New Review: Elizabeth Lane’s THE BALLAD OF EMMA O’TOOLE – Unusual Marriage and Utah Mining Make for an Entertaining Tale!

It’s Park City, Utah Territory in 1886 and Emma O’Toole is pregnant by her fiancé Billy John “the only boy who’d ever loved her.” In an attempt to win some money to care for her and their child, foolish Billy cheated at cards and then threatened the life of an old man if the card players didn’t let him leave with his ill gotten gain. Before he could shoot, however, another player shot him.

An unprincipled “muckraking” newspaperman pens a ballad than has everyone singing of the story, much to Emma’s chagrin. Then the jury decides Logan Devereaux is guilty of manslaughter and the judge offered Logan prison or marriage to Emma. Logan chose marriage even knowing his bride would hate him. Emma agreed only because the judge said he would otherwise let the murderer of her lover go free. But she intended to make Logan’s life a living hell. When she discovers the horrible conditions in the silver mines, she finds a way to help the miners and hurt her husband.

All the time Emma is plotting, Logan treats her well and they find passion together, never telling Emma he has another identity, that of Christian Girard, a man wanted in New Orleans for murder.

A well-researched, well-told tale that will bring you into the lives of those in a western mining town in the late 19th century. Logan is a drool worthy hero who rises above a bad situation to do the honorable thing—again and again. There are several bad guys in this one and a secret from Logan’s past that will keep you guessing!

And the Winners are....

We have our three winners of Kaki's new book, WHERE THE HORSES RUN!

First, thanks to all who commented. I know Kaki enjoyed meeting you. Now to our winners. They are Debbie McCreary, Crystal Christopherson and Gwen Rutherson!

Please send me your address for Kaki's book! You can use the email link on my website or reach me via Facebook or my website at reganwalkerauthor.com.

Congratulations!

Favorite Author of Western Historical Romances and My Guest Today: Kaki Warner!

Although she now lives on the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains in Washington, Kaki grew up in the Southwest and is a proud graduate of the University of Texas. Her years spent riding horses and enjoying the expansive vistas of Texas became the inspiration for the backdrop of her first novels—the wide-open spaces of historic New Mexico Territory and then Colorado.

Kaki and her husband, Joe, now live in a hilltop cabin overlooking the scenic Methow Valley in Washington where Kaki spends her time gardening, hiking, reading, writing, and soaking in the view from the deck with her husband and floppy-eared hound dog. Sounds ideal, no?

Note: For 3 lucky commenters today, Kaki will be giving you a copy of her new release WHERE THE HORSES RUN. Only one of you may be international but all three may be sent to the US and/or Canada.

The Interview:

Hi, Kaki. Welcome to the blog! I’m so glad you’re here to conclude western month. I’ve posted my review of WHERE THE HORSES RUN, so I know my followers are anxious to hear more!

Kaki: I’m delighted to be here, Regan, and thank you so much for including me on such a formidable list of outstanding authors.


1. Tell us where HORSES fits into your Heartbreak Creek series. You’ve several trilogies out now so we need help!

It is a bit confusing. Maybe it’s easier to think in terms of six books in a series, rather than two trilogies, since all the books relate to the same setting and all the characters are linked to the four female characters who first came to Colorado in Book 1.

Book 1—HEARTBREAK CREEK (Edwina’s and Declan’s story)
Book 2—COLORADO DAWN (Maddie’s and Ash’s story)
Book 3—BRIDE OF THE HIGH COUNTRY (Lucinda’s and Tait’s story)
Book 4—BEHIND HIS BLUE EYES (Audra’s and Ethan’s story)
Book 5—WHERE THE HORSES RUN (out July 1st)(Josephine’s and Rafe’s story)
Book 6—Untitled (out in 2015) (Pru’s and Thomas’s story)

2. What inspired HORSES?

I love the “stranger in a strange place” trope and wondered what would happen if I sent a Heartbreak Creek character to England and Scotland. So I sent Rafe Jessup (the ex-Texas lawman, horse wrangler introduced in Book 4) and Thomas Redstone, the Cheyenne Dog Soldier (introduced in Book 1 and appearing in every subsequent book) to England to buy Thoroughbreds and bring them back to Heartbreak Creek. If ever two men were out of their element in Britain, it would be these two. It made for some interesting—sometimes funny, sometimes harrowing—situations.

3. Was it difficult to write a Western set in England (mostly) with a trip aboard ship, too?

Definitely. In addition to researching transatlantic vessels, local English road maps, and what it would take to transport mares and studs by ship and railcar for thousands of miles, I had to describe the terrain and climate of a country I’d never visited, the society of that era back in 1870 and the Scottish Highlands…all from a male point of view. A woman might be awed by the beauty, history and glamour of the English Lake District or a battered highland castle, but these fellows mostly thought it rained too much and the residents talked funny. And if they were baffled by local laws (especially in regards to poaching) or the British customs of behavior, dressing up in Sunday clothes just to eat dinner, or risking fine horses in steeplechase races, the locals were just as bewildered by them. Texans and Cheyenne warriors don’t always transplant easily. Or so I’ve heard.

4. Tell us of your own experience with the west and with horses. I know you are a horsewoman!

I used to be. In fact my husband and I owned two feisty American/Missouri Foxtrotter mares and raised a couple of beautiful colts out of them. The area where we live now (land that we bought over thirty years ago and retired to a while back) is “John Wayne” country, for sure. By horseback, we chased cows, mended wire fences, outran forest fires, swam rivers, and rode some amazing trails before our horses galloped off into the sunset. Those sassy mares are mentioned in the dedication to this book and I miss them still.

5. You have an accent that is clearly not from the east and now you live in Washington State. Where is your accent from and how did you end up where you are?

What accent? I lost my accent years ago. When I did have one, it was a combination of several different accents. My parents were from Southern Louisiana (pronounced Suthun Loozy-anna) Cajun Country, so there might be a touch of that. And since my mother was raised by a Virginia woman (who gave all her “r”s to my grandfather to add to his Scottish brogue), there may be some of that soft Southern cadence. But mostly, my accent would be Texan, although not a real twang, no matter what anybody says. Since my daddy was in the o-i-yul bid-niss, we moved around the state a lot, and didn’t stay in one place long enough to pick up the local accent. And now that we’ve been up here in Washington State (sent there originally by Texas Instruments over thirty-five years ago), my husband I sound just like everybody else up here—which is to say, like a radio announcer.

6. I understand you’ve been writing the last book in the series. Tell us about that one. For those of us following your series, I know who the hero and heroine are, but tell all those who may have forgotten…and what’s in store for them?

This was a hard one. Originally, I envisioned Thomas and Pru as secondary characters in Book 1: a one-quarter white Cheyenne Dog Soldier, and the mulatto half-sister to the heroine. Both were to act as foils, or contrasts, to the main characters. Instead, they took on lives of their own and demanded to be included in almost every book, finally becoming the glue that holds all the stories together. And if that wasn’t pushy enough, they complicated everything by falling in love, despite all their differences. By the third book I started getting emails from readers, asking when I would write their story. I resisted, mainly because I wasn’t sure I could do them justice. I’m just a gray-haired grandma, sitting on a hilltop, hunched over her computer. What did I know about the Cheyenne culture, or what a Native American warrior would think when he saw his people forced onto reservations and his way of life overrun by soldiers, white settlers and trappers? How would Pru feel, growing up in the slave-owning South, beloved by her white father and sister, but despised by most blacks and whites because of mixed blood? Google can only cover so much—it can’t delve inside another person’s mind. But neither the readers, nor the characters would let me off the hook, and finally, at the gentle persistence of my agent and editor, I decided to give it a try.

That’s when the research started. Not to fill the pages with stale facts, but to paint pictures in my own head, so I could translate them into my characters’ thoughts and wants and decisions. Thomas, a nomadic warrior who grew up in a tipi, whose life had been marked by violence and loss, and whose culture was little understood and drastically different from those intruding upon his land—and Pru, half-white and half-black, a beautiful woman highly educated and pampered, but still carrying the scars of her own violent past. How were they to bridge the gap between them and reconcile their vast differences of culture, religion, dreams, lifestyle and expectations? It wasn’t easy, but love conquers all, right?

7. What do you do with your time you aren’t writing western historical romances?

I take road trips with my husband or some lady-friends, visit my grandkids, read, work in the garden, read some more, and make lists of stuff for my husband to do. It’s a grand life.

[Regan’s note: I am so jealous!!]

8. What is your writing process? Do you plot? Or, like me, do you write with a general idea but let the story take you where it will?

Like you, I’m more of a pantser. I start with a setting and time period. Then I people it with characters. After I figure out what they’re missing or need or want, I set them on the right path toward their goals. Then I screw up all their plans by throwing obstacles in their way. Sort of like real life. Except most of my characters are handsomer/prettier and sexier than real life. This is, after all, a romance. I find that if I outline before I write, I limit my characters’ responses to the pre-conceived plot. I like them to be spontaneous, to do the unexpected. Usually after the first half, I know who they are and where they want to end up (and with whom), so I finally begin to outline that last part so I can be sure to tie up all the loose ends. For me, it all begins and ends with the characters. Plot is secondary.

[Regan’s note: it sounds a bit like cooking dinner. I’m always amazed when all those dishes come up together in the end.]

9. Speaking of dinner, do you have a favorite food?

Anything I didn’t cook. The kitchen isn’t my favorite room. Since I’ve been writing full time and my husband has decided to try out his culinary skills (with total indifference to a healthy ratio of fats to sugar to carbs—does EVERTHING have to have bacon?) I’ve had to lower my expectations even further: anything I didn’t cook AND won’t kill me outright.

[Regan’s note: you are such a hoot, Kaki! Just think how lucky you are to have a man who cooks!]

10. Share with us a few pictures from the Methow Valley of northwestern Washington where you make your home!

Delighted to. These are all pictures my husband took. They don’t quite give the scope of where we live but you get enough of the view to see why I’m inspired to write westerns.

The first is a picture of our garden in full bloom. Since we’re on a bluff, there are also a couple of lower levels, all bound by an eight-foot deer fence.

Even though it’s certified, our outdoor fireplace is only useable in the spring and fall before/after the summer fire danger is past. We’re paranoid about fire up here. With good reason.

The Fireplace outdoors

 

The picture on the right was taken after one of the early winter snowfalls. If we’re lucky, everything is solid white by January—we get almost all our water from snow. This was a bad year—an early hard freeze before snow came to insulate the garden, then limited snowfall, and no spring rains. It could be a very bad fire season.

The eagle below is one of many that hang out in the trees along the Methow River in December.

Methow Eagle

T-Bone

       

      This is an old doe we called T-Bone because of her droopy ears. She hasn’t been around for several years.

Thanks, Kaki, for being a guest on my blog and sharing the story behind your latest books--as well as a bit of your life in Washington State!

New Review: Kaki Warner’s WHERE THE HORSES RUN – Great Western Historical—and this one has England & Scotland, too!

Set 1871 in England and Scotland (bracketed by scenes from Texas and Colorado) this is the story of Rafford Jessup (“Rafe”), the former lawman we met in BEHIND HIS BLUE EYES.

Rafe is the wrangler Ash (Lord Kirkwell) hires to go with him to England to procure breeding stock for his thoroughbred ranch in Heartbreak Creek. One of the places they hope to buy horses is in Penrith, England where a former coal miner turned wealthy man is being forced to sell his stock. His daughter, Josephine Cathcart, is a ruined woman who had a son by her baron lover who deserted her to marry someone of higher rank. Sadly, Josephine must go along with selling her prized stallion “Pens” unless her father can marry her off to a wealthy man. And so they traveled to America. On the ship sailing to England, they all come together.

Warner serves up a wonderful cast of characters with this installment in the series: cowboys, Scots, the Cheyenne Indian Thomas Redstone, who we have come to love from Warner’s other books, an Irish maid, and some irascible Englishmen, including the valet, Pringle who continually banters with Ash—all wrapped around a love story between two unlikely people in Victorian England who share a passion for horses.

Rafe is the 19th century equivalent of a Texas “horse whisperer,” and Josephine is an Englishwoman who has borne her shame with dignity. I loved them both. And I was delighted to see the Ash and his countess back again.

There’s humor and emotion that will have you laughing one moment and crying the next and lots of fun in this most unusual tale. You can enjoy it alone, but it’s best devoured with the rest of Warner’s Heartbreak Creek stories: the Runaway Brides trilogy and the Heroes of Heartbreak Creek. I recommend them all! And the next will be the story of the Cheyenne dog soldier, Thomas and the half black schoolteacher, Pru. I CAN’T WAIT for that one!

Note: Kaki is my guest on June 29th (this book is to be released July 1st) so ya’all come back, ya hear?

Best Western Historical Romances – Love in the Old West!

I first discovered Western romances by reading those written by my favorite authors who also wrote in other subgenres (when I was gobbling up their backlists). Since then, I have become a true fan of the subgenre and find myself every now and then reaching for a good romance from the Old West. Love those Indian and gun-slinging heroes. So, it seemed a “best” list was in order to share some of these wonderful stories with you.

Here are the best of those I’ve read…all rated 4, 4 and ½ or 5 stars by me. Some have won Golden Heart, RITA and other awards. I think you’ll like these!

·                A Fire in the Blood by Shirl Henke

·                A Heart So Wild by Johanna Lindsey

·                Beautiful Bad Man by Ellen O’Connell

·                Beauty and the Bounty Hunter by Lori Austin

·                Behind His Blue Eyes by Kaki Warner

·                Branded Hearts by Heather Graham (Pozzessere)

·                Brave the Wild Wind, Savage Thunder and Angel, Wyoming trilogy by Johanna

Lindsey

·                Brighter Than Gold by Cynthia Wright

·                Broken Vows by Shirl Henke

·                Captive Melody by Nadine Crenshaw

·                Capture the Sun, The Endless Sky and Sundancer, trilogy by Shirl Henke

·                Colorado Promise by Charlene Whitman

·                Comanche Moon, Comanche Heart and Indigo Blue (from the Comanche series)

by Catherine Anderson

·                Dancing on Coals by Ellen O’Connell

·                Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold by Ellen O’Connell

·                Fair is the Rose by Meagan McKinney

·                Fire Hawk’s Bride by Judith E. French

·                Fireblossom and Wildblossom, the Matthews duology by Cynthia Wright

·                Golden Fancy by Jennifer Blake

·                Golden Lady by Shirl Henke

·                Heart of the West by Penelope Williamson

·                Heartbreak Creek, Colorado Dawn and Bride of the High Country, trilogy by    Kaki Warner

·                Hummingbird by LaVyrle Spencer

·                Innocent Fire, Firestorm, Violet Fire and The Fires of Paradise (from The Bragg

Saga) by Brenda Joyce

·                Into the Light by Ellen O’Connell

·                Lawless by Nora Roberts

·                Love Cherish Me by Rebecca Brandewyne

·                Love Unwilling By Shirl Henke

·                McCrory’s Lady by Shirl Henke

·                Mountain Mistress by Nadine Crenshaw

·                Night Wind’s Woman, White Apache’s Woman and Deep as the Rivers, trilogy by

Shirl Henke

·                No Other Man, No Other Woman and No Other Love, trilogy by Shannon Drake

·                Pieces of Sky, Open Country and Chasing the Sun, the Blood Rose trilogy by Kaki

 Warner

·                Reckless Angel by Elizabeth Awbrey (aka Elizabeth Stuart)

·                Silken Savage by Catherine Hart

·                Sing My Name by Ellen O’Connell

·                Star of the West by Cordia Byers

·                Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers

·                Tears of Gold by Laurie McBain

·                The Ballad of Emma O’Toole by Elizabeth Lane

·                The Bequest by Candice Proctor

·                The Darkest Heart by Brenda Joyce

·                The Outsider by Penelope Williamson

·                The River Nymph by Shirl Henke

·                Under the Desert Moon by Marsha Canham

·                When the Splendor Falls by Laurie McBain

·                Where the Horses Run by Kaki Warner

·                Where the Wild Wind Blows by Nancy Morse

   and  Where Passion Sleeps by Shirlee Busbee

New Review: Lori Austin’s BEAUTY AND THE BOUNTY HUNTER – Clever, Gritty Tale of a Female Bounty Hunter in the Old West and Her Magical Man!

Ok, so you know when you see the title you’re thinking the heroine’s the beauty, right? Wrong!

Set in Kansas and Missouri in 1870, this is the story of Cathleen (“Cat”) Chase, a farm wife who became a bounty hunter, a legend known as Cat O’Banyon, in order to hunt down her husband’s killer. In her words, her occupation was “born from the ashes that had tumbled across Billy’s grave nearly two years ago.”

Cat learned all she knows from Alexi Romanov, a man so pretty he is a beauty with “hands that could make a violin sing or a woman moan.” He was more than her teacher and her healer when she was broken up over Billy’s death; he was her lover. After he’d taught her to shoot and take on any disguise, she left him without a word. Now he’s come to find her.

This is a very clever, well-written tale that captured me from the first page. The banter between Cat and Alexi and Cat’s own thoughts are priceless. And there is more here, lots more. It reflects research into the period, which I so appreciate. It’s a post Civil War story in which the hero is still suffering from the nightmare he experienced.

It’s a story of running away from your past and dealing with the hard stuff. As Alexi said,

“I understand more than most the need to become another. To bury the past along with who you were, to create a new life completely different from it, and forget, or try to, the person who came before.”

I highly recommend this unique story from the Old West. It will keep you reading to solve the mystery and finally see Alexi and Cat come together.

This is the first in Austin’s Once Upon a Time in the West series—and if you get my posts, you’ll get my review of AN OUTLAW IN WONDERLAND in July:

BEAUTY AND THE BOUNTY HUNTER
AN OUTLAW IN WONDERLAND
THE LONE WARRIOR

New Review: Charlene Whitman’s COLORADO PROMISE – Inspirational Love Story with a Colorado Horse Doc and an Eastern Lady

Emaline (“Emma”) Bradshaw dreams of attending Vassar and being a botanical illustrator, but her parents have other plans. They have heard of the new settlement of Greeley in the Colorado Territory where the evils of New York can be left behind. A group of their friends have already built homes there and they are eager to join them, so in 1875, Emma and her family take the train to Colorado.

Along the way, Emma reconnects with a childhood friend, Randall, who she finds suddenly an attractive man. Like her, he is from the East and is sophisticated and educated, and they enjoy each other’s company. When Emma takes a fall off her horse and is rescued by Lucas Rawlings, the local veterinarian, she finds the handsome widower alluring, but she cannot imagine herself with the cowboy. Two suitors, each very different.

This is a story of change and choices, of resisting the plans of others to pursue your own dreams, your own life. While Lucas knows what he wants, he must face the ghosts of his past to have it. He still carries great pain from the loss of the first wife who died in childbirth. Emma, on the other hand, is too often manipulated into doing what her parents and others want instead of having the courage to defy them to pursue her own dreams. I loved Lucas (what woman wouldn’t?), but at times I wanted to shake Emma when she caved to her parents’ manipulations and said nothing. She was too concerned about what everyone else wanted for her.

Whitman takes a leisurely pace (400+ pages) to show us the West as it was a decade after the Civil War with tensions over Indians somewhat dissipated but prejudice still very much alive. We meet a town full of interesting characters, some wonderful and some not so, as one might expect. Whitman does a great job of fleshing them out and bringing life to a small Colorado town.

The story has an inspirational bent, too, particularly as regards the faith of the hero in the second half.

One could have wanted a faster pace, but still it’s a great tale and a wonderful love story, well worth the read. I would definitely want to read more by this author.

The fields around Greeley, Colorado

New Review: Penelope Williamson’s HEART OF THE WEST - Magnificent Montana Love Story from a master writer of romance!

This historical romance will tear at your heart, I promise. It covers twelve years (1879-1891) in the lives of Americans trying to carve out a life in Montana frontier. She weaves a masterful tale with incredibly accurate historic detail and dialog that brings to life the people who made the West: Easterners, cowboys, Indians, Chinese, Irish, miners, railroad workers, merchants, ranchers and those who preyed upon them.

There are lots of relationship combinations in this romance: Two men loving the same woman; two women loving the same man; one man loving a woman who should never have married the man she did; a good hearted whore who becomes a lady's true friend and the lover of the man her friend loves, different races coming together and children birthed and loved only to die of accident, disease and more. Through the lives of these people, Williamson so beautifully portrays, you will experience the life of the Americans who won the west and who made this country great. And you will experience love that endures through the years though denied.

Williamson takes her time developing the characters. You will feel as if you know them; you will experience their dreams, their tragedies, their disappointments, their happiness and their loves. And, as with the other great romances by this author, you will feel the emotion, whether deep in the pits of despair or soaring with love's sweet reward.

And, it is truly a great love story.

The main story is that of Clementine Kennicutt, the highborn daughter of a rigid, demanding and, at times, abusive minister in Boston. She dreams of freedom and of cowboys. When one stumbles into her life, though she doesn’t really know him, she is willing to elope with him to his ranch in Montana.

Gus McQueen was raised in the south and in Boston but then as a young man he went looking for his younger brother, Zach Rafferty, who he had lost when they were separated as children. He finds him and they stake a ranch in Montana, which it seems is always just barely making it. When Gus, a man of dreams, meets Clementine in Boston on a trip home to see his dying mother, he knows he can't live without her. So Gus, 25, and Clementine, 18, wed knowing next to nothing about each other.

Gus brings Clementine her home to Montana and to a hard life she is not prepared for. Zach, the darker younger brother with a mysterious past (even at 23), realizes soon after Clementine arrives that he covets his brother's wife. And, though faithful to her husband, Zach becomes the passion of Clementine’s life--a passion denied.

You can see the potential for great angst here, can't you? Here a sample of the words Zach speaks to her—one of my all time favorite quotes: "A heartfire, Clementine my darlin', is when you want someone, when you need her so damn bad, not only in your bed but in your life, that you're willin' to burn—" Yeah, well, a whole lot of burnin' goes on in this story.

This novel is so worth it...a keeper!

New Review: Nadine Crenshaw’s MOUNTAIN MISTRESS – Captivating Western Historical!

This was Nadine Crenshaw’s first book and it won the Golden Heart Award in 1987. I can see why. It would compete well with ANYTHING out there in romance today. Her writing is superb. Her story captivates—it’s a real page-turner, a keeper.

It is an all consuming, passionate story of the relationship between a Scottish born mountain man the Indians call “Waiting Cougar,” who takes an unwilling “winter squaw”—one he bought with beaver pelts from the Blackfeet Indians who captured her in a raid. Innocent, young Victorine Wellesley, with pale blonde hair and blue eyes, was raised in Philadelphia in the parlor rooms of elegant homes only to be forced to leave when her father died and her foolish brother took her west. Almost raped by the Blackfeet Indians who killed her brother and his wife, she is “rescued” by Cougar and forced to travel with him high into the Bitterroot Mountains—and to warm his bed of furs for the winter. He calls her “wife,” but she knows better. She is not a real wife, she’s only a “mountain mistress.”

Victorine, who Cougar names “Flame,” feels her identity slipping away as she begins to dress like a squaw, her beautiful fair skin turns brown from the sun and she falls victim to the passion he seems to draw from her at his will. You will be inspired as her courage rises to every challenge (and there are many in the wild mountains).

As she has with all her subsequent romances, Crenshaw draws you into her story and into Victorine’s mind from the beginning. You can literally feel the anger and frustration rise in you as your sympathy for Victorine (“Flame”) grows with each day of the long journey into the mountains. She wants her freedom but she cannot resist the man who has led her into this life. Since she knows nothing of surviving in a wilderness, she is well and truly trapped.

Crenshaw accurately presents the essence of the era (the 19th century American frontier), even the nuances in speech. She has the place names, history and Indian culture (Blackfeet and Salish) just right. In face, she has it ALL just right. It is such a good story!! If you have never discovered this wonderful author, this is a good one to start with. I highly recommend it.