By Marilyn Pappano
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: August 26, 2014
Dalton Smith has always known that he would take over the
family ranch someday, but he never expected to be doing it alone. It was
expected that he and his twin Dillon would keep up the tradition and be the two
Ds of the Double D Ranch. But Dillon ran away with Dalton’s girlfriend more
than fifteen years ago, and no one in the family has heard from him since.
After his marriage to a woman that loved ranch life, Dalton thought his wife would
share his life after she returned from her tour as a medic in Afghanistan.
Then, when an IED took both her legs, she chose to bleed to death rather than
come home forever changed to the people who loved her. Dalton has spent four
years protecting his family and his wife’s family from that knowledge and
becoming more and more isolated in his grief and anger and bitterness. But a
certain smart, smart-mouthed, sexy redhead has him rejoining the human race and
thinking about a future filled with something more than loneliness.
Woven into the story of Jessy and Dalton are threads of the
lives of other members of the Tuesday Night Margarita Club, some bright with
the promise of HEAs and others still filled with question marks. Among these
are Carly Lowry who is about to marry Dane Clark (A Hero to Come Home to), Therese Matheson who
is creating a family of the heart with Keegan Logan and three kids who are not
theirs by blood (A Man in Hold on to),
and Lucy Hart who, after six years of widowhood, has met a man who interests
her more than the food she has been using to fill the holes Mike’s death left
in her heart and in her life. There’s also a new widow, Patricia Sanderson,
whose husband, an officer with twenty-nine years of service, was killed just as
they were looking forward to retirement years and the end of separations.
I can immediately think of a dozen or more recent or still
ongoing series that focus on military or former military heroes whose lives
have been changed in various ways by active, wartime duty. Pappano’s Tallgrass
series is the only one I know that focuses on what happens to the families who
are left to go on living after the casualty call and the military funeral with
honors. Reading this book, I was reminded of some lines from “Lament” by Edna
St. Vincent Millay”
Life must go on,
Though good men die;
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Though good men die;
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Life must go on;
I forget just why.
I forget just why.
But Pappano remembers why. Jessy and Dalton and the
secondary characters are flawed human beings with problems that are painfully
real and lives that are heartbreakingly messy. I think it is impossible to read
A Love to Call Her Own and not be
moved by the experiences of these characters and root for them to find
happiness again. Perhaps most significant is a new awareness of all the stories
that lie behind the media coverage of casualties and memorial services and of
the price paid not just by those who serve but by their families as well.
Although this novel may move you to tears, it is more than a sad story. It is also
filled with laughter, the warmth of friendship, the endurance of memory, and
the resilience of the human spirit. A
Love to Call Her Own can be read as a standalone, but it more powerful and
engaging as part of the series. I highly recommend all three books.
~Janga
~Janga
Buy Links:
Known for her intensely
emotional stories, Marilyn Pappano is the USA Today bestselling
author of nearly eighty books. She has made regular appearances on bestseller
lists and has received recognition for her work in the form of numerous awards.
Though her husband's Navy career took them across the United States, he and Ms.
Pappano now live in Oklahoma high on a hill that overlooks her hometown. They
have one son and daughter-in-law, an adorable grandson, and a pack of
mischievous dogs.
Social Media Links:
Sweet on You
By Laura Drake
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: August 26, 2014
Cam Cahill is a two time world champion bull rider facing the forced end of a much beloved career. His knees are shot, his shoulder isn't far behind and he has no idea what he's going to do once the season ends. At one time, he thought he'd have a family to return to when his days riding bulls ended but an ex-wife who viewed him as a meal ticket and left as soon as she figured out there were better tickets out there has left him gun shy. Confused, conflicted and short of temper, Cam isn't willing to cut much slack for the new city-slicker physical therapist who obviously doesn't have a very high regard for the hard working cowboys on the PBA tour. They get off on the wrong foot and sparks fly but slowly, gradually, those sparks move from antagonism to respect to desire and, finally, something more. Cam and Katya have a real chance at that elusive happy ending they've been denied. But will Katya be able to move beyond the emotional contraints of her PTSD? And with Cam dreaming of marriage and family, what will happen when he discovers that Katya fully intends to return to Afghanistan as soon as she's declared fit?
This was my first book by Laura Drake but it won't be my last. She has taken a contemporary western format (one of my favorites) and infused it with the deep emotional trauma suffered by so many of today's military members returning from the deserts of Afghanistan and Iraq. Both Cam and Katya are such realistically developed characters that I felt that if I attended a PBR event I'd see both of them in the arena. While I warmed to Katya first - Cam really did act like a two-year-old throwing a temper tantrum at first - eventually, I came to like both characters and was fully invested in their happiness. I was fascinated by Katya's Gypsy roots and the many layers that formed this formidable woman. Cam, also, is a multi-layered character, slowly unveiled as the story progresses. I appreciated the fact that Drake allows us to see the tender, vulnerable and uncertain side of this very strong and capable cowboy.
Sweet on You is part of a series but stands on its own. You do not have to have read any previous books in the series to fully enjoy this one.
~PJ
Buy Links:
Laura Drake grew up in
the suburbs outside Detroit, though her stories are set in the west. A
tomboy, she's always loved the outdoors and adventure. In 1980 she and her
sister packed everything they owned into Pintos and moved to California. There
she met and married a motorcycling, bleed-maroon Texas Aggie and her love
affair with the West was born. Laura rides motorcycles: Elvis,
a 1985 BMW Mystic, and Sting, a 1999 BMW R1100.
In Texas, Laura was introduced to her first rodeo, and fell in love. She's an avid fan of Pro Bull Riding (PBR,) attending any event within driving distance, including two PBR National finals. She is hard at work at her next novel.
In Texas, Laura was introduced to her first rodeo, and fell in love. She's an avid fan of Pro Bull Riding (PBR,) attending any event within driving distance, including two PBR National finals. She is hard at work at her next novel.
Social Media Links:
Snow on the Bayou
By Sandra Hill
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: August 26, 2014
Emelie Gaudet had loved Justin LeBlanc with the whole of her young heart. She was devastated when her father ran Justin out of town, threatening him with jail if he didn't leave, but she trusted in their love. She never expected Justin to turn his back on her, especially at a time when she needed him most. Now, seventeen years later, Emelie finally has her life together. She's a successful Mardi Gras mask designer, a part-time blues singer and is slowly rebuilding a relationship with her father. The last thing she needs is Justin walking back into her life, sexier than ever and just as infuriating. It's obvious that the desire between them burns just as hot as ever. Though she'll never trust him again, maybe a no-strings affair while he's in town is just what they both need to finally put their relationship to bed...so to speak.
Sandra Hill returns to the bayou for another fast paced, sexy, emotion-packed, heck of a good time in Snow on the Bayou. Littered with her signature humor (I laughed out loud at least three times in the first 40 pages) and filled with plenty of heart (yes, I also cried), she brings us the story of two people who must face the secrets of the past, open their hearts to forgiveness and trust in what they have found together. Sometimes people are given a second chance at love. Sometimes, the feelings in the heart never go away but simply simmer until a chance meeting brings them flaming back to life. And, sometimes, when that wacky old woman, Tante Lulu, with her St. Jude statues and her custom made hope chests and her Cajun words of wisdom speaks...well, you just better sit up and listen because when that thunder bolt of love strikes, it's certain she won't be far behind.
Pull up a chair, pick up a copy of Snow on the Bayou and, as they say in the bayou, laissez les bons temps rouler. Let the good times roll!
~PJ
Buy Links:
Sandra Hill is a graduate
of Penn State and worked for more than 10 years as a features writer and
education editor for publications in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Writing about
serious issues taught her the merits of seeking the lighter side of even the
darkest stories. She is the wife of a stockbroker and the mother of four sons.
Social Media Links:
Readers, have you read any of these authors? Do you have a favorite title you would recommend to someone new to their books?
Do you enjoy military-themed romances?
Ever been to a rodeo? What was your favorite part?
Do you know anyone like Tante Lulu: a nineties-something firecracker who tells it like it is and embraces every second of life with both hands and a big ole grin?
Do you (or did you) ever have a hope chest? What did you have in yours?
