Author Spotlight: Back in Montana with Barbara Ankrum and the Hardestys!

We have a winner! Heather Farr, you are Barbara’s recipient of a gift e-book from her Tule books. Congratulations and Barbara will be in touch with you! Thanks to everyone who stopped by! We love talking to our readers!

Welcome back to fellow Tule author Barbara Ankrum! Barbara has a thing for the West and has written both historical and contemporary romances,  all set in that magical place. Twice nominated for RWA’s RITA Award, her bestselling books are emotional, sexy rides with a touch of humor. Barbara’s married and raised two children in Southern California, which, in her mind, makes her a native Westerner. Her newest novel releases today, and I’m delighted to celebrate with her!

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First of all, thanks, Nan, for inviting me back to your blog. I always enjoy visiting with your blog readers.

This past year and a half, I’ve been head down, writing this four-book series—The Hardestys of Montana—for Tule Publishing. Every now and then, I pop my head up on social media to see what in the world is going on. But mostly, I’ve been lost on a ranch in Montana, creating a family for readers to fall in love with. Meanwhile, I fell in love with them, too! The Cowboy’s Bride came out in June.

The second book in this series, set in Marietta, Montana, is called Cowboy, Don’t Go. And I’m so excited to tell you that it comes out today, September 19! This one follows single mom, Shay Hardesty and the handsome cowboy, Cooper Lane, an old school classmate/secret crush who returns to Marietta after a scandal ruined his family and had him exiled to Texas for years. Now, he’s back to help his father start his life over after an unjust prison sentence. Cooper is working on Shay’s ranch as a horse trainer as well as helping them build their guest ranch. But Shay resists her feelings for him, worried his father’s cattle-rustling scandal will damage their fledgling ranch business by association.

Cooper’s determination to get a second chance with Shay Hardesty is only eclipsed by his commitment to clear his father’s name. And just as she begins to believe they might have a chance, break-ins on the ranch and mysterious threats risk undoing all that. But who is behind it all? And can their rekindled relationship survive what is uncovered?

Here’s the funny thing about writing the way I do. I loosely plot my series before I start, but mostly I know who the characters are going to be and what the general arc of the series and the characters will be. But the story often takes me in directions I didn’t know it would go. This book—aside from knowing it would be Shay’s book and Cooper’s—really came from a single line I wrote in the first book about how the siblings knew there was something fishy that happened with the ranch finances after their father’s death.

Now, even as I wrote that, I had no idea what that fishy-ness involved. But as I started book two, I found my hero standing outside a prison to pick up his ex-con father. What?? Really, I had no idea that was going to happen.

That’s the fun about writing for me. Threading those discoveries together to make a whole. Sometimes, a line that feels unrooted takes hold in some weird way and pays off down the road, and you think “Yeah, see? I intended that all along.” But really, it was just some little subconscious niggle that begged to be told. And it was just…magic.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one and fall in love with Cooper and Shay as I did. There’s so much heart and angst in this one. Please let me know if you get a chance to read it and leave me a review somewhere, because that helps us writers out so much!

Here’s a GIVEAWAY of an e-copy of Cowboy, Don’t Go (or any of my Tule books) because I love you guys! Just comment here and tell me if you had a vacation to go on, would you rather go to a 1) Dude ranch in the west, 2) The beach or 3) A mountain cabin?  I’ll choose a winner on Saturday, Sept. 21. Please check back to see if you’ve won!

Cowboy, Don’t Go

Single mom, Shay Hardesty, thinks her life finally checks all the boxes: teenage son and semi-dysfunctional, but loving family, check. New ranch enterprise, check. Heartbreak free? Check. Then her brother hires her old secret crush, the sexy cowboy Cooper Lane to work on their Marietta Ranch. Uncheck! She fears the cattle rustling scandal that tore his family apart could hurt her fledgling business by association. Worse, his hard work and kindness toward her son are breaking down her carefully built walls, risking her cautious heart.

After years of exile training horses in Texas, Cooper returns to Montana to rebuild his life with his dad who’s finally freed from prison. Working on the Hardesty ranch is a blessing and crossing swords daily with the beautiful Shay is a challenge. Changing her mind about him won’t be easy, but he’s loved her since they were kids, and he’ll work hard for this second chance.

But when the ranch experiences break-ins and vandalism, Cooper wonders if the answers will bring him and Shay closer or snap the fragile trust he’s worked so hard to build?

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