Review - - Home to Texas

Home to Texas

by Kaki Warner

Brides of Rough Creek Texas - Book 2

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: June 29, 2021

Reviewed by PJ

Lieutenant KD Whitcomb had mapped out her career from West Point to the Pentagon. But when an injury under questionable circumstances forces her to leave the army, her dreams fall dead at her feet. Feeling lost and needing to rediscover the tough woman beneath the uniform, she heads back to the family ranch in Rough Creek. Only two things get her through the nightmares and sleepless nights: the support of her family and the CID officer investigating the incident in Afghanistan. He infuriates her. Makes her laugh. Gives her hope.
 
Richard Murdock is struggling, too. There’s something fishy about this last case…and the threats coming from Afghanistan aimed at both him and KD. He’s ready to leave the army and make a new start. But how will he protect KD? And what should he do about the growing attraction between them? He’s been burned before. But there's something about KD's vulnerability and strength that calls to him, and he'll do whatever it takes to protect her and give her a chance to build new dreams…including helping her start a PTSD equine therapy program at the Texas ranch.
 
If they can overcome the threats against them and heal old wounds, this second chance might be better than they ever dreamed.

PJ's Thoughts:

I've been reading Kaki Warner since her debut. One of the things I most enjoy about her writing is her ability to create complex, fully-dimensional characters who pull me into their hearts, minds, and often complicated lives. That skill is once again on display in Home to Texas. I felt like I knew these people. I shared their frustrations, desires, pain, joy, anger, and fear. I was immersed in their journey and eager to discover how it would all play out.

This second book in Warner's Brides of Rough Creek series is filled with both heart-tugging romance and breath-stealing danger. The author does a good job of depicting that danger, both in Afghanistan and Texas, along with the military aspects of the story. While both light humor and heart are evident in many of the scenes with KD's family, Warner doesn't shy away from the dark (sometimes harsh) humor found among people who routinely put their lives on the line for their country. 

I liked both KD and Richard and enjoyed the evolution of their relationship. The spice, sweetness, support, respect, and love between them convinced me they were solid. It was fun seeing KD's family again (after meeting them in book one, Rough Creek). Raney and Dalton were particular favorites but I also enjoyed new beginnings for KD's mama. At times, the suspense plot seemed a bit far-fetched, but still within the realm of possibility. It kept me engaged and on the edge wondering how it would all play out. I particularly enjoyed the scenes between Richard and the FBI agents.

If you enjoy complex, military-themed stories with a good blend of romance, action, and danger, give this one a try. It stands well on its own though I do also recommend book one, Rough Creek. Did I mention how much I love Raney and Dalton? ;-)

CW: 

PTSD

Violence

Physical trauma

Review - - Rough Creek

Rough Creek

by Kaki Warner

Brides of Rough Creek - Book 1

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: July 7, 2020

Reviewed by PJ

After serving eighteen months in prison for a crime he didn't commit, Dalton Cardwell is looking for a fresh start. What better place than Whitcomb Four Star Ranch? He doesn't regret the decisions of his past--he'd choose the same roads again. But now all Dalton wants is to keep his head down and focus on the horses--and on Raney Whitcomb.

Raney is outraged when she learns her mother hired an ex-con. Raney has worked hard for the ranch, sacrificing her personal life for the dream of building on her family's legacy. But as Dalton breaks down every misconception and even wins the good opinion of her sisters, Raney is forced to rethink her stance--and finally free herself to explore the heart-pounding tension that simmers between them.

PJ's Thoughts:

I'm a huge fan of Kaki Warner's historical western romances so I was intrigued when I heard she was transitioning to contemporary. Rough Creek is her first contemporary romance and launches her Brides of Rough Creek series. It has the same small-town, western flavor, and character-driven story, with well-placed humor and emotion, plus a slow-burn romance, that made her historical novels so appealing.  

As with many books that launch a new series, there are several characters who are introduced in this one, but not so many that I found it confusing or distracting. My favorite was Dalton. I adored this man. He's sweet, kind, caring, funny, honorable, and sexy as hell. Raney was more of an acquired taste. She's a complex character, as is typical of many of Warner's characters, with baggage that's made her wary of trusting. Not that I blamed her; she had good reason for feeling that way. I enjoyed the flirty banter between her and Dalton and the time Warner gave them to get to know one another but I grew frustrated with her judgmental attitude. Dalton showed her in every possible way that she could trust him yet she held him at bay, flip flopping for months, almost as if she was looking for reasons to not trust him. In the end, I was happy with their relationship because Dalton was happy, and I really do think Raney finally realized what she had been doing and was ready to drop her barriers and trust in love. I'm hopeful, though, that we'll see more of them in future books in the series, as an open, functioning couple, with a deepening bond, and less judgment, and more trust, on Raney's part. 

Family, horses, and ranch life play a big part in this book with interesting glimpses into cutting horses, their training, and competitions. The Whitcomb sisters and their mother, owners of the ranch (but not all living there), are complex women living very different lives. I'm curious to find out what's ahead for each of them. I'm certain Coralee, the sisters' widowed 60-year-old mother, a real spitfire, will be helping each of them along to a happily ever after. I wonder if the sisters will do the same for their mama? 

I'm not sure how many books are planned for the series or which characters have one in their future but, with Warner's name on the cover, I'll be back for them all.

~~~~~~~~~ 

Are you a fan of western romance? Any recommendations?

Have you read any of Kaki Warner's historical romances?

Have you ever attended - or competed in - a rodeo or cutting horse competition?

Nine Years and Counting - - Kaki Warner (2011)

In 2010, I discovered new Western Historical author, Kaki Warner and proceeded to fall in love with every book she's written. This is a Q&A with Warner from January 11, 2011, celebrating the release of Chasing the Sun, the third book in her award-winning Blood Rose Trilogy. Janga and I reviewed several of Warner's books over the years, many of them receiving 5 stars. Click here to read our reviews. 

Today's Special - - Kaki Warner

I am so thrilled to be hosting Kaki Warner today.  I've fallen in love with American Westerns again through her Blood Rose Trilogy about the three Wilkins brothers from the New Mexico Territory.  Though Kaki now lives in the Pacific Northwest, she grew up riding horses in the Southwest and her love of that land comes through in her wonderful books.  She is also a proud graduate of the University of Texas. (Hook 'em Horns!) Several years ago, she and her husband left the city and moved to a cabin overlooking the scenic Methow Valley. Kaki now spends her time gardening, hiking, reading, writing, and soaking in the view from the deck with her husband and floppy-eared hound dog. ( I especially like the writing part.)  For more information about Kaki, visit her website, sign up for her newsletter, read her blog, "like" her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Good Morning, Kaki! It’s my pleasure to welcome you to The Romance Dish today. Congratulations on the recent release of CHASING THE SUN, the third book in your Blood Rose Trilogy. The Wilkins men and their strong, spirited women from your first two books captured my heart and have me eagerly anticipating Jack’s story. Please tell us what we can expect to find in CHASING THE SUN. (Note: Since conducting this interview, I've read (and loved) CHASING THE SUN.  You can read my 5-Star Review here.)

Hi, PJ. A belated Happy New Year to you and your readers, and a heartfelt “thanks” for inviting me to visit on such an auspicious date, 1/11/11. (That must mean something, right?) Anyway, to answer your first question…

CHASING THE SUN is Jack’s story—the youngest Wilkins brother. At the end of the first book in the trilogy, PIECES OF SKY, he is leaving for San Francisco in pursuit of his childhood sweetheart, hoping to marry her and travel the world once she recovers from surgery on her crippled hip. When the operation proves unsuccessful and Elena decides against marriage, Jack numbs his broken heart with alcohol and a young saloon singer named Daisy, then sails for the South Pacific. No one hears from him until the end of Book 2, OPEN COUNTRY, when he writes to say he’ll be home in a year. Not much of a writer, our Jack.

In CHASING THE SUN, we find him heading back to the ranch, hoping to convince Elena they’re meant to be together. Instead, he finds the ranch in quarantine because of equine flu that has left millions of horses dead, and their silver mines worthless because of the shift to the gold standard. Then suddenly Daisy shows up with a baby who has eyes like his, debts come due, and the ranch faces ruin at the hands of an old enemy. (Guess who?)

But somehow, as is the custom in romances, the hero saves the day, showing his brothers he’s not a skirt-chasing dimwit after all, winning the woman he was meant to have, rescuing the horses and the ranch, and beating the stink out of a weasel just for fun. A good day all around. The trilogy ends with an epilogue that tells (more or less) where the Wilkins family ends up twenty-five years down the road. (Relax. No one dies who shouldn’t.)

Kaki, you had me smiling and laughing again just from reading your synopsis of Jack's story.  I especially enjoyed the "beating the stink out of a weasel just for fun" scene.  So well done and heartily deserved!

Check out the gorgeous video trailer for CHASING THE SUN: 

American historical westerns were among some of the first romances I read and I’ve always had a special fondness for them. As an author, what draws you to this particular time and place?

They say to write about what you know—not that I’m 140 years old. But I do know the climate, and horses, and I’ve chased a cow or two, and I’m familiar with the mindset of the typical Westerner (which hasn’t changed all that much). And I love it all. So when I sat down to start this trilogy, I wanted to give a (mostly) honest picture of the times and the place and the challenges early ranchers faced, but to soften it with a bit of romance.

You accomplished your goal.  I was immediately drawn into the "time and place" in each of the books.  Do you plan to continue writing westerns? Will we see any of the Wilkins family in future books or is it time to bid them a fond farewell?

At this point, unless they show up in a short story somewhere, or my publisher requests a follow-up, this is the last of the Wilkins family. I’m sad to see them go—they’ve been a part of my life for a long time. But I do have another trilogy in the works which is also set in the 1870s, but in Colorado this time.

I'm sorry to say good-bye to them too but happy that I can re-visit them anytime I want through your books.  (They've all gone straight to my keeper shelf.)

We love call stories here at the Dish. Will you share with us how you got the news of your first sale?

There wasn’t a lot of squealing and hopping up and down, I’m sorry to say. I’m too old to squeal, and my knees are shot so I don’t do much hopping nowadays. And anyway, I sort of expected the phone to ring. Let me explain: a few weeks earlier, I had signed on with a great agent (Nancy Coffey), who is an absolute pro with years of experience as an agent and editor. She said she could sell it. I believed her. And even more important, I believed in the book (the first in the trilogy, PIECES OF SKY) because, after all, I had been writing on the thing off-and-on for nearly twenty-five years. So when the call finally came, I mostly just sat there, blinking and nodding and listening, as if a lifelong dream hadn’t just come true, while thinking, well, it’s about (expletive deleted) time. Not very exciting, but there it is.

LOL!  What a great story!  As a fellow non-squealer with shot knees I can certainly appreciate your reaction. And, speaking for myself, I'm so happy you never gave up on the dream.   

Do you have any advice for the unpublished authors among us?

Never give up. Love your characters, because if you don’t, how can you expect an agent or editor to? Get all the feedback you can—discard half of it—use the rest. Keep it real (I know, in Romance that kinda defeats the purpose, but try anyway). And remember, no matter how much of yourself you put into your work, industry rejections are not personal. Finally, it’s your story, your voice, your plot—don’t write to please a critique group, an agent, an editor, or a market. Listen and consider…but in the end do it your way, as true and honest as you can make it. And did I say “never give up?” I mean it. Never. Ever.

When you’re not busy writing your own books, what authors do you enjoy reading?

Don’t make me laugh, PJ. Since I sold PIECES OF SKY to Berkley in late 2008, I have had to write three more books, come up with a proposal for a new series, promote books I and II of the Blood Rose Trilogy, tackle a website, write e-newsletters, design book teasers, shine with brilliance on blog-tours, cringe through book signings, and write my own blogs. Read other authors? Seriously?

OK, I did read a very few—John Hart’s THE LAST CHILD, Bernard Cornwell’s AGINCOURT, the Texas series by Jodi Thomas, the latest by Julia Quinn and Eloisa James, and about fourteen others I never got to finish. I miss it.

I know what you mean.   There never seems to be enough hours in the day to read all the great books out there. 

Now for a fun, “what-if” question: Through the magic of our time machine, you have the opportunity to take any ten people (real or fictional) on a camp-out in the old west. Who will you choose and why?

1. My husband, because it would hurt his feelings if I didn’t include him, and because he would tolerate my whining better than the others. Long practice.
2. My daughter, because she’s a great cook and would bring lots of wine.
3. My daughter-in-law, because she’s an excellent nurse and could keep me alive.
4. My son, because he could write about the happenings and make us rich.
5. My son-in-law, because he’s a working fool and has a big brain.
6. Jack Wilkins because he’d be a hoot to hang with. And look at.
7. Brady Wilkins, because he doesn’t mind killing stuff. Like food. And he’d also be fun to look at.
8. Hank Wilkins, because he’d invent needed things. Like a flush toilet. And it would be fun to watch him while he did that.
9. Gerard Butler, because…ah…for research. Yeah, that’s it. (Book 2 of the new series does feature a Scotsman, after all). And he’s always fun to look at.
10. And finally, Cyndi and Janet because they could pray me out of trouble.

ROFL!  I may not be on the guest list but I'm coming too.  No way I'm going to miss that much fun!

It’s a brand new year, filled with fresh opportunities. What are you looking forward to in 2011?

Staying alive. And finishing this next series. And moving up from almost nearly semi-famous status all the way to nearly semi-famous status. It’s a leap, I know.

Speaking of your new series, what can we expect next from you? Any more books scheduled for publication in 2011?

YES! And thanks for asking, PJ. The new series (Runaway Brides) launches next summer with HEARTBREAK CREEK. This series focuses on four women who head west to make new starts, but get more than they bargained for when they’re stranded in a dying Colorado mining town named…wait for it…Heartbreak Creek! This first book is about a Southern princess, so desperate to escape the reconstruction South, she signs on as a mail order bride to a struggling rancher with a hardened heart and four unruly children. More on that later.

The second book is about an Englishwoman who gives up on her absent Scottish/soldier/husband and comes West on a photographic expedition. Naturally, he comes after her, as any braw Scotsman would. The third is about an almost-bride with a valise full of railroad shares stolen from the almost-groom that she left standing at the altar and who is now hot on her trail with revenge in mind.

I'm marking my calendar now and making more room on my bookshelves! 

Do you enjoy western historical romances? Tell me about some of your favorites. One randomly chosen person leaving a comment on today's post before 11:00 PM, November 3 will receive a package of books. (U.S. only)

Throwback Thursday Review - - Miracle in New Hope

Miracle in New Hope  
By Kaki Warner
Publisher: Penguin - InterMix
December 11, 2012

I love Christmas romances, especially novellas. With my busy schedule, the closer we get to Christmas, the harder it is to find time to sneak away and lose myself in a good story which makes shorter novellas perfect for December reading. There are so many terrific new novellas each year that I rarely have time to re-read favorites from previous years but Miracle in New Hope by Kaki Warner is one that I try to make time for. Four years after it was published, the story of Daniel and Lacy and their desperate search for a Christmas miracle touches my heart as powerfully as it did during my first reading. ~PJ

Colorado...1871

Trapped in an avalanche of snow that buries the General Store, it is only the voice of the young girl trapped with him that gives loner Daniel Hobart the will to live.  When he's rescued, Daniel is stunned to discover that he was the only person in the store and the widower, haunted by the deaths of his wife and child, wonders if he's finally lost his mind. When Hannah continues to appear to him however, he's convinced the young girl is real and has reached out to him for help. He was unable to save his own child. He's not about to let Hannah down, even if the whole town thinks he's crazy.

When her daughter, Hannah disappeared on their journey to New Hope, Lacy Ellis was devastated. She searched and searched but found no trace and now, one year later, the young widow is just beginning to come to terms with the loss of her only child when Daniel Hobart appears in town with claims of having seen her.  Lacy wants to believe him but his tale is so outlandish.  Dare she hope?  Her brothers want to run him out of town but when Daniel insists he's going to search for Hannah, Lacy is determined to go with him. 

As Daniel and Lacy re-trace the route of the previous year's journey, they find in one another, understanding, compassion and an attraction that's been simmering since they first glimpsed each other on the streets of New Hope.  As the attraction deepens and feelings emerge, Lacy and Daniel are given a second chance at love but will that fragile emotion withstand the crushing disappointment if they are unable to find Hannah?  Or, will two people who have known more than their share of heartbreak be given a second chance with a miracle in New Hope?

Kaki Warner is one of my favorite authors.  When I read one of her books, I'm not just reading about people and places; I'm experiencing her characters' journeys with them. Their hopes and dreams, heartbreak and despair, joy and salvation.  I feel it all.  If you've read Warner, you already know what I mean.  If you haven't, this stand-alone extended-length novella (146 pages) is a perfect place to begin. 

~PJ

Throwback Thursday Review - - Open Country

In a recent interview, I was asked to list my top ten favorite romances. One of the books on my list is Open Country by Kaki Warner. This western historical romance is the second book Warner published and the second story in her award-winning Blood Rose Trilogy. Open Country was a 2011 RITA® finalist and the first story in the trilogy, Pieces of Sky won the 2011 Rita® award. I thought it would be fun to post the review I wrote of Open Country when it was originally published in June, 2010.  This is a book that has stood the test of time for this reader. I'm still in love with these characters six years after first reading their story. 

If you're interested, here's the link to the interview I did with Kimberly Rocha of Book Obsessed Chicks Book Club when she named me one of her "Cheerleaders for Romance." 




Open Country
Blood Rose Trilogy – Book #2
By Kaki Warner
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Release Date: June 1, 2010

Molly McFarlane is as desperate as a woman can get – even one alone on the frontier. Forced to flee with her late sister’s children, she must provide for her wards while outrunning the relentless trackers their vicious stepfather has set on her trail. To secure their future, she marries a badly injured man, assuming that when he dies his insurance settlement will provide all they need. But there is one small problem.

The man doesn’t die.

Since she was thirteen years old, Molly McFarlane has been assisting her famous surgeon father in the care of Civil War soldiers and taking care of herself. She’s never had a social life, never been courted by a young man and now, at twenty-six, she finds herself on the run with two young children. Far from their Georgia home, they are lucky to escape serious injury when the train on which they’re riding derails in Texas. Desperate for money to keep the children safe, when Molly hears that the train company will pay the families of the dead $300, she pretends to be the fiancé of a fellow train passenger who is seriously injured and not expected to survive and, when they won’t pay a fiancé, she convinces the local minister to marry them, even though the groom is unconscious. But, when she realizes that there’s a chance the man might live, and the only doctor in town is a drunk who’s convinced he’ll die, her conscience and her many years of nursing won’t let her walk away.

Hank Wilkins is a complex, quiet man. He’s content to run the family ranch with his brother, Brady and visit the local brothel when he needs “attention.” Having his heart smashed to pieces by a fickle woman has destroyed his trust and he has no interest in giving love, or marriage, a second chance. Following the train crash in which he is almost killed, Hank awakens with amnesia, his only memory the sweet, southern voice of a woman who says she’s his wife.

A figure moved closer. A woman. She bent close and spoke in a calm, soothing voice. “You’re safe, Henry. Stay calm. I’m here to help you.” 

Who the hell was Henry?

Her voice was familiar, but her face was only a blue. He tried to remember, but the effort sent him sliding back toward the void. Terror thundered through him. “Don’t go,” he choked out as blackness pressed against the edges of his vision.

“I won’t. I’m here.”

He felt her hand on his cheek, her palm cool and soft against his skin.

“You’re safe, Henry. You’re all right. I won’t leave you, I promise.”

Her touch was his lifeline, her voice his beacon. In desperation, he clung to it with all of his mind as the smothering darkness sucked him under.

Feeling guilty for what she’s done, Molly tells Hank’s brother, Brady, that she will have her marriage to Hank annulled but while Brady doesn’t trust Molly, he quickly realizes that she’s his brother’s best chance of survival. Not only that, but he’s terrified that his pregnant wife will have complications as she did with her last pregnancy so he convinces (blackmails) Molly to travel with them to their remote family ranch and stay until Hank is healed and Jessica has safely delivered their baby. Grasping the opportunity to keep the children safe, Molly accepts, never expecting to fall in love, not only with Hank but with his entire family.

While Hank and Molly have plenty of life experience, when it comes to love and romance, they are both as awkward as newborn chicks, as is evidenced in the following two internal monologues as they each contemplate the rituals of courting.

     It was starting to sound less fun by the minute. He didn’t like courting. He didn’t know how to act or what to say, and the one time he’d tried it – other than with Molly, apparently – he’d felt big and awkward and clumsy. So much easier if he could just say, “We’re married. Take off your clothes.” Neat and simple.

He glanced at her, wondering if he should give it a try.

Her expression said not.

Just as well. He wasn’t feeling that perky.

     Courting. What did that mean, exactly? What was she supposed to do? Did she even have the proper clothes? It was ludicrous, really, that at the spinsterish age of twenty-six all those adolescent yearnings and doubts should grip her so strongly.

Would he recite poetry? Tell her she was beautiful?

The notion almost made her laugh. Romantic words from the man who had wrestled her over a chamber pot? Not likely.

As time passes and Molly and Hank grow closer, they both learn to open themselves to the possibility of love and trust between them. Molly yearns to truly belong to this man…this family…this beautiful but unforgiving land. But with the secret of their sham marriage, the knowledge that Hank’s memory could return at any moment and a madman closing in for the kill, the question becomes not whether Hank will forgive her and love and accept her as his wife but if any of them will live long enough to see tomorrow.

I loved this story! Kaki Warner grabbed me from the opening of the book and never let me go. Even now, days after turning the final page, I’m still thinking about the characters from this intensely emotional and realistic frontier story. Not just Molly and Hank, but the whole family. I came to care about all of them and hope to see them again in the next book in this series. The secondary characters in Open Country are a colorful cast and very important to the story, especially Molly’s niece and nephew. The scenes between six-year-old Penny and “papa-Hank” are some of the best in the book and had me laughing uproariously in some and wiping away tears in others. Fans of Warner’s first book, Pieces of Sky will be delighted to discover that Brady, Jessica and their children are featured prominently in Open Country.

Several friends recommended that I read Kaki Warner’s debut novel, Pieces of Sky, when it was released in January. I haven’t found the time to read it yet but, now that I’ve finished her second book, Open Country, I’ll be correcting that oversight as soon as possible. Warner is a fresh new voice in historical romance who, through her vivid descriptions, compelling characters and smoothly flowing prose, brings the American Western frontier, with all its harshness and beauty, to life. I highly recommend Open Country!

~PJ

Are you a re-reader? 

What books have stood the test of time for you?

Have you read Open Country?

Throwback Thursday Review - - Open Country

Today's Throwback Thursday review turns back the calendar to May 2010 and my first book by an author who has since become one of my favorites. With Home by Morning, the final book in Kaki Warner's Heartbreak Creek series, being released in July, I thought this would be a good time to re-post my thoughts on Open Country, the book that began my love affair with this award-winning author's work. 

~PJ


Open Country
Blood Rose Trilogy – Book #2
By Kaki Warner
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Release Date: June 1, 2010

Molly McFarlane is as desperate as a woman can get – even one alone on the frontier. Forced to flee with her late sister’s children, she must provide for her wards while outrunning the relentless trackers their vicious stepfather has set on her trail. To secure their future, she marries a badly injured man, assuming that when he dies his insurance settlement will provide all they need. But there is one small problem.


The man doesn’t die.



Since she was thirteen years old, Molly McFarlane has been assisting her famous surgeon father in the care of Civil War soldiers and taking care of herself. She’s never had a social life, never been courted by a young man and now, at twenty-six, she finds herself on the run with two young children. Far from their Georgia home, they are lucky to escape serious injury when the train on which they’re riding derails in Texas. Desperate for money to keep the children safe, when Molly hears that the train company will pay the families of the dead $300, she pretends to be the fiancé of a fellow train passenger who is seriously injured and not expected to survive and, when they won’t pay a fiancé, she convinces the local minister to marry them, even though the groom is unconscious. But, when she realizes that there’s a chance the man might live, and the only doctor in town is a drunk who’s convinced he’ll die, her conscience and her many years of nursing won’t let her walk away. 

Hank Wilkins is a complex, quiet man. He’s content to run the family ranch with his brother, Brady and visit the local brothel when he needs “attention.” Having his heart smashed to pieces by a fickle woman has destroyed his trust and he has no interest in giving love, or marriage, a second chance. Following the train crash in which he is almost killed, Hank awakens with amnesia, his only memory the sweet, southern voice of a woman who says she’s his wife. 

A figure moved closer. A woman. She bent close and spoke in a calm, soothing voice. “You’re safe, Henry. Stay calm. I’m here to help you.” 

Who the hell was Henry?

Her voice was familiar, but her face was only a blue. He tried to remember, but the effort sent him sliding back toward the void. Terror thundered through him. “Don’t go,” he choked out as blackness pressed against the edges of his vision.

“I won’t. I’m here.”

He felt her hand on his cheek, her palm cool and soft against his skin.

“You’re safe, Henry. You’re all right. I won’t leave you, I promise.”

Her touch was his lifeline, her voice his beacon. In desperation, he clung to it with all of his mind as the smothering darkness sucked him under.

Feeling guilty for what she’s done, Molly tells Hank’s brother, Brady, that she will have her marriage to Hank annulled but while Brady doesn’t trust Molly, he quickly realizes that she’s his brother’s best chance of survival. Not only that, but he’s terrified that his pregnant wife will have complications as she did with her last pregnancy so he convinces (blackmails) Molly to travel with them to their remote family ranch and stay until Hank is healed and Jessica has safely delivered their baby. Grasping the opportunity to keep the children safe, Molly accepts, never expecting to fall in love, not only with Hank but with his entire family. 

While Hank and Molly have plenty of life experience, when it comes to love and romance, they are both as awkward as newborn chicks, as is evidenced in the following two internal monologues as they each contemplate the rituals of courting.

     It was starting to sound less fun by the minute. He didn’t like courting. He didn’t know how to act or what to say, and the one time he’d tried it – other than with Molly, apparently – he’d felt big and awkward and clumsy. So much easier if he could just say, “We’re married. Take off your clothes.” Neat and simple.

He glanced at her, wondering if he should give it a try.

Her expression said not.

Just as well. He wasn’t feeling that perky.

     Courting. What did that mean, exactly? What was she supposed to do? Did she even have the proper clothes? It was ludicrous, really, that at the spinsterish age of twenty-six all those adolescent yearnings and doubts should grip her so strongly.

Would he recite poetry? Tell her she was beautiful?

The notion almost made her laugh. Romantic words from the man who had wrestled her over a chamber pot? Not likely.

As time passes and Molly and Hank grow closer, they both learn to open themselves to the possibility of love and trust between them. Molly yearns to truly belong to this man…this family…this beautiful but unforgiving land. But with the secret of their sham marriage, the knowledge that Hank’s memory could return at any moment and a madman closing in for the kill, the question becomes not whether Hank will forgive her and love and accept her as his wife but if any of them will live long enough to see tomorrow.

I loved this story! Kaki Warner grabbed me from the opening of the book and never let me go. Even now, days after turning the final page, I’m still thinking about the characters from this intensely emotional and realistic frontier story. Not just Molly and Hank, but the whole family. I came to care about all of them and hope to see them again in the next book in this series. The secondary characters in Open Country are a colorful cast and very important to the story, especially Molly’s niece and nephew. The scenes between six-year-old Penny and “papa-Hank” are some of the best in the book and had me laughing uproariously in some and wiping away tears in others. Fans of Warner’s first book, Pieces of Sky will be delighted to discover that Brady, Jessica and their children are featured prominently in Open Country. 

Several friends recommended that I read Kaki Warner’s debut novel, Pieces of Sky, when it was released in January. I haven’t found the time to read it yet but, now that I’ve finished her second book, Open Country, I’ll be correcting that oversight as soon as possible. Warner is a fresh new voice in historical romance who, through her vivid descriptions, compelling characters and smoothly flowing prose, brings the American Western frontier, with all its harshness and beauty, to life. I highly recommend Open Country!

~PJ

Have you read Kaki Warner yet?

Do you have a favorite among her books?

Do you enjoy historical stories set in the American West?

Home by Morning is on my "highly anticipated" summer reading list. What new books are you looking forward to this summer?

I have a signed copy of Kaki Warner's 2015 Rita-nominated book, Where the Horses Run for one randomly selected person who leaves a comment on today's post. (U.S. only)

Throwback Thursday - - Heartbreak Creek

PJ here. One of my favorite things as a reader is to find a new author who blows my socks off with her debut book but when that happens, it always makes me a little nervous about how much I’ll like her second book.  Will I be as enthusiastic or will I suffer the much dreaded second book let-down?  You can imagine how over-the-moon excited I was when all three books in Kaki Warner's debut Blood Rose Trilogy were five-star reads for me. (and Warner went on to be a double finalist and winner in the 2011 RITA® awards)  Warner's second series, set in Heartbreak Creek, Colorado has continued to carry her high standard of excellence, drawing readers more deeply into the lives of her characters in the small western frontier town with each book published and earning more awards for Warner, including another RITA® final. With the last book in the series, the highly anticipated story of Thomas and Pru, two beloved characters introduced in Heartbreak Creek, coming out in July, I thought this would be a good time to revisit Janga's 2011 review of the first book in the series, Heartbreak Creek. I highly recommend the entire series and, like Janga, am eagerly anticipating the long-awaited conclusion to a tumultuous journey of love we've now been following for four years. 



Heartbreak Creek
By Kaki Warner
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: July 5, 2011

The world that Edwina Ladoux was reared to inhabit is gone. All that remains of the once prominent Whitney family is “a weed-choked cotton plantation sold for back taxes, her father’s watch, and a graveyard full of new markers.” There’s no place for Southern belles in a Reconstruction Louisiana filled with carpetbaggers and desperation, and so Edwina agrees to marriage by proxy to a man she knows only from his ad in the Matrimonial News and the tintype he sent her along with a bank draft and railroad vouchers that will get her to Heartbreak Creek, Colorado. With a mixed bag of memories and her half-sister, Prudence, the offspring of Edwina’s father and a Rose Hill slave he loved but could not marry, Edwina sets out to meet her new husband—and her new life.

Declan Brodie has no idea what’s in store for him. A widower who needs, as his ad specified, a “sturdy English-speaking woman to help with mountain ranch and four children,” Brodie finds himself instead with a too-thin beauty whose only skill is sewing and who is ill equipped to care for his uncontrollable children. He’s not too sure of her sanity either, and his attraction to her is making him question his own.

Edwina and Declan have agreed on a three-month trial, and amid chaos and confrontations, conversations and kisses, the two fall in love. There’s a memorable moment about a third of the way into the book when Edwina recalls her life before it was shattered by war and recognizes the promise of her new life:

In better times, Edwina had worn gowns of lace and satin and brocade. She had adorned herself with costly jewels, rather than a single garnet ring that had once belonged to her grandmother. She had walked down elegant staircases under fine crystal chandeliers that shimmered with the glittering light of a dozen candles. Yet now, as she descended the uncarpeted staircase of the rustic Heartbreak Creek Hotel, dressed in an outdated frock and a borrowed shawl and wearing a simple ribbon in her hair, she felt as shaky and breathless as a debutante headed to her first ball.

As Edwina, the displaced Southern belle, becomes Ed, the ranch woman, she falls in love with the Brodie children as well. Just when it seems that happily ever after is within reach, the first Mrs. Declan Brodie reappears. While Ed and her no-longer husband are dealing with this complication, Lone Tree, an Arapaho obsessed with his need for revenge against Declan, proves a more deadly threat to their happiness.

Heartbreak Creek is the first book in Warner’s Runaway Brides series, and based on the series debut, I expect the new series to be as stellar as her Blood Rose trilogy. Edwina and Declan are wonderful characters, smart, courageous, and genuine. Each has an interesting history, a balance of strengths and flaws, and a rich sense of humor. Both have their reasons for being wary of marriage, but gradually, through emotional and physical intimacy, they learn to trust and to love one another. Watching them become more together than they are separately is a delight.

Warner also includes a colorful assortment of secondary and tertiary characters. In less skillful hands, the Brodie children might have become an inseparable blend of incorrigibility, but Warner makes big brother R.D., trickster Joe Bill, quiet scholar Lucas, and indefatigable Brin distinct and endearing personalities. Pru is perhaps the most compelling among the secondary characters because the reader knows there is so much more to her story than the blend of strength, intelligence, and vulnerability that we see in this first book. Maddie Wallace and Lucinda Hathaway are also fascinating characters, as is Thomas Redstone, Declan’s Cheyenne friend. Add to these some quirky locals, Heartbreak Creek itself (a mining town in danger of becoming a ghost town), and a West where, despite the laughter and tenderness that fill this book, danger—from nature and humans—is real. The result is another extraordinary book from Kaki Warner, who may be turning those persistent rumors of a Western romance revival into fact.

~Janga

If you'd like to catch up with the series before this summer's release of Home by Morning, here are the books set in Heartbreak Creek, in order:

Heartbreak Creek - RITA® finalist
Colorado Dawn
Bride of the High Country
Behind His Blue Eyes
Where the Horses Run
Home by Morning

And if you'd like to read Warner's first trilogy, those books are, in order:

Pieces of Sky - RITA® winner
Open Country - RITA® finalist
Chasing the Sun

Rainy Day Reading

I don't know about you but there's nothing I enjoy more on rainy winter days than snuggling under a cozy blanket with a mug of hot chocolate and a good book.  Since it's been raining practically non-stop for the past week,  I've been doing a lot of snuggling...and reading.  And thanks to the handy dandy convenience of my e-reader, I don't even have to leave the comfort of my couch to buy the new books that catch my eye!  Here are a few stories  I've recently enjoyed.  These three are Christmas themed but they are wonderful romances that can be enjoyed any time of the year.   

The Winter Wife: A Christmas Novella
By Anna Campbell
November 29, 2012
Amazon Digital Services

Wed at much too young an age, Sebastian, Earl of Kinvarra and Alicia Sinclair, his countess were both ill-equipped to deal with the realities of marriage.  When the bride is terrified of physical intimacy and the groom is too young and selfish to be concerned with anything other than his own pleasure, disaster is sure to follow, as it did with Sebastian and Alicia, sending one to the continent for an extended tour and the other to London.

Estranged for past ten years, Alicia is on the verge of taking the monumental step of engaging in an affair when a carriage accident in the middle of a Christmas Eve snowstorm brings her face to face with Sebastian. Forced to take refuge from the storm in an inn. they soon realize that the feelings they had for one another when newly married have lurked below the surface for all their years apart.  But, while desire forges to the surface, there are tender emotions, long held animosity and a fear to trust that threaten to keep them apart still.  Will Sebastian be able to convince Alicia that he has matured over the years?  Will Alicia have the courage to overcome the fears of that young bride and meet him as an adult woman with adult desires?  Will they succumb to one magical night then go their separate ways or discover a love that will last a lifetime?

Anna Campbell packs so much emotion into four short chapters that I felt as if I was reading a complete novel.  A heartwarming, emotional tale that sizzles; I highly recommend The Winter Wife. 

Miracle in New Hope (digital novella)
By Kaki Warner
Penguin
December 11, 2012

Colorado...1871

Trapped in an avalanche of snow that buries the General Store, it is only the voice of the young girl trapped with him that gives loner Daniel Hobart the will to live.  When he's rescued, Daniel is stunned to discover that he was the only person in the store and the widower, haunted by the deaths of his wife and child, wonders if he's finally lost his mind.  When Hannah continues to appear to him however, he's convinced the young girl is real and has reached out to him for help.  He was unable to save his own child.  He's not about to let Hannah down, even if the whole town thinks he's crazy.

When her daughter, Hannah disappeared on their journey to New Hope, Lacy Ellis was devastated.  She searched and searched but found no trace and now, one year later, the young widow is just beginning to come to terms with the loss of her only child when Daniel Hobart appears in town with claims of having seen her.  Lacy wants to believe him but his tale is so outlandish.  Dare she hope?  Her brothers want to run him out of town but when Daniel insists he's going to search for Hannah, Lacy is determined to go with him.

As Daniel and Lacy re-trace the route of the previous year's journey, they find in one another understanding, compassion and an attraction that's been simmering since they first glimpsed each other on the streets of New Hope.  As the attraction deepens and feelings emerge, Lacy and Daniel are given a second chance at love but will that fragile emotion withstand the crushing disappointment if they are unable to find Hannah?  Or, will this couple who have known more than their share of heartbreak be given a second chance with a miracle in New Hope?

Kaki Warner is one of my favorite authors.  When I read one of her books, I'm not just reading about people and places; I'm experiencing her characters' journeys with them.  Their hopes and dreams, heartbreak and despair, joy and salvation.  I feel it all.  If you've read Warner, you already know what I mean.  If you haven't, this novella is a perfect way to sample this author's immense talent.

Ask Her at Christmas
By Christi Barth
Publisher:  Carina Press
December 3, 2012

Caitlin McIntyre has been in love with her best friend, Kyle Lockhart forever but would never jeopardize their friendship by admitting her feelings so she's understandably shocked - and overjoyed - when Kyle kneels in front of her and proposes.  Unfortunately, he's only practicing for the proposal he plans to make to Monica, the daughter of the man who will be merging his business with Kyle's father's business.  Kyle, a computer nerd, has never been able to please his father, the business shark but he's sure that marrying Monica, a woman he doesn't love and really doesn't even know all that well, will finally be the act that proves him worthy in his father's eyes.

Caitlin and Kyle have been there for each other through thick and thin, happiness and heartbreak and even though it breaks her heart to do so, Caitin agrees to help the clueless Kyle come up with a wonderful way to propose before Christmas.  That's what best friends do.  However, it gradually becomes clear that there's going to have to be a change. Caitlin can't imagine living in the same city with Kyle and his wife, especially when the future wife is a witch of a woman who makes it abundantly clear that Caitlin will have no place in their life.

Eventually, it becomes clear that Kyle will have to make a choice and it's not an easy one.  There are some bumps in the road along the way and one major pothole that broke my heart but I was willing to forgive, as was the character who was let down.  In the end though, the author brings it all together in a very satisfying manner that had me sighing with happiness.

I love the friends to lovers trope and Barth has created one that I enjoyed.  Filled with humor, emotion, heartache and romance, it's a great story to snuggle up with on a cold winter afternoon.

This novella can be purchased on it's own or as part of the anthology, Romancing the Holiday.

So what are you reading these days?  Have you jumped on the digital bandwagon or do you prefer print?  Do you snuggle on the couch or prefer a different reading location?  Do you read holiday stories all year long or just during December?  And, for the really important question, what's your snack and beverage of choice for those rainy reading afternoons?   

~PJ