by Rhonda Frankhouser
Contemporary Romance Writer
Fa-la-la-la-la, la la la la...
Can you believe it's already that time of year? It's my first year to spend the holidays in Georgia. My first Christmas away from family and friends in California. We're doing our best to get as cozy and Christmas-y as we can, but it all seems a little strange. Beautiful, but strange.So, what do I do to get that loving feeling during the holidays, I fall back into my favorite characters and let them tell me their Christmas stories. My Ruby's Ranch characters to be more specific. These folks know how to party. When they're not solving mysteries and chasing sexy cowboys, I mean.
The heroine to Book 1 of the Ruby's Ranch Series, Return to Ruby's Ranch, is Ruby Lattrell. She's a no nonsense kind of gal. A house flipper who inherits the ranch after her crazy grandmother leaves the ranch and all that comes with it, to her favorite granddaughter.
The family history at the ranch is both jaded and beautiful in her mind. It's where she was born. Where she learned to ride and love the ranching life from her beloved father, John. It's where her mother disappeared without a trace. It's the place her father dragged her and her younger brother away from when he could no longer deal with the loss of his wife, Katherine.
Ruby's world changes when she pulls up in front of that ranch almost two decades later. Her grandmother had lost her mind, they'd said, and her mother was never found. So many unanswered questions haunted the place she'd always considered home. Questions for which she'd demand answers.
Billy MacCallister had waited years for Ruby to finally come home. When he saw her long legs sticking out of worn Justin boots on Granny Rube's porch, he was sure he was dreaming. But there she was, big as day, a mature, sexy version of that teenage girl he once knew. He was lost, or was he found? Destiny had finally come to call.
Ruby and Billy are two of my favorite couples in the Ruby's Ranch Series. Sassy, serious and sensual. They tackle real life together and find each other in the meantime.
Then came the answers to Katherine's mysterious disappearance as we go back in time one generation in Book 2 of the Ruby's Ranch Series - Escape from Ruby's Ranch. And no one would have ever believed.
Katherine was never meant to be a rancher, much to her pure-cowgirl mother's dismay. She was feminine, and dainty. A painter, a thinker, an entrepreneur at heart. She dreamed of getting away to live in the big city. To dine at the finest restaurants and attend the theatre. Her eyes ached for sophisticated sites and sounds, rather than the moo of a random steer.
And she almost had it, until John Lattrell, horse whisperer extraordinaire, two-stepped into her life. His sultry blue eyes and confident, easy ways sucked her right in and left her dangling dangerously between chasing her dreams or saddling up with this irresistible cowboy.
Unfortunately for Katherine, wicked obsession dictated her journey. In Escape we follow our heroine through a lifetime of intrigue as she fights toward her destiny. Even I was surprised.
Rube Gautier was born into a mystical dictatorship. One in a long line of matriarchs destined to lead an ancient tribe. She never wanted it. She only wants her own ranch. Her own life. Her own love. Not a life chosen by the elders.
When Rube lays eyes on war hero, turned rancher, MacKenzie Adams, her vision of the future comes into full view. He and a little cattle ranch in the Kern River Valley is all she needs in the world, but some traditions cannot be left behind. Legacy of Ruby's Ranch is due out in August of 2019.
Book 4 of the Ruby's Ranch Series, Revenge at Ruby's Ranch, brings us full circle back to the present. It will help explain the unexplainable and right all the wrongs suffered by this powerful line of matriarchs. The answers they find will shock even the most avid Ruby follower.
This brings me back to my thoughts of Christmas. Turns out hanging with the tight Ruby's Ranch family has made me feel like I'm part of a bigger community of beings. A community that includes all of you. A caring community who supports one another even though we may never meet in person.
I hope you and your loved ones have the Merriest Christmas ever, Happy Holidays and a fabulous New Year to all. See you in 2019!
Follow Rhonda
If you're interested in signed copies of the Ruby's Ranch 2 book set,
send an email to rhondafrankhouserbooks@gmail.com.
They make great gifts for those hard to buy for western romance lovers on your list.
How cool you have your 'created' family to help you through. Hope you find your happy and celebration groove. In the meantime, Merry Christmas. Doris
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