New Release ~ Julie Lence

 It's my pleasure to share with you my latest release, The Pop Star Loves Her Cowboy! This is book #2 in my Bennett Family Series; is a western contemporary series set in Reno, Nevada. 

Pop star Barbie Bennett is certain her future is with Zach, until a photograph suggests their relationship might be nothing more than a lie. 

Pop-music superstar and CEO of Bella Cosmetics Barbie Bennett is ditching her tour bus for her hometown of Reno, Nevada. Her sweetheart works the family ranch and long summers of separation from him are finally over. When photographs of Zach cozying up to another woman find their way to her desk, Barbie is almost certain he’s the victim of tabloid fodder. But what if she’s wrong and he’s just another man who broke her heart?      

After a knee injury forced him to retire from the rodeo circuit, ranch hand Zach Maldonado is finally in a position to propose to Barbie. He’s gained her father’s approval and has put in motion a romantic evening to pop the question, only Barbie accuses him of stepping out on her. Zach vows to find the culprit behind the comprising photographs and expose the lie. But will that be before or after her anxiety convinces her to cut ties with him?

The Pop Star Loves Her Cowboy is available in both E-book and print on Amazon and can be found here:  www.amazon.com/dp/B0FG48TFYH 

  

   

New Release ~ Julie Lence

 Hello Everyone! I'm excited to share with you my new release, The Singer Ropes A Cowboy.  Available exclusively at Amazon, (www.amazon.com/dp/B0CW1J88PH), in both e-book and paperback format, this is my 1st contemporary western romance, and the 1st book in the Bennett Family Series. 

Country music superstar Bailey Bennett wasn’t looking for love, until Chip Colucci flashed her a glare she couldn’t resist.  

Blurb:

Country music sensation Bailey Bennett is in New York City to assist her twin sister in the buying of Bella Cosmetics and to look over a Thoroughbred who loathes racing, but while at the track, Bailey encounters an irksome stable hand looking after an abused pinto. Something about the glare in his pretty dark eyes suggests he’s believed too many of the lies printed about her. Something else suggests his sinew is exactly what she needs to overcome the past. Either way, the horses are a package deal, and she reluctantly hires Chip to acclimate them to Bennett Ranch. Has she just made a deal with the Devil? Or has she made the decision of a lifetime?

 A New Yorker his entire life, Chip Colucci values family and honesty above everything else. When his father is seriously injured, he quits night school to take a part-time job bouncing at a strip club. When combined with his salary from the race track, the money’s enough to pay the never-ending doctor bills and keep food on the table. But then, Belmont cuts his hours and he’s forced to hire on with Bailey Bennett. Acclimating the horses to her family’s ranch in Reno isn’t a hardship. Working alongside her is. Lurking behind a brilliant smile is a she-devil who only cares about herself. Trouble is, he wants that she-devil to favor him, for a lifetime and more. 

Excerpt:

“Chip!” Bailey’s hand froze mid-air, as she jerked around his direction. “You startled me.”

“Sorry.” He halted just out of her reach. “Thought you’d be buried beneath your blankets dreaming whatever girls dream.”

“Nope. Too many thoughts running through my mind.” 

“The horses?” He nodded toward Misty and Polly.

“Them, the Christmas show, Bella, Barbie…” Her fingers glided into the pinto’s mane. “You can’t sleep, either?”

“Nope. Miss the sound of the subway rattling by.”

Liar.

“I can understand that. When I’m home, I get used to the quiet of the ranch. When the tour starts, it takes me a few days to get used to Paulie and the others on the bus.”

“You live on the ranch?” He stepped closer, kept his gaze on her and her makeup free complexion.

“I had a condo close to the recording studio, but I moved back here after I hired Paulie. I…” she ran her palm down the side of her jeans, “like being near the horses.”

“Nice,” he absently replied. She has brown flecks in her eyes. Never knew that.

“Barbie has the room next to mine. When we’re home, Mom spoils us. And the ranch hands watch over us. Who can resist that?”

“Not a clue.” She’s got a tiny indent on her cheekbone. Makeup must cover it.

“You must feel the same sense of security living in your childhood home.”

“Sure.” He considered her hair. Long, thick, silky; What did she just say? Something about security and the ranch hands. He met her gaze, noted the tiredness staring back at him. But past that lurked something else. Unease? Could be. “I live at home by choice. Before Pops’ accident, I was going to school at night. Lot easier paying for books when I don’t have to pay rent.” Does she fear being alone with me? She didn’t seem to mind those times at Belmont.

“What are you studying?”

“Veterinary medicine.”

“Really?!” Her entire being brightened.

Maybe not me. “Got the urge when I worked my cousin’s ranch, but with Pops laid up, I had to quit school. Don’t know if I’ll ever go back.”

“Oh, don’t say that.” She grasped his arm.

Definitely not me. He gazed down at her hand. Slender fingers… long, manicured fingernails…

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way. When Barbie and I started in this business, we sang backup for our brothers. It was fun, but in my heart, I knew rock-n-roll wasn’t for me. I wanted a career in country music and caused a rift  when I left for Nashville.”

“You talking about Barbie?” He kept his gaze on her hand. “People leave gossip magazines at the track. A lot of articles talked about a feud between her and you.”

“I didn’t want for her and me to go our separate ways. I wanted her to come with me.” She sighed heavily. “The worst was when our managers scheduled us to appear together. We’d smile and sing for the fans, but backstage, she barely spoke to me. It broke my heart.”

“If Dominic barely spoke to me, I wouldn’t cry. I’d celebrate.”

“You say that now, but you wouldn’t.”

“Yeah, pretty sure I would. He talks more than a girl.”

“When she has something to say, Barbie won’t come up for air. But she’s sweet, and she’s been…” She swallowed hard. “I’ve been…” Tears welled in her eyes and she looked away.

“Awe, hey, look, don’t cry.” He touched her cheek and heat ricocheted up his arm. Sonofa… “You love your sister. Ain’t nothing wrong with that.”

“I do.” She sniffled. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I actually enjoy joshing with people.”

“Good.” He ran the pad of his thumb beneath her eye, dried the wetness from her skin. She’s soft, and too damn vulnerable when she cries.

Hold her, that flutter urged. Comfort her.

Hell, no! He dropped his hand, stepped back. “I should get back to the bunkhouse.”

“And me to my room.” She lowered her lashes, but not before he glimpsed her eyes glistening again.

Awe, hell. He gently pulled her to him, held her close and felt her tremble. Or was that him?

 

Author's Note:

I hope you enjoy Bailey and Chip's story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Hugs! 

Write what you know by Jan Scarbrough

My parents were married for fifty-three years. I wasn’t so lucky. I spent many years as a “single mother.” Of course, that experience found its way in many of my books.

Darby, in the Ghost Mountain Ranch series, is the widowed mother of two adult children, Slade and Kelsey. Her children both have a story in the romantic mystery series.

DARBY: What is the truth behind the death of Darby’s mother? When the past once again intrudes on the present, will Darby do what she’s always done—what her mother did—and run away? Grief and secrets had torn Darby and Hank apart once. Given a second chance at love, will the revelation of more shocking secrets from the past destroy their hopes for the future?

Audio Books: 

Audible

Apple AudioBook

Ghost Mountain Ranch Box Set

The same goes for Liz in the Dawsons of Montana. When a handsome stranger arrives at the ranch, Liz—divorced and widowed—fears her daughter-in-law is playing matchmaker. Her children, Brody, and Mercer, and her stepson Ben, are also featured in this contemporary western series.

LIZ: Jim’s widow is alone again with a ranch to run. Sometimes second chances come when least expected. Can Liz take a leap of faith with the new man in her life?

What do you think? Are books better if the author writes what she knows? Or can an author use her imagination to create a book?

I think it’s a bunch of both. Even when writing about a knight in 1282, I still put a bunch of myself in the story. I can’t write about things in which I don’t believe. And I’m always searching for Happily Ever After.

Brody https://books2read.com/Brody-DofM

Mercer https://books2read.com/Mercer-DofM

Liz https://books2read.com/Liz-DofM

Ben https://books2read.com/Ben-DofM

The world is best viewed through the ears of a horse – by Jan Scarbrough

Once again, I looked for inspiration for this blog from a website called Think Like a Horse. I found a page about Cowboy Wisdom that had a list of horse quotes.

 

I really liked the one about viewing the world through the ears of a horse. It reminded me of a Facebook group I belong to called Between the Ears. Because of it, I’ve viewed photos of folks riding their horses in all kinds of places around the world. For example, some of the countries and states have been Missouri, Bavarian Forest (Germany), Ontario, Bodega Bay, CA, Idaho, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Norway, Iceland, Texas.

 

It's fascinating to see how many people own horses and use them for trail rides or sporting events. Some people even post pictures of other pets. One was a kitten’s ears. The kitten was looking out the window into its back yard.

 

I posted a couple of photos from my 2016 trip to the Covered Wagon Ranch in Montana.

Here I am on the back of Mr. Black, a Tennessee Walking Horse. I also took a picture of the valley and mountains in the distance. It was an exhilarating experience to trust another creature to safely carry me up a steep mountain and then back down.

 

So, if you get the chance to view the world from through the ears of a horse, I’d say go for it!

 

My Ghost Mountain Ranch series took its inspiration from that trip to the dude ranch in Montana.

The Peppermint Tree is FREE

 

By Kristy McCaffrey

My contemporary western Christmas romance novella is currently a FREE digital download until October 6, 2023, so grab a copy today!

A second-chance romance …

In high school, she had been quiet and wickedly smart, both a determined tomboy and a girly-girl, a combination that was uniquely Skye. She had always caught his eye but for his own self-preservation, he’d stayed away from her, even when she’d made a play for him.

Skye Mallory has always aspired to leave her family’s ranch, and she takes pride in having achieved her dream of becoming a lawyer. But when an unexpected inheritance draws her home for the Christmas holidays, she’s surprised by a longing to set down roots in the wide-open meadows and woodlands of southwestern Colorado. Only one thing stands in her way—a cowboy who broke her heart nine years ago.

In high school, Joe Carrigan admired Skye for her spirit and intellect, but he knew she was destined for a life beyond ranching. Turning down her romantic overture was the best course of action for them both. But now, he’s returned to their hometown, and it’s inevitable he’ll come face-to-face with his one regret in life—Skye Mallory. This time, however, he won’t be so chivalrous.

THE PEPPERMINT TREE is a standalone novella with a HEA set in Durango, Colorado. It features a second-chance romance, the Christmas holidays, ’70’s music, and medium spice.

Read Chapter One at my website

Download your copy today!

Amazon US |  Amazon UK |  Amazon CA | Amazon AU

Apple Books | Nook | Kobo | Google Play Books

Find it at Goodreads and BookBub

Read an excerpt

Joe Carrigan watched as the red taillights in the distance slid from left to right and then right even more, finally stopping. He’d been following the Prius for a while, and the driver had been conservative, but their luck had just run out. He was in his Bronco—the same one he’d driven in high school on these very roads—and it could still be trusted in bad weather. He’d been able to afford better cars over the years, but he still had a habit of jumping in this one, especially on a night like this.

He checked his rearview mirror. Thankfully, no cars behind him. He slowed the Bronco and guided it as far to the right as he could without getting stuck.

Stepping out of his vehicle, a blast of cold air hit him as heavy snowflakes engulfed him. He really shouldn’t be out in this, but he’d agreed to meet Oliver and Celeste and a friend of Celeste’s, a blind date he’d been badgered into. His life had been too busy of late for a woman, but it didn’t mean he actually needed or wanted one in his life.

He reached inside the Bronco and grabbed his heavy canvas coat, quickly pulling it on and zipping it to his neck. The snow crunched beneath his boots and his breath came out in white puffs as he crossed the beam of his headlights and approached the Prius. He tapped on the driver’s window, the shadowy figure of a woman on the other side. She hesitated a moment then rolled the window down.

“Are you all right, miss?”

As the woman’s face became fully visible, he did a double-take. “Skylar?”

Her forehead pinched into hard ridges, and her eyes registered a flash of outrage. “Carrigan?”

As if a freight train had hit him, he uttered, “It’s been a long time.”

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A little early :-)

Get off your high horse by Jan Scarbrough

It’s the first Monday of the month. I’m supposed to post a blog on the second Monday of the month. As usual, I’m trying to figure out what to write.

 

There’s nothing like the Internet to give someone an idea. Several years ago, when I was researching my western romances, I came across this website called Think Like a Horse. 

 

Okay, so I started on that site looking for ideas. I came across a page called Cowboy Wisdom. 

 

I found some good bits of wisdom like “What this country needs are dirtier fingernails and cleaner minds.”

 

One saying struck me as so very true: “If you are riding a high horse, there ain't no way to get down off it gracefully.”

 

You see, I’ve ridden a high horse. His fancy name was Calloway’s Aspiration, barn name Dan. I don’t know how tall he was—maybe seventeen hands. That’s tall. I needed a three-step mounting block to get on him. Then when I got off, I swung my leg over the saddle, held on to the saddle, took a deep breath and dropped to the ground. It was a long way down!

 

But that’s not what that piece of wisdom really refers to. A “high horse” is an idiom—an expression in the usage of a language that is peculiar to itself either in having a meaning that cannot be derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements (such as up in the air for "undecided") or in its grammatically atypical use of words (such as give way). 

 

High horse means: An attitude of moral superiority. Typically used in the phrases ‘get off (one's) high horse’ and ‘on (one's) high horse.’ 

 

This is a cool origin of the word: As long ago as the fourteenth century, persons of high rank rode very tall horses, a custom that came to symbolize superiority and arrogance. By 1800 or so, to be or to get on one’s high horse meant to act superior, with or without justification. 

 

Okay, so that’s my research for the month. Do you know someone who is on his or her “high horse”?

 

Hmmm. I think my Christmas book might have one such character.

Cowboy Up! by Jan Scarbrough

When I wrote Kentucky Cowboy, I researched the Professional Bull Riders and became a fan. Several years ago, my husband and I attended the Bass Pro Chute Out, in Louisville, KY, at the KFC Yum! Center.

 

Instead of a basketball court or the stage where Fleetwood Mac performed a few nights earlier, the floor was covered with dirt, chutes, pyrotechnics, determined cowboys and even more determined bulls. A bovine aroma permeated the arena and hard rock and country music blared loudly.

 

It was a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Seriously. We saw Bushwacker, the 2011 World Champion Bull, buck one of the top riders in the world off his back. The bull scored 48.25 points out of 50. Asteroid, another contender for champion bull, bucked off a top rider.

 

Bulls won most of the time, but cowboys scored a few 8 second rides. There were only nine qualified rides in each of the two long rounds ― a total of 18-for-70 ― and one in the final round.

 

Tennessee native Cody Nance earned his first Built Ford Tough Series win of 2013. Nance rode Rock & Roll for 86.5 points and was the lone rider to cover all three bulls at the KFC Yum! Center.

Here’s an excerpt From Kentucky Cowboy 

 

This was the championship round. After seven rounds in a period of two weeks, he and a Brazilian cowboy were stalemated. Either one could win the finals with a high score. But to win it all, the world title and the million bucks, all Judd had to do was stick on the back of the last bull for eight seconds. His score didn’t matter.

 

He had drawn Bad to the Bone.

 

Sweat coated his upper lip. It would be the longest eight seconds in his life. He had put himself in a fix by getting bucked off twice in the first seven rounds. He had lost focus. Forgot to concentrate. Now everything was riding on his final effort. His effort, his injuries this past year, and the accumulation of so many points over the whole season would mean nothing if he didn’t ride this ornery bull one more time.

 

“You’re up, Romeo.”

 

Judd jerked a quick nod. He didn’t say a word, just jammed the mouthpiece into his mouth and climbed into the chute. The cowbell tied to the end of the bull rope clanged almost like a warning signal.

 

As he had done every regular-season event and championship for ten years, Judd pulled the slack out of the rope around the bull’s midsection. Next he wrapped the rope underneath his gloved right hand and across his palm. Closing his fingers, he made a fist. With his free hand he pounded his fist—once, twice.

 

Blinking, he shut out the past. The future. Only the present counted. Eight seconds. His heart slammed into his throat.

 

Judd nodded to the gateman. The gate swung open and Bad to the Bone blasted out of the chute in three powerful jumps. The bull turned back to the right, spinning, his power building, the motion throwing Judd off balance.

 

Judd pitched to the right, jerked out of position, slipping. No! I’m gonna ride this sucker. The muscles in his right arm burned from the strain. His jaws cramped.

 

Where’s that damn buzzer?

 

He tipped farther to the right, not really riding any longer, just hanging on. Inches from the dirt, Judd smelled defeat. He squeezed the bull rope, holding on with raw determination and fiery gut.

 

The buzzer sounded.

 

Judd released his grip and fell hard. He scrambled to his feet, the roar of approval in his ears. Thanks to the bullfighter, the bull veered away to the right. Judd sailed his cowboy hat into the air. It hadn’t been pretty, but he had stuck it. He’d won! His head buzzed as the sweet reality hit home.

I used my first hand research in two other western romances: Brody and Mercer, both of the Dawsons of Montana series.

 

It’s Fun to Research Western Romance by Jan Scarbrough

Before writing The Dawsons of Montana, I surfed the Internet for the setting and found a dude ranch in Southwestern Montana near Yellowstone National Park. I had also researched professional bull riding for an earlier book. Most of the setting for my fictitious dude ranch was made up and, of course, so were the characters.

When my husband and I had a chance to go out west in 2016, I wanted to go to a dude ranch. After Internet research, I discovered The Covered Wagon Ranch in Gallatin Gateway, Montana. We made reservations and planned our trip for three days in July.

OMG! It was fun—two days on horseback riding into the mountains, gourmet meals prepared by a professional chef eaten in a rustic dining room with other friendly “dudes.” The owners, wranglers and staff were super friendly. Like many of the returning guests, we felt right at home at the ranch.

And yes, there were real working cowboys, men and women who make a living wrangling horses and caring for us city slickers. Their knowledge, love and respect for the land, and their devotion and caring for the horses impressed me.

I was given my own horse for the two-day stay. He was a six-year-old Tennessee walking horse named Mr. Black. He didn’t trot but performed a running walk. We never got up enough speed to go that fast because we were climbing up the sides of mountains! The view from the top looking down over the ranch property was scary. Believe me! 

I could have had more fun trail riding but acquired a case of altitude sickness. The 6000+ feet of southwestern Montana mountains were very much higher than the 500 feet Ohio Valley where I live. I began to feel better on the second day, just in time to leave. 

We also took a day trip to Paradise Valley, the actual setting of the Dawson ranch in my series, and ate lunch at a place called Chico Hot Springs near Emigrant, Montana.

On the trip, I got to see firsthand the mountains, canyons, and valleys that make this part of Montana so beautiful. Sagebrush is real. And so are lodgepole pine trees and aspens with their green and silver leaves shimmering in the wind. Of course, I came home pondering another Western series set in this beautiful part of the United States of America.

If you were going to research and write a Western novel, where would you like to visit?

We've Got Your Yellowstone

By Kristy McCaffrey

If you enjoy the western television series "Yellowstone" starring Kevin Costner, then please check out this promo of contemporary cowboy romance books.

Includes my novella, BLUE SAGE.

Braden Delaney has taken over the family cattle business after the death of his father, but faced with difficult financial decisions, he contemplates selling a portion of the massive Delaney ranch holdings known as Whisper Rock. Archaeologist Audrey Driggs has come to the remote wilderness of Northern Arizona for clues to a life-altering experience from her childhood. Together, they’ll uncover a long-lost secret.

 

Blue Sage Excerpt

Northern Arizona
September

The damned calf was stuck in the brambles again.

Braden Delaney swung down from his horse, his spurs jangling, and approached the mewling youngster. The calf thrashed in a mess of bushes beneath a stately juniper tree with shredded, red-colored bark. It reminded Braden of pulled-pork barbecue. It was on the menu tonight if Lewis, wrangler and cook during roundups, had been telling the truth this morning before the five of them had headed out.

It was late in the day and Braden’s stomach rumbled in response.

He’d take care of this problem and then head back to base camp—two airstream trailers and a horse trailer with a built-in bunk for Braden.

Braden knocked the brim of his Stetson up a notch and went to work prying the animal from the tangled jumble of branches. His gloved hands made fast work of the situation, and before long he’d set the calf on all fours. The animal took off at a lope, headed toward a band of larger cows, one of whom was likely his mama.

“You’re welcome,” Braden uttered under his breath.

It was the third rescue he’d performed on the calf in the past two days. The contrary little beast had a knack for wandering and getting into untenable predicaments. He should just usher it to the makeshift corral a few miles to the southeast, but Braden wasn’t quite ready to bring in this cluster of cattle, and he didn’t want to separate the calf from its mother.

Billy Lasco, his range foreman, would be up in a few days with two large semi-trucks to collect the cattle they’d gathered and transport them to the Delaney Ranch fifty miles to the south. Braden would guide the wayward calf and his mama into camp then. His current plan was to simply flush the cows and steers hiding out in the rocky hillside into the open plain below.

As he returned to his horse, a scream and a crash spun him around.

Had a steer just rolled down the slope? Braden circled, searching for an injured critter.

But it was no animal.

A woman lay on her back, grimacing.

Braden moved quickly to her side. “Are you all right, miss?”

She pushed to sit, leaves and sticks in her brown hair, askew in a haphazard ponytail. She wore trail pants, hiking boots and an ivory t-shirt. His eyes jerked back to the shirt, not sure he’d read correctly the word printed on it. Yep, he had. BOOBIES covered the spot where those very things resided, round and nicely shaped. Then he saw the image above the word—two birds with blue feet. Blue-footed boobies. Despite the dire situation, a smile tugged at his mouth.

Find your next western read here.

Winter Western Horses by Jan Scarbrough

In 2016 when my husband and I visited The Covered Wagon Ranch in Gallatin Gateway, Montana, near Yellowstone, I was given my own horse for the two-day stay. He was a six-year-old Tennessee walking horse named Mr. Black. He didn’t trot but racked. We never got up enough speed to go that fast because we were climbing up the sides of mountains! The view from the top looking down over the ranch property was scary. Believe me!

During my stay, I learned the horses were driving to a nighttime pasture. Wranglers drove them back in the morning for their job as trail horses for us dudes. I was surprised to find out “The Covered Wagon Ranch and Performance horses spend the off season at lower elevation with less snow and typically warmer weather…” This is not unusual for other ranches in the area. They live outdoors in the snow!

Coming from “back East,” I take riding lessons at an American Saddlebred barn. These horses usually spend most of their time in stalls. Sometimes, they’re turned-out part of the day to graze and be horses. Show horses are sometimes “let down” during the winter and spend some time outdoors. However, other horses “shown year-round usually must be kept inside. Plus, a combination of blankets and stall lights keeps coats short and slick for upcoming competitions.”

The life of Triple Crown Winner American Pharoah consists of time outside, even during breeding season. “As for his daily routine, it’s not complicated. Breeding in the morning, out in the paddock afterward, then lunch. Back to the breeding shed, to the paddock, dinner, and then they are bedded down for the night. However, if a horse is “particularly busy,” the stallion manager said, there’s an evening breeding session.”

All this is to say, I never realized resilience of horses and their ability to remain outside in winter pasture. In her article, The Hardy Horse: How Horses Handle Winter, Heather Smith Thomas gives good insight into the way horses handle chilly months. “Our horses handle winter much better than we do, and my ranch horses in Idaho have managed nicely outdoors, even at 40 below zero. They have several unique ways to stay comfortable in severe weather and do well if allowed to adapt to colder temperatures gradually.” Check out the article for the ways a horse is built to handle the winter.

That’s not to say ranch owners are not concerned about their stock. During that horrible cold snap before Christmas, I spotted this message on the Covered Wagon Ranch Facebook page: “Praying for our horses in these cold temps.”

Of course, I used this knowledge of winter horses in my Western books. You'll find three of my books in the Ghost Mountain Ranch series in a new anthology. You'll be able to read the three romances and discover why the secrets of the past still haunt the living… 

Ghost Mountain Ranch is available at many eBook retailers.

To Live Or Die In Bear Country by Jan Scarbrough

Novelists have imagination. It’s a good thing, because we usually have not experienced many of the things we put in our novels. For example, I’ve never ridden a bull, but I’ve put professional bull riders in my books. So, research is necessary to be a good writer.

In 2016, when I visited a Montana dude ranch, I learned the wranglers who led trail rides carry bear spray. Good reason!

A 2017 article in Montana Journal covers the whole reason hikers or riders need to carry bear spray in areas where they may encounter bears. 

To the uninformed, “bear spray” is the non-lethal deterrent many hikers and hunters carry to thwart bruin attacks or to confront bears behaving in defense-driven incidents. Another salient fact worth noting to debunk the myth of the Old West—the vast, vast, vast majority of grizzlies do not view humans as prey. The vast, vast, vast majority of close encounters with people involve bears that are: 1. instinctively engaging a perceived threat to cubs; 2. surprise encounters when they can't smell, see or hear us as we amble into them, as when they are feeding on a carcass, in a berry patch, walking along a river when there's a lot of white noise from rushing water, or sleeping in their day beds.

Here’s a video from the 2017 article that describes an encounter with a grizzly bear where the hikers deployed bear spray.

So, of course, in one of my next western contemporaries, I had to add a grizzly bear. Slade Heston comes from Kentucky. He’s a real city slicker. Agreeing to accompany heroine Laurie on a hike, he remembers to carry bear spray.

They hadn’t gone far when he heard rustling in the underbrush. Slade looked to his left beside the trail and his steps faltered. A brown bear puffed and grunted and stared at him with beady black eyes. Laurie stopped, and he bumped into her, catching her right arm in a fierce grip.

“Oh, dear God!” Her voice was low and crackled with fear.

Frozen with dread, he swallowed the urge to flee. He didn’t see any cubs. Maybe this wasn’t a sow. So maybe that was a good thing. But if this guy had a fresh kill nearby, Slade knew their lives were in danger.

A span of several heartbeats passed with the bear standing his ground, not moving an inch. Neither did they. Heart thudding in a dreadful beat, he tried to recall Hank’s words. Don’t run. Always carry bear spray.

That’s it! He fumbled for the can of bear deterrent hooked to his belt. It was the size of a giant canister of aerosol hair spray.

“Get behind me, Laurie,” he ordered, but she didn’t move.

He jerked her behind him, and at the same time flicked off the plastic safety. His hand shook as he extended his arm with his thumb on the trigger. Fearing to lose his grip, he grabbed the bottle with two hands. At that moment, the mass of angry brown fur charged.

Slade’s heart slammed into his throat. He deployed the bear spray, tilting the can downward toward the animal, not straight at it, and whipping the can back and forth. The cloud rose in time to hit the rushing creature in the eyes and nose with an acrid fog of mist. In a split second, the bear veered left away from them and vanished into the underbrush.

“Let’s get the hell out of here!”

Trembling, Slade grabbed Laurie’s hand and started down the trail at a fast walk—a very fast walk.

Take a look at my romantic mystery series Ghost Mountain Ranch to read more about Slade.

https://books2read.com/Darby

https://books2read.com/SladeGhostMountain

https://books2read.com/Kelsey

Guest Author Jan Scarbrough

 

Jan Scarbrough 

Writing a western series is fun

 

When I decided to set a series in the American West, I looked for a location. Enter the trusty internet. My setting became a guest ranch in Montana, with the name changed, of course. I knew a little bit about professional bull riding, having researched it for another book. So, I incorporated both things into the series. Then in 2016, my husband and I took a dude ranch vacation. We had a great time and saw the setting for my first series.

 

After that trip, the Ghost Mountain Ranch series was born.

 

 

Let me introduce you to The Dawsons of Montana.

 

BRODY

When champion bull rider Brody Caldera learns his stepfather has suffered a serious accident, he heads home to the ranch he’d left behind years before. Maybe the clean Montana air of the Six Buckles Ranch, near Yellowstone Park, will help him forget his cheating ex-girlfriend. But returning will also force him to confront another woman, the one he deserted when she needed him most.

 

MERCER

The sudden death of Mercer Dawson’s beloved father hit her hard. Everyone at Six Buckles Ranch grieved, but bright spots are appearing in the blue Montana skies. The tragedy brought Mercer’s stepbrother home and now wedding bells are ringing. The best man is a sexy cowboy and Mercer’s teenage crush. Will he notice her now that she’s all grown up?

 

LIZ

Since her husband’s tragic death in a riding accident, Liz Dawson has done all she can to keep the Six Buckles Guest Ranch running. When a handsome stranger arrives at the ranch, she fears her daughter-in-law is playing matchmaker. Liz has already been married to two different men—one wonderful and one not so much. She doesn’t need another man in her life.

 

Then a telephone call opens the door to the next chapter. Hank’s story brings both series together.

 

Ghost Mountain Ranch

 

HANK

On Christmas Eve, Hank, the head wrangler at Six Buckles Ranch, accepts the job of ranch foreman over the mountains in the Gallatin Canyon, Montana. But something dark is happening at the Ghost Mountain Ranch, where the past is reaching out in dangerous ways to haunt the living.

 

DARBY

Thirty years ago, Darby Heston fled her family’s Montana dude ranch. Now she must return to help her father. Would the boyfriend she’d abandoned still be there? Hank Slade has never stopped loving Darby, but is he willing to risk his heart again? Secrets tore them apart once. Given a second chance at love, will more shocking secrets from the past destroy their hopes for the future?

 

SLADE

Slade Heston is spending the summer as a hired hand at his grandfather’s dude ranch, trying to figure out life, not fall in love. Laurie Chastain is supposed to write promotions for the ranch, but she has a secret goal. What did a 1970s radical resistance group have to do with her grandfather? Laurie’s only clue leads her to Ghost Mountain Ranch. Will their growing attraction be enough to protect Slade and Laurie from the ghosts of the past?

 

KELSEY

Kelsey Heston’s using the skills learned at her family’s Kentucky horse farm to improve tourism at her grandfather’s dude ranch. But what is her old college sweetheart doing here? Max Lee has come to Ghost Mountain Ranch searching for a missing woman. Instead, he finds Kelsey. But old secrets are stirring, secrets someone might be willing to kill to keep. Can they finally lay the old ghosts to rest, or will the echoes of a decades-old murder destroy their second chance at love?

 

The secrets of the past still haunt the living…

 

The Dawsons of Montana series is on Kindle Unlimited, but Ghost Mountain Ranch is available at most ebook outlets. Thank you Cowboy Kisses for letting me share my stories with you.

 

 

About Jan Scarbrough

 

Whether it is the Bluegrass of Kentucky, the mountains of Montana, or Medieval England, Jan Scarbrough brings you home with romances from the heart.

 

The author of two popular Bluegrass series, Jan writes heartwarming contemporary romances about home and family, later in life heroines, single moms, and children, and if the plot allows, about another passion—horses. Living in the horse country of Kentucky makes it easy for Jan to add small town, Southern charm to her books and the excitement of a Bluegrass horse race or a competitive horse show.

 

Jan leaves her contemporary voice behind with two paranormal gothic romances, Timeless and Tangled Memories, a Romance Writers of America (RWA) Golden Heart finalist. Her historical romance, My Lord Raven, is a medieval story of honor and betrayal.

 

A member of Novelist, Inc., Jan self-publishes her books with her husband’s help.

 

Jan lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with two rescued dogs, one rescued cat, and a husband she rescued twenty-one years ago.