This is Me

If you’ve been reading me for a while, you know I like big meaty stories, drama, angst. Even my romantic comedies tend to have dark backstories. Despite years of trying, I can’t seem to write “light,” so I’ve decided to lean into it and the Malones of Grand, Montana, is the result. Children, torn from their mother! A lover, gone! Life, changed forever! Heartache, despair… then: hope, redemption, growth… and love.

This Is Us

Recently, I had an evening to myself and I decided to catch up on the Netflix drama This Is Us. (My husband and I started it a few years ago but it had too many tears and not enough car chases, so it became a “me” show, not an “us” show.) I immediately picked it up where we left off and it felt as if I’d never left. This Is Us is my kind of story. And after I went to bed that night, I realized that I’d unknowingly written many of the same elements into my lost Malones of Grand, Montana series: Triplets. Loss of a beloved partner. Adoption. The search for identity.

Wow, no wonder I love the show! There’s the original love story of Jack and Rebecca that mirrors my Heather and JP. The challenges their grown triplets face have some similarities to those facing Heather’s triplets Brade, Leila and Lucas. Rebecca grieves the loss of her beloved Jack. Heather grieves the loss of JP and her children, but without any closure, and is eventually reunited with them. Unlike Rebecca, however, Heather (or Honey as she was known to JP or Hetty, as others called her) was burdened with shame for being single when she became pregnant. 

This Is Misogyny 

And this is where the inspiration for these books really took off. My series begins when Heather Hudson finds herself about to become a single mother, in a time and place where this was the worst thing that could happen to her. Did you know that in the USA, between the 1940s and the 1970s (to the end of the 1980s in Canada) illegitimacy was considered the result of psychological deficits on the part of the mother? 

Single parents have always been part of society, but for the first time in history, unmarried pregnant white girls and women were shunned as “neurotic” and “immoral,” in need of rehabilitation. They were told, emphatically, that the best chance at a normal life for their babies, who were deemed “bastards,” was adoption by white married heterosexual couples. Relinquishment was the right thing to do—if they truly loved their babies. 

In the USA during these decades, an estimated 4 million mothers surrendered their newborns, half of those during the ‘60s alone. Some women did this willingly but most were given no choice. 

Interestingly, single Black mothers did not receive the same pressure to relinquish their infants, though they still bore immense social stigma. In all cases, the fathers of these children were barely considered. They bore no social cost, their lives were not changed and involvement or even acknowledgment of their children was entirely their choice. 

This Is Truth

Today, the popularity and availability of DNA testing and genealogy research has resulted in a flood of real-life reunion stories. Women in their last few decades of life are finally telling long-hidden truths and finding closure and peace. This is what inspired me to write the Malones of Grand, Montana. Fiction is truth wrapped in story and I wanted to tell the truth of many real women by wrapping it in the story of one imaginary woman who overcame this traumatic start to motherhood, and who didn’t just survive, but thrived, and rose above it to build herself a life and yes, even a family. I wanted to tell the story of the adopted infants and their search for identity. I wanted to show all these different iterations of parents and children finding mature relationships build on honesty. And, of course, I wanted them all to find love.

I hope you love my lost Malones as much as I do. Thank you for reading!

About the Author.

USA TODAY Bestselling Author Roxanne Snopek writes contemporary romance and women’s fiction. She loves grand gestures, kindness, and people who leap far out of their comfort zones to do the right things. Her stories often touch on timely topics such as the human-animal bond, community responsibility and modern family dynamics. Her books have won numerous awards, enjoyed much time atop bestseller lists and been optioned for film.

Roxanne writes from her lakeside home in southern British Columbia, Canada, where she lives with her partner of 36 years and their prescient miniature poodle. She also bakes bread, battles weeds, enjoys Happy Hour with neighbors, and occasionally grabs the karaoke mic.

Her list of favorite authors is ever-changing and includes Barbara Kingsolver, Stephen King, Barbara O’Neal, Robyn Carr, Mary Doria Russell, Jane Porter, and on and on… you get the picture. She loves to connect with other booklovers, so please stop by her various social media pages. And be sure to click FOLLOW on this page, too, to receive updates about her new releases.

GIVEAWAY: Because who doesn’t love FREE books?

We will pick ONE winner to receive a digital book of their choice from the November romance releases. Comment down below saying which book you’re looking most forward to reading! Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY. The winner will be randomly selected and announced at the end of the month.

Good luck and happy reading!

Reluctantly retiring from Special Forces following an injury, Noah Halliday returns to Texas seeking solitude through the holidays at his brother’s unoccupied ranch. Arriving late, he intends to crash in the first bedroom he finds only to be chased out by a beautiful blonde brandishing a boot. New Plan.

The ranch has been leased to a group of women determined to challenge the traditions and beliefs of the male dominated rodeo rough stock contractor world. There’s nowhere to hide. Never one to be idle, Noah pitches in and his Christmas spirit is rekindled by the feisty cowgirl.

Emma Barrett had been a timid child until she’d been lifted onto the back of a bronc, and she finally discovered her skill and power. She excelled at the sport and is determined to solidify her place at Grit and Grace by training the new bronc she and her partners have heavily invested in. The last thing she needs is a horse whispering, sexy ex-soldier offering to work by her side this Christmas as she and her partners launch their enterprise.

Order “Catching a Christmas Cowboy” by Leah Vale, releasing November 4, 2024.

A Marriage of Convenience…or is it?

Rancher Liam McFarland has always been attracted to Val Fletcher, his best friend’s little sister, but thought she was too young for him. But when Val confides that she’s pregnant and the father has rejected her and the baby, Liam proposes and offers to raise the baby as his.

Having loved Liam all her life but knowing he doesn’t feel the same, Val resists Liam’s marriage offer though she knows her father will never accept having an unmarried, pregnant daughter living on and working the family’s ranch. But when Liam shares how the marriage will help him solve a problem, Val agrees, hoping for a Christmas miracle—that Liam will fall in love with her.

Their marriage is everything Val dreamed of –almost–until the baby’s biological father intervenes determined to destroy their newfound happiness. Val knows she must leave to protect Liam. Can Liam convince Val that he’s fallen in love with her and that the best Christmas present of all would be to face the future together?

Order “The Christmas Cowboy” by Eve Gaddy, releasing November 7, 2024.

They’ve never had a Christmas like this

Take-no-prisoners rancher Joanna (Joey) Halligan hadn’t believed the kind of love she felt for Nash Westbrook was even possible. So, when he walked away despite still declaring his love for her, broken-hearted, Joey fled. Now she’s back, and carrying a surprise that even Santa wouldn’t have guessed. Joey is having Nash’s child. A Christmas baby!

Rodeo champ come entrepreneur, Nash Westbrook, has never regretted anything in his life as much as leaving Joey Halligan. But how else could he keep her safe? The investment fraud he’d been wrongfully dragged into had destroyed so many people, and many of them wanted to extract their revenge. Now she’s back and carrying his child. A vulnerable child—and that’s a game changer.

Nash is determined to prove to Joey that his love has never dimmed; that he’ll never leave her—them—again. But with new evidence against him emerging, he’ll need all the Christmas magic of the season to truly keep that promise.

Order “The Cowboy’s Family Christmas” by Kaz Delaney, releasing November 11, 2024.

On paper he reads like Mr. Wrong, but under the mistletoe he feels so right…

Determined to ensure her sister’s wedding is storybook perfect, Isabelle Davis secretly hires Army Veteran Zach Dawson to locate her estranged father. But the more time she spends with Zach surrounded by Christmas spirit and twinkling lights, Isabelle fears she’s falling in love. Can she trust her heart to a man whose past seems so similar to her absent father’s?

Zach Dawson proudly served his country for twelve years until an injury ended his military career. He holds his secrets close, but he’ll help Isabelle find her father—even if the man doesn’t want to be found. And if he’s also sewing up a storm at Isabelle’s quilt shop, and appreciating every moment spent with her, it doesn’t have to mean anything, much.

Unless he can somehow persuade Isabelle to take a chance on love? That’s a mission he’s eager to accept.

Order your copy of “Wrapped Up in Christmas Love” by Janice Lynn, releasing November 12, 2024.

Cami Hardesty might have a problem saying no.  Not that she doesn’t love her full life teaching school, herding six-year-olds in Christmas pageants, and helping on her family’s guest ranch. But finding an abandoned newborn at a pageant rehearsal accompanied by a note asking for Cami’s help might just be the thing that breaks her. No one recommends she champion the child. But how can she say no to this infant who needs her and awakens an unexpected want? When the town’s temporary vet takes her side, Cami imagines a life she never had.

For years, Gus Claymore has taken temporary vet gigs and carefully avoided entanglements after the passing of his wife. But Christmas in Marietta blindsides him—the baby’s plight, his young daughter’s hunger for roots and family, and his unexpected and unwanted feelings for Cami. Love? He didn’t think that was in the cards for him again. He has a pending job in Denver, and now an impossible choice.

Can this one, lost baby be the Christmas miracle that changes all their lives?

Order “The Cowboy’s Miracle Baby” by Barbara Ankrum, releasing November 13, 2024.

Three beautiful Southern Born Christmas romances from three Tule authoers.

A Georgia Christmas by Susan Sands

A Taste of Christmas Magic by Sinclair Jayne

A Saltwater Christmas by Laurie Beach