Linda Lael Miller's new Western Romance, Forever a Hero Review and #Giveaway

Linda Lael Miller’s third book in her series, The Carsons of Mustang Creek.  Forever a Hero debuts March 21^st. And I have a copy to giveaway.

The Carson's of Mustang Creek: Slater, Mace and Drake Carson may be brothers, but that doesn’t mean they are alike. While all three of them can handle a horse, Slater’s interests lie in documentary film making, Drake runs the ranch and Mace runs the family winery. While the books stand alone, I think it's more fun if you read them in order.

Forever a Hero follows Mace, who runs the family winery. And it is my favorite of the three books. Possibly because I loved hearing about running a winery and Kelly, big city girl who'd been sent to try and buy the winery, seemed an unlikely and yet perfect match for Mace.

Linda Lael Miller fills her books with romance set against Wyoming’s big sky country.  She surrounds her protagonists with a close-knit family, loveable, eccentric side characters and delightfully witty dialogue. The give and take among the Carson brothers, their wives and Mace’s maybe-forever love Kelly is great fun to read. It escalates into suspense when the man who attacked Kelly twelve years ago is released from prison.

Blurb:

For the youngest Carson brother, finding—and fixing—trouble seems to be all in a day’s work

Mace Carson never considered himself a hero. Back in college, he came upon a woman in trouble and intervened—but he was just one irate Wyoming cowboy with his boots planted firmly on the side of right. Now a successful vintner, Mace ends up saving her once again. This time rescuing her from a car teetering on the edge of a cliff. The college co-ed he's never forgotten is now a corporate executive representing the company that wants to buy his winery. Only, he’s not selling.

Kelly Wright still has the occasional nightmare about that horrible night ten years ago and she's never forgotten the man saved her. The surprising success of a winery in the middle of ranch country has brought her to Mustang Creek, and she’s secretly thrilled to discover Mace at the helm. Reluctant to mix business with pleasure, Kelly vows to keep things professional, until her attacker is released from prison and comes for vengeance…against both of them.

If you're interested in winning a copy,(Continental US only) please enter the Rafflecopter giveaway. Wishing us all a wonderful week with lots of reading.

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Linda Lael Miller's Always a Cowboy. Review and Giveaway

Always A Cowboy is the second book in Linda's newest series, The Carson's of Mustang Creek. And I have a copy to give away.

Slater, Mace and Drake Carson may be brothers, but that doesn’t mean they are alike. While all three of them can handle a horse, Slater’s interests lie in documentary film-making, Drake runs the ranch and Mace runs the family winery.
Book two follows Drake.
Drake has always know what he wanted. Running the family ranch suits him to a T. The only flies in his ointment are a big cat attacking his cattle, a wild stallion who keeps making off with his best horses and a pesky graduate student who's come to the ranch to study wild horses. And him. It doesn't take long for the graduate student to become his biggest problem.

Luce Hale has her life planned out. She's going to write her thesis on the interaction between wild horses, domesticated animals, and ranchers, and take up her dream job in California, making her mark in the world of Ecology. Being invited by Drake's mother to stay at the ranch is a plus.  The horses draw her, but studying Drake is even more intriguing.

And it's hard to fight their mutual attraction when everyone in the household decides to take up matchmaking.

The dialogue's and the interaction between characters is great. The scenery is beautiful. I would have preferred a little more onstage action with the capture of the wild horses and the cougar. That aside, I enjoyed the read.

This book has a bonus feature - a personal essay by Linda Growing Up Western. The essay had some wonderful stories and I loved reading it. There is also an excerpt from the next book in the series. Forever a Hero.

If you would like a paperback copy of Always a Cowboy. please leave a comment with your email. If you don't leave your email, I won't know how to read you if you win.
Have a happy week. It's September. My favorite month of the year.

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Linda Lael Miller. New series and giveaway.

For all you cowboy-romance lovers, meet Linda Lael Miller. Linda has written Time Travel and Vampire books, but her heart is in the West. The “First Lady of the West” writes contemporary and historical stories that have earned her awards and placements on all the national bestsellers lists.
 And this month Linda is giving away a $100 gift card to the winner's favorite spa in her monthly contest because her newest heroine, Grace Emory, runs the high-end resort and spa in Carson Creek.  Hop on over and enter. I already did. http://www.lindalaelmiller.com/news/april-2016/

Linda's new series is The Carsons of Mustang Creek AND I have a copy of Once a Rancher to give away. 
The series is set in the same area as her Bliss County series, so you’ll meet some old friends. I love series with a connection.
 The Carsons of Mustang Creek have the kind of wealth that makes you think of Dallas and Dynasty, but they are way nicer people. Am I love their mom. I hope she gets her own story.
Slater, Mace and Drake Carson may be brothers, but that doesn’t mean they are alike. While all three of them are born cowboys, Slater’s interests lie in documentary film-making, Drake's interest in protecting the wild mustang herd that's been raiding their ranch's mares, and Mace runs the family winery. In the first book of the series, you get to meet all three of them, but Once a Rancher follows Slater.

 Here's the blurb.

Slater Carson might be a businessman by trade, but he’s a cowboy at heart—and he knows the value of a hard day’s work under the hot Wyoming sun. So when he sees troubled teen Ryder heading down a dangerous path, he offers the boy a job on the ranch he shares with his two younger brothers. And since Ryder’s temporary guardian is the gorgeous new resort manager, Grace Emery, Slater figures it can’t hurt to keep a closer eye on her as well… Grace Emery doesn’t have time for romance. Between settling into her new job and caring for her ex-husband’s rebellious son, her attraction to larger-than-life Slater is a distraction she can’t afford. But when the past catches up to her in Mustang Creek, she’ll discover just how far Slater will go to protect what matters most—and that love is always worth fighting for.

I love all the characters I met in Once a Rancher. Grace is a former cop recently divorced from career military man who never invested any time in his family. Before Grace, his parents took care of his son. Grace took on the responsibility of teenage Ryder and divorce didn't change that. She's determined to make a stable life for them both.
Slater's career is documentary film making and that doesn't leave him much time for a family life. He's attracted against his will to the feisty Spa Manager. He's not ready to get married. And neither is Grace. But there's something drawing them together that won't be ignored.
The give and take between the members of the Carson family and the way they reach out to Grace and her troubled stepson make for great reading.    
I'm giving away an ARC of Once A Rancher.  And I have a question for you. I do giveaways every week. Is it easier for you to enter with a Rafflecopter? Or, by simply leaving a comment?    This week please leave a comment to enter. Read on!

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Being Your Own Valentine

It's a day for love or a day for feeling woefully inadequate because
You haven't met your true love.
You lost your true love.
You have kids and exactly when are you going to be able to shove the dresser up against the bedroom door and celebrate properly?

Or there 's the other scenario:
We're celebrating, but is it romantic enough? I bet some else is out there doing it better.

My least favorite romantic line? "You complete me." From Jerry Maguire.
Said by a needy man who wasn't good with either words or relationships, but what the hey, Tom Cruise said it and he's pretty.
It took me a long time to believe I was worthy of love. And I finally realized that the person I most need to love me is . . . me. I needed to know I was already complete.
There are lots of people I love and lots of people who love me, including my wasband. But none of us complete each other. And that's a good thing.

This year I am my own Valentine and I plan to make a great job of it.
my Agenda:
Buy myself my favorite flowers. I deserve them.

I've made my Valentine at a Valentine party I went to. Inside, I am going to write  the ten things I love most about me.

I haven't decided on my date yet. I'm torn. Go to see Dame Edna at the Music Center and eat beforehand at the Nickel Diner and having their Smore's Cake? Buy myself Jayne Ann Krentz's latest book, Trust No One and snuggle in that night at home with Chocolate?
Hmmm. No matter which I choose, that Smore's cake is going to be part of it. I have my monthly volunteer stint with Reading to Kids at Leo Politi Elementary in the morning and The Nickle Diner is not that far away.
And, of course, I want to give something to YOU, dear readers.
I have five books for giveaway. Three of them by Susan Elizabeth Phillips,  - Breathing Room, Heaven Texas and This Heart of Mine. I am also giving away a copy of Linda Lael Miller's The Marriage Charm and Where's My Hero? Three short stories by Lisa Kleypas, Julia Quinn and Kinley MacGregor.

I'm also giving away a paperback copy of my book, Time and Forever. I forgot I had copies.

That's six prizes.

Leave me a comment telling me at least three good things you are going to tell yourself you love about you. Yes, you are definitely worth loving. Love on!

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Meet Linda Lael Miller and her new book The Marriage Charm

You probably already know NY Times best selling author, Linda Lael Miller, but did you know she was the daughter of a town marshal? I didn't. This was the first book I read by Linda and I look forward to reading many more. Linda has a true love and understanding of the West and of animals. Both are featured in The Marriage Charm, the #2 entry in her Bliss County series which comes out today.
I got an advance copy of The Marriage Charm and sped through it. I love the cast of characters, both animal and human. (I adore Spence's dog, Harley and Melody's three identical cats who function as though one.) The background is Wyoming and her descriptions are right on.
Background:
The women of Bliss County have a pact—to find husbands. The right husbands.

One already has: Hadleigh Stevens, who married rancher Tripp Galloway a few months ago. Now Melody Nolan thinks it’s her turn. Melody has recently found success as a jewelry designer, and her work is the focus of her life. She’s not exactly unhappy, but she wants more. She’s always been attracted to Spence Hogan, the local chief of police, but she’s convinced that Spence, a notorious charmer, isn’t what you’d call husband material.
Spence is a good cop who isn’t scared of anything—except love. And he’s done everything he can do preserve his reputation as a womanizer—a reputation that keeps marriage-minded women, including Melody, at bay. And yet… there’s something about Melody he can’t forget. Something his heart can’t ignore.

I love firsts: Could you please tell us about hearing from your agent or publisher when you made your first sale?

On February 14, 1983, Pocket Books editor Kate Duffy called me with the best Valentine ever--an offer to buy my first novel, "Fletcher's Woman as part of their Tapestry line of historical romances.

This is Linda's Q&A about the book.

In THE MARRIAGE CHARM, Melody Nolan falls in love with Chief of Police, Spence Hogan. Spence has a reputation that he’ll never settle down. Is his reputation deserved? And just what is it about Melody that has grabbed the attention of womanizer Spence Hogan?
Spence has actually cultivated his reputation as a player, in order to avoid settling down, and it’s served him well—until now. He and Melody were in love, years before, but the time wasn’t right for marriage; Spence knew that, but Melody didn’t. Now, following their mutual friends’ romantic wedding, the old attraction is back.
Female friendships play an important role in THE MARRIAGE CHARM. Do you have female friends that support you the way Hadleigh and Bex support Melody?
 Oh, yes. I have a number of very close female friends, people I can confide in, and most of them go way back. I wouldn’t know what to do without these strong, smart, funny women. Through all the ups and downs, we’ve always been there for each other.
Melody is a talented jewelry designer and I love the description of her pieces in the book! Did you do research on jewelry design and jewelry making before writing the scenes where she’s working on some of her creations?
Some research, yes. I’m an artist myself, and I love beautiful jewelry, so this career made sense for Melody.
There’s some danger and mysteryin THE MARRIAGE CHARM. How did you decide to work suspense into this story? Was it always a natural part of the plot or did you want there to be some mystery involved?
 Sometimes an element of suspense fits the story and characters, and I decide to go with it.
Do you work with a specific ‘image’ in mind when creating your characters? Do you base them on people you’ve met or know, or are they more composites of real-life and your imagination?
I often base my characters’ appearance on a famous person, but then they evolve and become themselves, in my mind and, hopefully, the reader’s, too.
That makes me want to go back and puzzle out who they might be based on.

Whoever you did base them on, they've taken on a wonderful life of their own.
Thank you, Linda for doing this Q&A.
Linda can be reached via her Website. 
Follow her on Facebook 
or Twitter
I have a copy of The Marriage Charm to give away to some lucky reader.

Enter via Rafflecopter below. Happy reading.
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