Tag Archives: Montana Born

10 Years in the Making: How Megan Crane’s Love of Marietta Led to Cowboy Point

Ten years ago I went on a spectacular writing retreat on Flathead Lake in Montana and dreamed up a town called Marietta with a few friends I bet you’ve heard of. Later that year, my book TEMPT ME, COWBOY was not only the first book ever published by Tule—it was the very first book set in Marietta, Montana. 

Since then I’ve written a bunch of quirky novellas and books set in and around Marietta, or having some connection to Marietta, as I (mostly) followed a bunch of cousins from the extended Grey family through their sometimes deliciously tortured journeys toward happy ever afters. I’ve gone on more Montana writing retreats—including one that took us on a road trip across the west to Deadwood, South Dakota, for an epic rodeo. I dipped in and out of Marietta over the years, and have a lot of pretty deep feelings about the place. To me, it feels like a place I lived in once and had to move away from.

Last fall, I got to revisit Marietta for the first time in years. I wrote TEMPT ME PLEASE COWBOY and got deeply nostalgic for cowboys, Montana, and beautiful Paradise Valley. Another road trip  up from Jackson Hole, through the Tetons and Yellowstone and on to Livingston, sealed the deal. I was nostalgic for big skies, soaring mountains, and cowboys who feel a little like both.

I wanted to come back to what feels so much like home to me.

That’s how Cowboy Point was born.

Cowboy Point is a tiny community on the other side of Copper Mountain, a good ten mile drive—in good weather—into Marietta. 

The community is a mix of old time miners’ families who found the copper barons down in the valley a bit too heavy handed for their tastes back in the 1850s, cowboys and ranchers who’ve worked the land in the Gallatin Range’s more remote valleys for generations, the usual mountain types who are drawn to far off places, and the artists and other hermit-minded fancier folk that are everywhere in Montana these days.

Cowboy Point has no stoplights but it does boast one elementary school while the older kids are bussed into Marietta, weather permitting. There’s one small but feisty library, a feed store, and the General Store with its selection of conveniences on one side, a diner of sorts in the middle, and a bar on the other side over the creek. Not long ago, some folks opened up a pizza and ice cream sort of place across the road, and sometimes there’s live, local music to go along with the family-friendly atmosphere. There’s even the old Cowboy Point Lodge, the Jewel of the Rockies in its days, that has fallen into disrepair since the Stark Boys (now dead or in their 70s) spent their entire lives arguing over who should get to run it. 

Most people either have deep roots here, like the Starks, and therefore a tangled family history to work out. Some have that and a grudge, like the Careys and the Lisles, who have been feuding since day one. Newcomers—meaning anyone who turned up after the early 1900s—might have fewer feuds and less ancient tangles, but one thing they all share is a deep sense of pride and place.

You have to want to live in Cowboy Point. It’s a lot easier to slide on down the mountain into Paradise Valley and live in places with fewer memories and a whole lot more services.

But once the high mountain air gets a hold of you, not to mention the spectacular views across one of the most beautiful places in all of Montana, you might find it hard to call anywhere else home.

That’s true for Harlan Carey, the oldest of the Carey brothers. He’s spent his whole life on his family’s ranch, was born on the land and intends to die on it—but not without doing his part to continue the family legacy.

Meaning: he needs a wife.

But he’s an overly practical man, so he figures that instead of dating around with time he doesn’t have, he’ll place an ad in the paper for the exact wife he wants, just like cowboys did for years when the west was still wild:

Cowboy looking for wife to work the land, help with the business, and raise the next generation. Must be practical, reasonable, and honest.

When Kendall Darlington answers this ad, Harlan has himself a mail-order bride. He figures that the fact she’s so pretty is a distraction, but once they get used to each other, they’ll figure out how to have the sort of practical relationship he wants.

Except more time with Kendall only means more ways to want her, and that’s before her messy past comes calling…

There are five books planned in the Careys of Cowboy Point series, all of which you can read about here, and no shortage of other fine folks in the area, so here’s hoping we get to spend a lot of time there together: https://megancrane.com/series/the-careys-of-cowboy-point/

The first in the series, THE COWBOY’S MAIL-ORDER BRIDE, comes out May 9 and I can’t wait to introduce you to Cowboy Point! 

I hope you’ll love it there as much as I do!


About the Author.

Megan Crane headshotUSA Today bestselling, multi-award-nominated, and critically-acclaimed author Megan Crane has written more than 145 books, and shows no sign of slowing down. She publishes romance as Megan Crane and M.M. Crane with an exciting backlist of women’s fiction, rom-coms, chick lit, and young adult novels. She’s also won a large and loyal fanbase as Caitlin Crews with Harlequin Presents, Harlequin Dare, Harlequin Historical, and contemporary cowboy books. And for paranormal fun, Megan partners with Nicole Helm to publish as Hazel Beck for her witchy rom-com novels.

Megan has a Masters and Ph.D. in English Literature, has taught creative writing classes in places like UCLA Extension’s prestigious Writers’ Program, and is always available to give workshops (or her opinion). She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her comic book artist husband, though, at any given time, she is likely to either be huddled in a coffee shop somewhere or off traveling the world. Preferably both.

Chasing Bull Riders became essential for Anne McAllister’s THE EIGHT SECOND WEDDING

Hi Everyone,

I’m just delighted to be here on Tule’s blog today to tell you a bit about my latest release, The Eight Second WeddingI loved writing this book because of the characters, Chan Richardson and Madeleine Decker, who made showing up at the keyboard every morning pretty enjoyable most days, and also because doing research for the book was so much fun.

It was one of those “opposites attract” stories which allowed me to use a fair share of my husband’s academic years to provide Madeleine, a New York City based PhD candidate, with her world of higher education on the one hand, and made me find a bull rider who was happy to share his rough-and-tumble peripatetic life with Chan. 

It also gave me a chance to do a riff on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice providing the  reason that Chan and Madeleine’s lives crossed in the first place: 

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that, when it comes to their children’s happiness, mothers know best. And when the mothers come equipped with a PhD in genetics in one case, and a PhD and years of experience in anthropological fieldwork in the other, the truth has considerable clout.”

Madeleine’s mother Antonia, the anthropologist, and her best friend, Julia, the geneticist who married a Wyoming rancher, had determined back in graduate school that one of Madeleine’s children should marry one of Julia’s.  Thus – in their estimation at least – they would have perfect grandchildren. 

The trouble was Antonia had only one child, Madeleine,  while Julia had four boys: Channing, Gardner, Mark and Trevor.  It wasn’t a problem, Julia said. It just meant Madeleine could have her pick.

By the time Madeleine was old enough to pick, though, there was only one Richardson left unmarried: the oldest and least suitable, rodeo bull rider, Chan. 

So, I had my character and I had my set-up and I had my years of living in academia, courtesy of Professor McAllister.  I just needed a bull rider.  

So I found one.  It wasn’t difficult. I called him up. He answered the phone.  Sure, he said. He’d be glad to help.  We talked a bit in general, and I promised to have a series of questions ready the next time we talked.  We couldn’t do it then because he was on his way to a doctor’s appointment. 

No matter, I thought. I’ll get the questions ready and get to work on the part of the book that wasn’t specifically full of bull riding detail.  A couple of weeks later, I called back. Went to voice mail which was full. I tried the land line. He was in Texas, his wife said, working on a movie.  Right, I said. I’ll call back.

A few days later, I did. Voice mail again.  Still full.  I called the landline.  Grandpa answered the phone.  My bull rider consultant was somewhere in the Midwest teaching a bull riding school.  Thanks, I said, and went back to writing the book.

A week after that there were fewer things that I could write without knowing what I was doing.  I called again, talked to Grandma.  Would you believe he was in Argentina?  Time was getting short.  He would be home on Tuesday, Grandma said.

I called back on Wednesday. Let the man get his bags unpacked, I thought.  But he wasn’t there on Wednesday. He was in Hollywood, a younger man told me. “Can I help you?” he said.

And I said, “Do you ride bulls?”

Well, it turned out he did.  And he wasn’t in Argentina or Texas or Hollywood or anywhere else.  So that afternoon he and I and my list of questions spent a lot of time together. Chan and I breathed a sigh of relief.  My new best friend was a great source of information and inspiration.  He not only answered questions, he provided suggestions and details I hadn’t even known I needed.  

Best of all, when we finished, he said, “Call me if you need anything else.”  So a few days later, I did.  One of the things I needed was a schedule. Chan and Madeleine decided the only thing their mothers understood was data.  If they spent time together, went down the road from rodeo to rodeo together and, two months later, were still as incompatible as they were sure that they were, their mothers would have to stop interfering in their lives.

But, which rodeos? Where? When? Why those rodeos?  

“I’ll make you a list,” he said.   

So he did. And one night at midnight the phone rang.  He was stranded in an airport due to fog, but he’d figured out the schedule, so he’d give it to me then.  And yes, he could have — if I’d answered the phone.  Even so, it was an entertaining voice mail to listen to in the morning.

Later that day when fog had permitted him to get home, he not only gave me Chan and Madeleine’s schedule for the summer, he provided the idea for Antonia and Julia’s middle- of-the-night-for-one-or-the-other of them international calls as they tried to keep up with Chan and Madeleine.

Meeting people who do far different things than I do has always been one of the great joys of writing books.  I love visiting their worlds vicariously or in person.  This time was no different.  My bull rider resource for The Eight Second Wedding still makes me smile.  Best of all, he made Chan Richardson’s world real. 

I think he had a good time being an “expert resource,” too.  He was eager to do it again, and even invited me to bull riding school!     

I hope you’ll look out for The Eight Second Wedding and will join Chan and Madeleine going down the road!


About the Author.

Years ago someone told Anne McAllister that the recipe for happiness was a good man, a big old house, a bunch of kids and dogs, and a job you loved that allows you to read.  And write.  She totally agrees.

Now, one good man, one big old house (since traded for a slightly smaller house. Look, no attic!) a bunch of kids (and even more grandkids) and dogs (and one bionic cat) and seventy books, she’s still reading.  And writing.  And happier than ever.

Over thirty plus years Anne has written long and short contemporary romances, single titles and series, novellas and a time-travel for Harlequin Mills & Boon and for Tule Publishing. She’s had two RITA winning books and nine more RITA finalists as well as awards from Romantic Times and Midwest Fiction Writers. One of the joys of writing is that sometimes, when she can’t go back in person, she can go back in her mind and her heart and her books.

“Write What You’re Dealing With” – A Message from Tule Author Sinclair Jayne on Her Recent Release (Plus a GIVEAWAY!)

Writing The Cowboy Charm was cathartic for me. What I didn’t expect was that it would be so much fun. I had had a couple of tough years struggling with the combination that I think so many of us go through at some point—balancing taking care of my mom’s declining health with launching my kids who were both in college but not far from my mind, while still trying to build my career and emotionally support my husband whose career was in a market flux. I was at a writing retreat—planning out book two in my Coyote Cowboys of Montana series (having written books one and three and starting to think about book four) and my friend Jane Porter said ‘write what you’re dealing with—make it work for you.’

So I did. I didn’t want The Cowboy Charm to be dark. I wanted it to be realistic and explore a valley in life, and yet focus on walking up the next hill. There will inevitably be times when we are grieving the loss of a loved one, a job, a friend, the future or opportunity we thought we’d have, and yet, if we keep going forward, acknowledging the loss or disappointment, we will find a shaft of light and a door opening.

When an author has a slightly heavier theme or a hero or heroine who is struggling, it’s important to find the light and laughter, and so Ryder Lea was born. I love my soldier/cowboy. He could be bitter or angry or shut down, but he’s not at all. He’s mister all in, hand raised, I got this. Usually in a group, that’s me, so in a way I was putting pieces of myself in a hero—not something I feel like I’ve done before. And yet he’s so much more—physical, eager, loyal and goal oriented. Totally ‘a dish’—something my grandma used to say, although I am not sure what meal he would be—lasagna comes to mind (because I love it and it’s tasty). 

The story is set—of course—in my favorite town of Marietta, Montana. In January. Brrrrrr, but Ryder brings the heat and sunlight and ‘can do’ attitude. Funny secret about that (shshshsh). I chose his last name—Lea—because it’s the last name of my niece, Reeva’s husband, John. Before I met John, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law kept saying he was a ‘can do guy.’ That’s all they’d say about him. Over and over, and other people who met him in the family said the same thing. Nothing else. And my husband and I just thought that was hilarious—like all the Sawhney’s were brainwashed (or non verbal).  We just had so much fun playing with that concept, and of course our daughter—16 at the time John and Reeva were getting married in a ginormous slap down Indian wedding (featured in my Misguided Masala Matchmaker series) joined in on the fun.

But, just like John (I can think of dozens of fabulous adjectives for), Ryder is so much more than ‘can-do,’ and he and Edison, my heroine, complement each other. He warms and heals her, and she in turn boosts him up as she sees all of his goodness and possibility. I loved the challenge of taking two characters who’d had some tragedies in their lives, but were determined to keep living, meet in improbable circumstances in the dead middle of winter, and yet find such joy and hope and of course an HEA that even made me cry a little. 

Hope you enjoy! Interested in more? Find me at https://sinclairjayne.com and sign up for my newsletter! Also, as a thank you for reading this, one lucky person picked from the comments on this post, will win a signed print copy of The Cowboy Charm and some Marietta and Sinclair Jayne swag!


About the Author.

Sinclair Sawhney is a former journalist and middle school teacher who holds a BA in Political Science and K-8 teaching certificate from the University of California, Irvine and a MS in Education with an emphasis in teaching writing from the University of Washington. She has worked as Senior Editor with Tule Publishing for over seven years. Writing as Sinclair Jayne she’s published fifteen short contemporary romances with Tule Publishing with another four books being released in 2021. Married for over twenty-four years, she has two children, and when she isn’t writing or editing, she and her husband, Deepak, are hosting wine tastings of their pinot noir and pinot noir rose at their vineyard Roshni, which is a Hindi word for light-filled, located in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Shaandaar!

THE RANCHER’S LOST BRIDE: Release Day Blog Post from Author Roxanne Snopek! (Plus a Galentine’s Shout Out!)

Celebrating the Love of Friends

It’s that time of year again when we celebrate love in all its forms. Yesterday, Tule celebrated “Galentine’s” Day, when we spotlight the love between gal-pals. I suspect that you, like me, have women friends who are as necessary as air, who make you laugh, who hold you when you cry, who cheer your triumphs and commiserate with you when you’re down. (Or maybe kick you in the pants, if that’s required!)

In my latest release, The Rancher’s Lost Bride, the friendship between three main female characters is pivotal to the storyline. Leila, our heroine, relies heavily on the advice of her friends Kendall, who starred in book one of the series (The Cowboy’s Lost Family), and Diana, a vital secondary character in all four books. Both women have stakes in Leila’s search for her birth family and it takes the three of them to figure out the most important clues.

I have so many great women friends who lift me up when I’m down, who remind me of what’s loveable about me when I can’t remember a single thing, who challenge me to be my best self, who look after me, who celebrate me… Some of you are right here, right now, reading this, so I say… THANK YOU (and I’m taking a huge risk by naming names) to: Connie, Dianne, Ruth, Julie, Cindy, Lynn, Robin, Paula, Stephanie, Lee, Pauline, Charlene, Diane, Teresa, Jami, Andrea, Leigh Ann, Denise, Mia, Jane, Shari, Kate, Riet, Megan, Janet, Kim, Beverley, Della, Heather, Ronda… I sent you all virtual chocolate and flowers from my heart to yours!

Thank you for being YOU!
– Roxanne

About the Author.

Born under a Scorpio moon, raised in a little house on the prairie, USA Today Bestselling Author Roxanne Snopek said “as you wish” to her Alpha Farm Boy and followed him to the mountain air and ocean breezes of British Columbia. There, while healing creatures great and small and raising three warrior-princesses, they found their real-life happily-ever-after. After also establishing a successful freelance and non-fiction career, Roxanne began writing what she most loved to read: romance. Her small-town stories quickly became fan favorites; print editions of her latest series were recently launched in France.

Merriest Christmas Wishes from Author Anne McAllister.

Remember the song, It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas? I’m happy to say that it’s not looking like it around here — at least as far as dire winter temperatures and snow everywhere goes. Not a typical Montana Christmas at all.

Last year we had that Christmas look from the last week in October until the middle of May. 

This year – grass!

Probably won’t last, but it’s made life a lot easier, the roads less icy, and dog walking less precarious. The skiers among us aren’t thrilled, but they remain philosophical. There’s still plenty to do.

Somehow, though, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of time for writing. That’s probably just as well as I’m rewriting a scene set on a cruise ship in the middle of summer. The powers of imagination are getting a workout.

I remember it being that way when I was writing The Cowboy’s Christmas Miracle, too. Something about the publishing industry lends itself to things being seasonally out of whack. Authors are forever writing winter scenes when it’s sweltering outside or beach scenes after we’ve just shoveled half a foot of snow off the walk. 

I was thinking about that while I was walking the dog a little while ago. I was also thinking about how Christmas memories knit together over the years. My husband and I shared lunch this afternoon with one of our sons – the one who inspired a scene that gave rise to The Cowboy’s Christmas Miracle

Spoiler alert!

He was a year-and-a-half old that Christmas and as it was the first year he was really engaged in what was going on, he was amazed by and enchanted with the lights and the Christmas tree — so much so that a couple of days after we put it up and decorated it, I awoke in the middle of the night to discover a faint unexpected glow of light coming from the living room downstairs. 

Going down to investigate, I found him kneeling on the floor staring up in awe at the multi-colored lights on the Christmas tree – lights he’d managed to find and plug in by himself in the dark after having climbed out of his crib and coming downstairs to do so. 

As long as I live, I will never forget the expression on his face. 

He doesn’t remember doing it, of course. But he understands those sorts of memories now because he is a father himself.

If I go back today and re-read that scene, I experience all over again what it was like to see him as a small boy, to recall his expression of awe. I remember, too, the joy I got when I wrote the scene when Deke and Erin found Deke’s little son, Zack, doing the same thing in The Cowboy’s Christmas Miracle

Talking to my son about it today, we found ourselves reminiscing even more, weaving together other memories of Christmases past – like the one where we walked through snow past our knees to midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, and the one where dear friends gave the boys an ET sock-em inflatable that they absolutely loved, and the one where seven of us went to choose a Christmas tree, and all of us  — amazingly — agreed it was perfect, only to carry it all the way home to discover it wouldn’t – couldn’t! – stand up!  So we walked it back and traded it in on a short fat tree that resembled a cross between a furry green tumbleweed and a popcorn ball. Not all those memories made it into books. But the one that did brought back a host of other memories as well. 

That’s the gift of writing – and reading – I think. We have the opportunity to remember, to reimagine, to retell stories, to reconnect the past and the present and so many moments and people in between.

When I wrote The Cowboy’s Christmas Miracle, it connected me to memories of my children, and to my own childhood. Telling that story connected me, through Deke and his sisters and their relationship with their own dad, to family tensions that as a child I sometimes felt and didn’t understand. 

Not everything is perfect all the time. Yes, holidays can bring a lot of joy. But they also have the potential to bring sadness, misunderstanding and hurt. Deke and his father caused a lot of that for each other over the years. They might have gone on doing it if they hadn’t faced the past – and each other — if they hadn’t dared to share more of themselves than they’d ever dared to share before. It wasn’t easy.  I’m not sure they ever would have done it without Zack. 

Christmas wasn’t easy for Erin, either. Widowed now, with three young kids, she had a lot on her plate. She brought a lot of memories back home that winter, most of them good. It wasn’t the past that was hurting Erin. It was the future that looked bleak. 

Deke and Erin helped each other. Erin’s children and Zack helped them both.

Christmas is a time to look with awe and wonder at possibilities just as my son did all those years ago – just as Zack does in The Cowboy’s Christmas Miracle. It’s a time to take a deep breath, to cut each other some slack, to smile more often, to wish each other joy, to remember the good things with gratitude, and to face the future with hope. 

I wish you all the joys of the season however you celebrate. Thank you for sharing a few minutes of your day with me. If you exchange gifts, I hope you get lots of books, lots of happy endings, and lots of love!

-Anne McAllister

About the Author.

Author headshot of Anne McAllisterYears ago someone told Anne McAllister that the recipe for happiness was a good man, a big old house, a bunch of kids and dogs, and a job you loved that allows you to read.  And write.  She totally agrees.

Now, one good man, one big old house (since traded for a slightly smaller house. Look, no attic!) a bunch of kids (and even more grandkids) and dogs (and one bionic cat) and seventy books, she’s still reading.  And writing.  And happier than ever.

Over thirty plus years Anne has written long and short contemporary romances, single titles and series, novellas and a time-travel for Harlequin Mills & Boon and for Tule Publishing. She’s had two RITA winning books and nine more RITA finalists as well as awards from Romantic Times and Midwest Fiction Writers. One of the joys of writing is that sometimes, when she can’t go back in person, she can go back in her mind and her heart and her books.

Meet Tule Publishing’s First 10 Brides as Part of our #Tule10 Anniversary!

Tule Publishing has hit a milestone 10 years and we’re celebrating all month long with showcasing some of our first 10’s! Learn more about our first 10 authors, meet our first 10 cowboys and cowgirls, watch our first 10 films, and maybe find yourself wrapped up dreaming of the holidays with our first 10 Christmas stories!

We are so thankful for each of you for continuing to put your faith in us to continue bringing you amazing reads. You are a crucial part to our success and we couldn’t have made it to our 10th anniversary without you! We hope you stick around all month for more celebratory blogs and are looking forward to another 10 years – cheers!

 

Meet the First 10 Brides of Tule Publishing and Fall In Love with Their Stories:

 

Champion barrel-racer Tegan Ash has nothing left to go home to in her native Australia and every reason to stay in the USA. But her visa is about to expire, and her prospective groom has called off their green-card wedding.

Jamie MacCreadie doesn’t actually want to marry a woman he can’t stand, but his best friend and fellow rodeo rider Chet has just let her down and, somehow, he finds himself offering to do the deed instead.

There’s no chance it could turn into the real thing, because they have nothing in common… do they?

 

. . . . . . . . . .

What a bride wants…

Ella Grace Emerson adores her father, but he keeps trying to marry her off to every eligible rancher in Montana. When he puts an ad in the paper on her behalf – for a docile house-husband – Ella retaliates with one of her own, pinned to the noticeboard of the local saloon. No husband required, housebroken or otherwise. What she wants is the perfect lover.

What a bride needs…

Newcomer Cam Sawyer is perfectly willing to tear up the sheets with Ella and be her partner in chaos. She wants a bad boy and he’s had experience aplenty. But what she really needs is a strong and loving partner, and until Sawyer stops running from his past he can never be that.

Sawyer’s the one Ella wants. But can he be the man she needs?

. . . . . . . . . .

Scarlett Buck has always been flaky in comparison to her sensible twin sister Tara, so nobody is really surprised when Scarlett spends all her money on a one way ticket to Australia to be with the man she’s met on the Net. But she hasn’t reckoned on the guy already being married, or her mom getting sick, and now she needs money for a flight home to Marietta, MT—quick. Signing on with Bella’s Belles in Kalgoorlie isn’t be the proudest moment in her life but it will get her home fast. After all, it’s just sex. Or is it?

Mitch Bannister‘s ex is about to marry his best friend, and he could really do with a cold beer and a hot woman. But the cowgirl he takes a shine to at Bella’s is surprisingly skittish, and in the end he leaves without hooking up.

Later, when Mitch spies the cowgirl in the local pub begging for a job, he shrinks into the shadows–he’s not looking for complications, and something tells him that Scarlett Buck is a whole handful of them. But soon it’s clear she’s not just trouble, she’s in trouble, and like it or not, he’s not about to turn his back on this stray from the States. Especially if she can do him a favor in return. After all, it’s just a helping hand. Or is it?

. . . . . . . . . .

Tara Buck has always been the good sister, level-headed by comparison to Scarlett, her flaky, impulsive twin. But when Tara learns her fiancé has been cheating on her with one of his school students, the orderly world she’s created for herself suddenly feels as if it’s falling apart. For years she chose the safe option, but from now on she’s going to live a little, stretch her wings…be a little daring. And if that means acting on the long-suppressed feelings she’s always had for Reid Dalton, then so be it! Reid has wanted Tara from the moment he met her, but she’s always been out of bounds. Not only is she his patrol partner at the Bozeman PD, she’s also engaged. But then her relationship blows up, and Reid finds himself battling his own instinct to stake his claim with the finest, hottest woman he’s ever known.

Even if anything did happen between them, it would only ever be temporary – Reid’s a born wanderer, while Tara’s roots run deep in Marietta. So even if things are good between them, it seems their romance is destined to be short and sweet…

. . . . . . . . . .

Wanted: nanny. Needed: wife.

Laurent Fletcher has to admit his life would be a whole heap better if there was woman in it. His kids are running wild, and his dog is acting crazy; he’s been finding it tough to juggle everything since his wife died, and run his successful custom-built furniture business. But maybe there is a solution that won’t demand any emotional input from him: hire a female to whip his turbulent household back into shape.

Emma Peabody is a British nanny, looking for a new life in the New World. When she arrives at River Bend and finds two small motherless children, a miserable pet and a man who’s placed his emotions in the deep-freeze, she realizes she’s joined a broken family and it will be down to her to put it back together again.

The kids and the dog are easy—all they need are routines and love. Their father is something else. Laurent isn’t about to drop his guard and let Emma work her magic—and it doesn’t help that she finds this dark, brooding man incredibly attractive…

. . . . . . . . . .

Monty Davison is a man on a mission: he’s determined to track down his fiancée, Risa Grant. Why did she leave Vegas so suddenly and without telling him? Okay, perhaps their engagement was a little hasty—in between deployments to Afghanistan and wearied and changed by the horrors of war, he grabbed at the chances of real life and happiness that she seemed to offer, by proposing after only one week of knowing her. But he was sure she shared his feelings of hope and excitement. What was so scary about loving him that made her want to bolt?

Risa Grant has found sanctuary in Marietta, Montana, and the chance to heal. She’s opened a florist’s business and is settling down to life in the pretty, friendly western town, attempting to put the trauma of past behind her. Only she can’t erase the memory of Monty, the big, handsome, protective Marine who asked her to be his wife. She left without saying goodbye, without getting the chance to tell him what had happened, and now so much water has passed under their bridge that she doesn’t know if she ever can.

When Monty finally finds Risa outside Marietta one chilly April evening, stranded and needing help, his protective instinct kicks in: she’s still as feminine, vulnerable and pretty as ever, and as ex-military he’s trained to come to the rescue. But a knight in shining armor seems to be the last thing that Risa wants right now, so where does that leave him?

. . . . . . . . . .

Emmy Mathis is sure of three things:

1. Her sister Margery’s three-week wedding extravaganza at their grandmother’s Marietta, Montana home will be over-the-top ridiculous.

2. She’d much prefer to stay home in Atlanta in a pair of sweats.

3. And she absolutely, positively, won’t feel even a hint of a spark for Griffin Hyatt, grandson of her beloved grandmother’s best friend and the architect of the most embarrassing night of her life ten years ago.

But Emmy is dead wrong about number three. The moment she and Griffin lock eyes again, the passion that’s always smoldered between them flames. And they aren’t kids any more, so why should they deny the desire that sears through them both?

Is this no more than a wedding fling between two people with too much chemistry and an overload of history, or can Emmy try to build a new life from the ashes of their past? And if Griffin is truly really free of his fiance, why is he a finalist in the town’s Wedding Giveaway? Emmy can’t answer those questions, but she does know that Griffin has the power to burn her like no one else.

Still, how can Emmy walk away from the one man she’s always loved now that she knows what she’s been missing?

. . . . . . . . . .

Once upon a time, Marly Akers had believed that, for better or worse, people made their own luck…

Marly wonders how she could ever have believed it. Jilted and pregnant, she’s come back to Marietta with her tail between her legs, the blow to her ego huge as she begins working at her family’s small newspaper, the Copper Mountain Courier, and sharing a tiny apartment with her disapproving mom.

Things can’t get any worse. Or maybe they can. Drake Everett, who secretly captured her teenaged heart and then publicly trampled on it, decides to make her re-acquaintance. Though Drake isn’t the sharp, funny, cocky, arrogant rich boy of yore. These days he seems sharp, funny… and supportive and decent, and Marly realizes she could fall for him all over again… if she listens to her heart. But what about her reporter’s head, which has sniffed out a story that paints Drake as the sweet talker she’s always known?

. . . . . . . . . .

“It’s for the ranch. It’s your duty. A man does his duty, always.” His father Sam’s words were carved into Cole McCullough’s brain. His responsibilities lay with Rafter M Arrow, which had been in their family for over a hundred years. Even though they were fighting a losing battle to keep the place going.

The ranch always came first, over personal comfort, sometimes reason and definitely women. Sam had seen both his wives walk away, dismissing them as hot-house city girls who couldn’t survive the wilds of rural Montana. So how had Cole ended up making a spur-of-the-moment marriage last year in Reno to TV director Nell, who was as city as they came? Nell was prepared to give it all up to be with Cole. But he knew how it would end: as it had always ended before. It was time to stop living a pipe dream and sue for divorce.

But then Nell came back to Marietta with The Compatibility Game, a reality program, in which couples discovered what they were willing to do for love by living and working at Rafter M, and Cole found himself taking part too…

. . . . . . . . . .

A romantic honeymoon in Paris, with a sexy billionaire Russian groom…

There are only two problems. It’s a marriage of convenience. And, the virgin bride is frigid.

Kate Edwards has never embraced her sensuality, is terrified of intimacy, and the wedding night is a disaster. Instead of calling the whole thing off, Isaak Zaretsky listens to her and challenges her using his unashamedly sensual nature and superb bedroom skills. But can Kate really give herself without love?

 

 

 

. . . . . . . . . .

Thanks for stopping by to check out the first 10 Brides of Tule Publishing! Here’s to a great year of #Tule10!

Meet Tule Publishing’s First 10 Cowboys as Part of our #Tule10 Anniversary!

Tule Publishing has hit a milestone 10 years and we’re celebrating all month long with showcasing some of our first 10’s! Learn more about our first 10 authors, meet our first 10 cowboys and cowgirls, watch our first 10 films, and maybe find yourself wrapped up dreaming of the holidays with our first 10 Christmas stories!

We are so thankful for each of you for continuing to put your faith in us to continue bringing you amazing reads. You are a crucial part to our success and we couldn’t have made it to our 10th anniversary without you! We hope you stick around all month for more celebratory blogs and are looking forward to another 10 years – cheers!

. . . . . . . . . .

Thanks for stopping by to check out the first 10 Cowboys of Tule Publishing! Here’s to a great year of #Tule10!

Meet Tule Publishing’s First 10 Cowboys:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meet Tule Publishing’s First 10 Cowgirls as Part of our #Tule10 Anniversary!

Tule Publishing has hit a milestone 10 years and we’re celebrating all month long with showcasing some of our first 10’s! Learn more about our first 10 authors, meet our first 10 cowboys and cowgirls, and maybe find yourself wrapped up dreaming of the holidays with our first 10 Christmas stories!

We are so thankful for each of you for continuing to put your faith in us to continue bringing you amazing reads. You are a crucial part to our success and we couldn’t have made it to our 10th anniversary without you! We hope you stick around all month for more celebratory blogs and are looking forward to another 10 years – cheers!

Meet Tule Publishing’s First 10 Cowgirls

Big Sky Mavericks, Book 1
Big Marietta Fair, Book 2

Some dreams come with a big price tag.

Bailey Jenkins left her hometown of Marietta, Montana at eighteen, poised to take college and the rodeo world by storm–despite Paul Zabrinski. On the eve of her great escape, at the top of the Ferris Wheel at the Big Marietta Fair, he invoked his great-grandmother Hilda’s curse. “If you do this, Bailey Jenkins, I will hate you forever. And I’ll call on my great-grandmother to curse you. She was a Gypsy witch, you know.”

Fifteen years later, Bailey’s back–shattered, humbled by fate and bruised at the soul level but determined to rebuild–once she helps her parents get back on their feet. She didn’t expect Paul Zabrinski to meet her plane, but seeing him strong, handsome and successful is somehow fitting. After all, Bailey didn’t need Paul’s gypsy great-grandmother to put a curse on her–Bailey already had the worst luck on the planet.

Never say never.

One look at Bailey Jenkins–his first love, the woman he adored…and cursed–and every emotion Paul Zabrinski felt fifteen years earlier comes rushing back. The love of his life broke his heart and made him hate her…or so he thought. The line between love and hate is very narrow, with only so much room for forgiveness. But Paul Zabrinski owns Big Z Hardware and Construction. If anyone is capable of building a bridge for them to cross together, it’s him.

Carrigans of the Circle C, Book 5

For years Callan Carrigan has been her father’s right hand man, so when her dad’s will names city slicker Court McAllister the new owner of The Circle C Ranch, Callan feels betrayed on every level.

Then she and her sisters find their mother’s diaries, hidden from them by their father since their mother’s accidental death 18 years ago, and the shocking revelations explain a lot. Reeling, Callan seeks refuge in the local saloon, where it seems no one can reach her, until Court offers her a challenge.

If she agrees to be foreman at the Circle C for one year, he’ll deed the ranch back to her and her sisters. The deal seems too sweet at first—until Callan realizes Court has his eyes on something she protects even more than her family’s land—her heart.

Wildflower Ranch, Book 4

Australian cowgirl Bridie Willis travels to Montana to escape the pain of losing her father. Headstrong and determined, she plans to spend the summer alone photographing wild animals. Instead she finds herself saddled with a stubborn cowboy as a back-country guide.

Ethan Morgan has been shaped by a childhood spent on the run. Cautious, steady and conservative, he is tasked with ensuring the beautiful, risk taking cowgirl doesn’t ditch him or come to any harm.

But the biggest challenge Ethan must face is to accept how Bridie makes him feel. And the biggest risk Bridie must take is to trust in her heart.

Wildflower Ranch, Book 6

Headstrong cowgirl Peta Dixon has put her life on hold this Christmas to prove she can run her ranch as well as any man. There isn’t anything she can’t ride, fix, or stare down, and the only things to scare her are long hemlines and sky-high heels.

Self-made rancher Garrett Ross normally doesn’t take orders – he gives them. But when asked to step in to act as a temporary foreman on a Montana ranch over the holidays, he can’t refuse.

Yet when Garrett meets the beautiful and stubborn ranch owner, he realizes he’s signed on for a whole lot of trouble. Cynical and jaded, he has no time for feelings. And when Peta meets the man she’s to share her life with until Christmas, she discovers she no longer wants to be the person others expect her to be…

Will the rancher finally listen to his heart and admit he can’t live without a certain straight-talking cowgirl?

The Gallaghers of Montana, Book 5

He knows who she is…but she doesn’t

PI Mitch Hardeman is an expert at finding people, so when Glenna Gallagher disappears from the ranch where she works, her brothers hire Mitch to find her. He thinks his job is done after he tracks her down, but Glenna doesn’t know him, and she doesn’t remember her brothers or even her real name. Mitch must earn the beautiful cowgirl’s trust so he can bring her back home.

She doesn’t know who she is… but she knows who she wants

With traumatic amnesia caused by a bus accident, Glenna Gallagher knows nothing of her life before that day. She only knows she’s in danger, and that Mitch offers protection and the truth about her identity. But once home in Marietta, her memories are still missing. Can she convince Mitch that she doesn’t need to remember her past to know he’s the only man she wants? And will she regain her memory in time to save herself and the man she loves from the danger that follows her?

Blackberry Cove Cowboys, Book 1

When Kendall Kelly‘s career as the free spirited punk country crossover queen ends in a fiery ball of doom and humiliation, she has no place to go but back to her hometown Blackberry Cove, California, where she abandoned her secret husband years ago without so much as a note. She’s hoping to pick up the pieces of her shattered life and finally cut the last tie to the only man she ever loved.

As part owner of Kelly Family Farms, Damian Sloan has spent the last few years rebuilding the floundering business into a growing organic farm. He thought he’d moved on from his broken heart, but when Kendall barges back into his life—broken but beautiful as ever—he soon realizes he hasn’t forgotten. Or forgiven. Kendall threatens everything he’s built, but he can’t quite turn her away.

Damian and Kendall must put aside their differences for the success of the farm they both depend on. Maybe, in the process, they can rebuild what they tragically lost.

The Tremaynes of Texas, Book 4

What happens when a tenacious sheriff takes on a determined cowgirl and her champion bull?

It’s never easy to make it in a man’s world, and cowgirl Tori Tremayne has chased the same dream most of her life—producing a champion bucking bull on the pro rodeo circuit. With her prize bull Maximus, she’s so close to winning top prize in the finals this year she can taste it. She can’t afford any distractions, especially not the tall, dark and swoony sheriff she’s admired all her life.

Sheriff Gray Dalton has been in love with Tori since they were kids. He doesn’t want to change Tori or derail her goals, but he does want to combine their dreams—build a life and family with her while she continues to pursue her career and passion. Gray knows he has to shake Tori up so that he can step out of the friend zone she’s so determined to keep him in.

Can Gray prove to Tori that with him she can have it all—career, love and a family?

The Hartman Brothers, Book 3

She has a lot to prove and won’t get distracted by a cowboy again…

Barrel racer Ella James Sanders has one goal for her breakout year in Pro Rodeo—to make it to the National Finals Rodeo and prove to her hometown that she’s more than a girl raised on the wrong side of town. But her dream quickly crashes when an accident injures her and her horse, ending her rodeo season and leaving her in the care of the man who carelessly broke her heart years ago.

Cowboy and veterinarian Ty Hartman knows what it’s like to be rejected by those close to him. Ty’s loved Ella since high school, but she’s rejected him twice so he’s resolved to keep his distance and protect his heart…until an accident forces Ella and her horse into his life and he can’t step aside. As he cares for the feisty cowgirl, he feels himself falling for her again.

Can he convince this cowgirl that not only is he a man she can trust, but that he’s also a man she could love?

Texas True, Book 4

They’re made for each other, he just needs to prove it.

Pilot Nate Kershaw may be one of Whiskey River’s biggest players, but from the moment he met cowgirl Damaris Walker, he was smitten. After sharing a searing kiss years ago, she made her feelings clear so Nate doesn’t dare press for more than friendship. No other woman can win his heart, so when his beloved grandmother tells him her dearest wish is to see him settled down, Nate decides it’s the perfect opportunity to convince Damaris they’re meant to be.

After a devastating betrayal years ago, Damaris is still unable to trust or risk her heart—especially with a charming lady-killer like Nate. Against her common sense, she agrees to be Nate’s fake girlfriend and finds herself falling for him harder than she did two years ago.

When Damaris learns Nate has been deceiving her about his true feelings, her fears and trust issues reignite. Will Nate be able to convince Damaris to overcome the pain of the past and take a risk on forever—with him?

The Raffertys of Last Stand, Book 4

Sometimes the line between love and hate is blurry…

Cody Rafferty and Britt Roth may have grown up on adjacent Hill Country ranches, but they’ve always been oil and water. Britt knows it’s because Cody’s a tech nerd who doesn’t get the ranch life she loves. Cody knows it’s because Britt’s a single-minded cowgirl, who lives to complain about the technology he loves. Their families claim it’s because they were born within minutes of each other.

They’ve declared one truce in their lives—when Cody’s father was KIA overseas. Neither of them expected there would be another, but when Cody suspects a crash of his test drone spooked Britt’s champion barrel racing horse, endangering her life and future, he calls a second truce. Prodded by guilt, he steps up to take care of Britt and her beloved horse. Britt balks, but Cody’s hard to refuse even for a tough cowgirl. Forced together, they learn surprising things about each other neither ever knew.

Can these two lifetime adversaries learn to get along, especially when they realize that the sparks that fly between them aren’t fueled only by anger?

. . . . . . . . . .

Thanks for stopping by to meet the first 10 cowgirls of Tule Publishing! Here’s to a great year of #Tule10!

Discover Tule Publishing’s First 10 Books as Part of our #Tule10 Anniversary!

Tule Publishing has hit a milestone 10 years and we’re celebrating all month long with showcasing some of our first 10’s! Learn more about our first 10 authors, meet our first 10 cowboys, and maybe find yourself wrapped up dreaming of the holidays with our first 10 Christmas stories!

We are so thankful for each of you for continuing to put your faith in us to continue bringing you amazing reads. You are a crucial part to our success and we couldn’t have made it to our 10th anniversary without you! We hope you stick around all month for more celebratory blogs and are looking forward to another 10 years – cheers!

Discover Tule Publishing’s First 10 Books

Release Date: September 8, 2013
The Flint Brothers Take Montana, Book 1
The 75th Copper Mountain Rodeo, Book 1

Too much temptation…

Chelsea Collier wants nothing more than to save the old depot built by her railway baron ancestor and turn it into a museum—until it’s sold out from under her!

Jasper Flint made himself filthy rich in the Texas oil business by the age of 35. Now he wants a quieter life and building a microbrewery in Marietta, Montana is the perfect project.

Neither one of them knows what to do with the passion that explodes between them! But Chelsea knows a man like Jasper will never stay in one place for too long. Can he convince her that this time, he means to stay?

 

Release Date: September 22, 2013
The 75th Copper Mountain Rodeo, Book 2

Champion barrel-racer Tegan Ash has nothing left to go home to in her native Australia and every reason to stay in the USA. But her visa is about to expire, and her prospective groom has called off their green-card wedding.

Jamie MacCreadie doesn’t actually want to marry a woman he can’t stand, but his best friend and fellow rodeo rider Chet has just let her down and, somehow, he finds himself offering to do the deed instead.

There’s no chance it could turn into the real thing, because they have nothing in common… do they?

Release Date: October 6, 2013

Melinda and Rob MacCreadie have been married for nearly thirty years, but she is the worst wife for a hard-working Montana rancher and she knows it.

With their five children grown and finding love, Melinda is daunted by the idea of accepting newcomers into the family. She and Rob still hold a secret that dates from before the birth of their triplets all those years ago.

Rob is such a fine man, strong and good-looking and endlessly patient. He’s wise, too, but is he right to insist that it’s time to tell people what happened? Does he really understand how she feels?

Release Date: October 9, 2013
The Carrigans of the Circle C, Book 1
The 75th Copper Mountain Rodeo, Book 3

Sage Carrigan never meant to be the other woman. Unfortunately, bronco rider Dawson O’Dell neglected to mention he was married the night he invited her to his bed after they’d both placed first in their rodeo events. When his wife walked in on them, Sage was deeply hurt and humiliated.

After an accident in the ring the next day, Sage decides she’s quitting the rodeo, and cowboys, to become a chocolatier in her hometown ranching community, Marietta, Montana. She’s doing just fine, but then Dawson shows up –five years later, with a little girl in tow. He’s here for the Copper Mountain Rodeo hoping to win big. But he’s also got plans of settling down with his daughter and buying a house–the very same one that Sage has been dreaming about. He says he’s here for her and he’s making lots of promises. But can he keep them?

 

Release Date: October 24, 2013
Love on Chance Avenue, Book 1
The 75th Copper Mountain Rodeo, Book 4

When Jenny Wright‘s fiancé leaves her standing at the altar in a Vera Wang bridal gown she can’t afford, she’s humiliated and heartbroken. To have Marietta hero bull riding champ Colton Thorpe witness her shame – makes the rejection even more devastating.

Jenny and Colton grew up in the same rough neighborhood and they both left home right after school to pursue big dreams. Now they’re both back, with Colton as the celebrity chair for the 75th Copper Mountain Rodeo, and Jenny in disgrace.

Sexy, rugged Colton didn’t get to be a national champion by chance. He’s a man that takes risks and goes after what he wants. During the rodeo weekend, Colton makes it clear he wants Jenny. Flustered but flattered, Jenny finds it difficult to resist his charm. But what happens when the rodeo ends and Colton leaves town? Will she dare to dream again?

Release Date: October 31, 2013
Bar V5 Ranch, Book 1

A touch of ginger.
A dash of spice.
A cowboy and a pastry chef…
A recipe of naughty and nice.

Spending the holidays with her brother after hitting a crossroads in her career, Rachel Murphy keeps her dream of owning a pastry shop alive by creating custom gingerbread houses for clients in a small Montana town. And her Christmas wish list keeps growing this year—a bigger kitchen, a family, a place to call home…and maybe someone to share it all with.

When handsome dude ranch owner Nate Vaughn grants one of Rachel’s Christmas wishes—offering her a workspace of her own—she can’t refuse. As they grow closer, Rachel and Nate find more than pastries heating up in the kitchen. Is mixing business with affairs of the heart a recipe for disaster? Or will all of Rachel’s wishes come true?

 

Release Date: October 31, 2013
The Scott Brothers of Montana, Book 1

Annie Prudhomme never expected to be back in Marietta, MT and her family is fond of reminding her that she left them and the town behind in search of better things. A humiliating divorce that cost her everything she’d gained has driven her back home and her family isn’t about to welcome her back into the fold. She’s in town to rebuild the old home that she inherited and to move on once again.

Carson Scott never forgot Annie or the way she left. Now that she’s back in town he’s realizing that the old flame still burns hot but he can’t risk his heart the way he did last time now that he has his son to think about it. Being trapped together during a December snowstorm gives them a chance to rekindle their romance but is Annie back for good or is she just looking for a cowboy for Christmas?

 

Release Date: November 21, 2013
Bar V5 Ranch, Book 2

Spending a quiet Christmas housesitting and reading novels about hot cowboys sounds perfect to Caitlin. Until a stray kitten brings her face-to-face with Noah, her crush from college. Watching the handsome vet in action melts Caitlin’s heart and brings back long forgotten emotion. She would be safer back at the house lost in the pages of a book. But a toe-curling mistletoe kiss tempts her to stay. Maybe she won’t be spending this Christmas… alone.

Veterinarian Noah Sullivan isn’t a Scrooge, but the Christmas Eve tradition of hanging mistletoe in the clinic’s waiting room annoys him. Kissing doesn’t belong at the Copper Mountain Animal Hospital. Noah rethinks his position when Caitlin Butler arrives with a stray kitten she found freezing in the snow. All he wants now is to maneuver the pretty preschool teacher under the mistletoe. If he’s not careful, he’ll wind up on Santa’s naughty list.

Mistletoe Magic is a short story companion to the Copper Mountain Christmas series.

Release Date: November 29, 2013
Taming of the Sheenans, Book 1

She’s determined to make Christmas perfect…

After a set-back, Harley Diekerhoff led a quiet life and kept to herself. Taking the temporary job at the Copper Mountain Ranch as widower Brock Sheenan’s housekeeper seemed perfect for her. But her calm cocoon is invaded with the arrival of Brock’s pre-teen twins, Mack and Molly, who’ve never experienced a proper Christmas.

Annoyed at first by Harley’s interference, Brock is secretly pleased she’s changed his tiwns’ world. It doesn’t hurt that he finds Harley incredibly attractive, fierce, smart and passionate. It’s also an added bonus that she’s not afraid to challenge him and get his blood heated! But when sparks fly and the attractions sizzles between them, Harley’s not so sure she can handle something permanent with this dark, taciturn cowboy who doesn’t know how to let her in.

Can Brock hold on to her and pray for a Christmas miracle…

Release Date: December 28, 2013

Unbeknownst to her boyfriend, Sassy South Carolina hairstylist, Rainey Brown, is headed to Missoula, dead set on giving her minor league baseball player boyfriend of four years an ultimatum. Either put a ring on it or let her go, preferably not the latter.

When Rainey’s piece of crap car dies in the middle of Nowhere, Montana, she’s sure she’s a goner, until gorgeous restaurateur Beck Hartnett stops to help. Beck falls hard for Rainey, and knows she would admit she’s fallen for him too, if she wasn’t too stubborn to admit it. Beck has five days before the car is repaired to steal Rainey away from a boyfriend who doesn’t deserve her. Five days before she’s gone for good.

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Thanks for stopping by to check out our first 10 books of Tule Publishing! Here’s to a great year of #Tule10!

THE COWBOY’S REDEMPTION – Release Day Blog Post Featuring Author Paula Altenburg!

Cowboy holding rope over shoulder with field behind him. Text reads Paula Altenburg, USA Today Bestselling author, and the title of The Cowboy's Redemption.

I’ve been writing in Grand, Montana for five years now, and it’s begun to take on a life of its own. With the release of The Cowboy’s Redemption, my eighth book in Grand, I thought I’d give readers a chance to get to know the town itself a little better. 

“Grand hugged the banks of the Yellowstone River. The first McGregors to settle here had been Irish sutlers evicted from a British fort for selling whiskey to soldiers. The two enterprising brothers took the money they’d earned and invested it in cattle—although, according to family legend, they never quite managed to stay on the right side of the law. Whiskey barrels continued to overflow in the McGregor cellars well into the twentieth century. 

“The town got its name from the plans those two brothers had dreamed up for the town. Unfortunately, Grand got upstaged by nearby Billings and its grip on the new railroad. For his part, Jake was happy with the way history played out. Grand’s population topped out at six thousand—a nice, even number. ” ~ The Rancher Takes a Family

The boardwalk on the waterfront, which borders the Yellowstone River, is another favorite place for characters to hang out:

“Glittering lights trussed the underbelly of a black, star-speckled sky. They draped from every tree, shrub, and railing. Every storefront—every business—they all shouted, let the season begin. 

“He’d come downtown intent on buying the perfect gifts for his nephew and niece at the annual midnight craft fair. They’d shut down the waterfront from the town hall to the library. No cars allowed. People flowed freely down the main street, then up the river boardwalk, checking out handcrafted merchandise at the numerous vending stalls.” ~ The Cowboy’s Christmas Baby

Originally, Grand had two ranches—the Wagging Tongue, which belongs to the McGregor brothers and borders on the Tongue River, and the Running River Ranch, its next-door neighbor. Since then I’ve added the Endeavour Ranch, home to an indoor arena and a PRCA-sanctioned rodeo that takes place every February, a seasonal smoke jumping operation for the state of Montana, a free clinic, and a group home for troubled youth.

Grand now has a high school, a strip mall, a daycare, law firm, sheriff’s office… Hannah Brand, from Sweetheart Montana, set up her own brewery here, too. The Grand Master Brewery and Taproom first appears in The Montana Doctor and has become one of my favorite places. I’ve used it in several books now: 

“The Grand Master Brewery and Taproom occupied a weathered brick building that had once been an old dairy. The building itself dated from the mid-1800s when Grand was established. Inside, pub tables with chess boards carved into them butted the walls on opposite sides of the room. Regular tables that seated four people—more, if the people were friendly—hogged the real estate under the street-facing front window. Long shelves held an assortment of board games. A metalwork cowboy riding a bucking bronco hung from the ceiling. Hannah’s brother, an artist, had made it for her.

“The bar, complete with a brass footrail, squared off against the front window from the back of the room. Right next to the bar hovered a door that led into the brewery itself. Between that magic door and the brewery lurked another, more private, entrance to an apartment above.” ~ The Cowboy’s Christmas Baby

And Grand continues to grow. 

Another Tule author will be joining me very soon (and yes, I’m excited to welcome her! She brings her own unique voice and a brand-new, 4-book series). My question for readers becomes, how do you like stories written by different authors set in the same worlds? 

About the author

USA Today Paula Altenburg headshotBestselling Author Paula Altenburg lives in rural Nova Scotia, Canada with her husband and two sons. A former aviation and aerospace professional, Paula now writes contemporary romance and fantasy with romantic elements. You can connect with her at www.paulaaltenburg.com.