I’m happy to welcome back multi-published author Linda Bradley. Today, Linda shares ten interesting facts about the protagonist of her new release, Unbranded.

1. At the age of seven, Chloe McIntyre first appeared in my debut novel, Maggie’s Way. Chloe was a supporting character with a mission to make friends. She was also a supporting character in Maggie’s Fork in the Road, Maggie’s Montana, and A Montana Bound Christmas. In my new release—Unbranded, Chloe has grown into a determined young woman and is the star.

2. Chloe can ride and wrangler better than any hired hand.

3. Chloe would rather spend her life wrangling and ranching than being married and having a family.

4. Chloe was raised by her father and her grandfather on the family’s 617 ranch. Her relationship with her mother is rocky, and they rarely see each other. Chloe is everything Montana. Her mother is pure Hollywood. The two women spend more time trying to change each other than appreciating unique differences.

5. Chloe is like the Doctor Dolittle of her grandfather’s Montana ranch. There isn’t an animal that doesn’t love her.

6. Chloe is as close to the ranch foreman, Trout as she is to her father and grandfather. Their relationship consists of lively banter, honesty, and life lessons.

7. Chloe was not a strong reader growing up, but thanks to neighbor, Maggie Abernathy, now stepmom, Chloe loves reading and has developed an interest in poetry.

8. Chloe’s desire to be independent drives her ambition.

9. Chloe does not accept coming in second very well. Her box of childhood rodeo trophies is proof.

10. Chloe’s habit of taking in strays included taking in broken people. Despite her father’s request to limit the animals, Chloe’s heart does the talking when she meets an animal with purpose.

Blurb

Threatened by the unexpected, a devoted rancher refuses to compromise her ambition or her legacy.

CHLOE MCINTYRE is determined to become the co-CEO of her grandfather’s Montana ranch, but her father isn’t ready to become partners—yet.

Jaded memories of her parents’ shotgun wedding gone wrong cloud her attraction for best friend Matt Cooper when she discovers she’s pregnant—with his baby. Chloe believes raising a child isn’t in her genes, and she doesn’t expect a marriage proposal. She keeps her condition a secret to hold her position on the ranch and continue what she does best: wrangling strays and working alongside hired hands.

After her father announces his first choice for co-CEO, a wild ride jeopardizes the pregnancy, and Chloe questions life choices. Will the cowgirl grit she has inherited from her grandmother be enough to rein in her disappointment, or will she walk away from everything that could flourish into love?

Endorsement

“Linda Bradley’s magical manipulation of words creates a symphony in the reader’s mind, building lasting impressions to savor. If you love young women with grit and determination, then this is the story for you.” – Roni Hall, author of Montana Wild and Third Man on the Left

Buy Links

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AU

Author Bio and Links

Linda’s inspiration comes from her favorite authors and life itself. Her character-driven stories integrate humor found in everyday situations, family drama, and forever love. Her distinct voice creates memorable journeys and emotion.

Linda’s been a finalist in the Booksellers Best Contest and Romance Reviews Readers’ Choice Awards. Linda lives in Michigan with her artist husband, sons, and rescue dog. Linda loves art, animals, and stories with hope and heart.

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I’m happy to welcome back bestselling author Liz Flaherty. Today, Liz shares her perspective on camping and her new release, Life’s Too Short for White Walls.

Here’s Liz!

1. I don’t do it. But don’t think too much of that—I wish I did it. However, I’m at a time of my life that I want the hardest work I do on “off-duty” times to be deciding where we’re going to have dinner.

2. Camping creates the most beautiful memories. Decades after many camping weekends with my friend Shirley and her parents, I remember hayrides, firesides, cute boys, instant friends we walked campgrounds with, square dancers, and the most wonderful food.

3. Camping creates community. Shirley’s parents made and kept friends from among other campers. My daughter and son-in-law have done the same thing.

4. If you are camping in a tent a long way from restrooms, the first thing you will need to do when you lie down in your sleeping bag is go to the bathroom.

5. Campgrounds are fun to create for fiction titles. Believe me, everyone will want to go to Banjo Creek Cabins and Campground after they read Life’s Too Short for White Walls.

6. Glamping is a wonderful alternative to camping. Other than the fact that I think it would be a pain to haul or drive your house around with you, motor homes and travel trailers have lovely amenities to recommend them. I am frankly horrified at how much they cost, but then, I’m horrified by motel prices “in season,” too.

7. There is intimacy to camping. I’m a “heart on my sleeve” girl anyway, but sharing a campfire with girlfriends (and wine) must surely be one of the most therapeutic things in the world. My only experience with this is gathering around a fireplace at a writers’ retreat, but it was wonderful. Crickets in the background and a circle of lawn chairs would only make it better.

8. This may be a stretch, but I think a campfire creates a level playing field. Everyone smells like smoke. Designer jeans, sweatshirt, and windbreaker don’t look any better than the ones off the clearance rack at Walmart. If it’s rained—which it usually does while camping, doesn’t it? —everyone’s hair is frizzy and hastily applied lipstick looks the same whether it cost $25 or $3.99 a tube.

9. You don’t have to like hot dogs or marshmallows to like roasting them, nor do you have to like s’mores to enjoy squishing them together for a kid waiting anxiously for you to hand it to them.

10. The lyrics to Cole Porter’s “Don’t Fence Me In.” Yes, those. I was so surprised when the setting of Life’s Too Short for White Walls was a campground. It was intended to be Joss’s grandparents’ farm, but somewhere between her adolescence and her search for a safe place half a lifetime later, it became a campground owned by a retired helicopter pilot and college professor Ezra McIntire. I was also happy. I love their story. I hope you do, too.

Blurb

Still reeling from her divorce, Joss Murphy flees to Banjo Bend, Kentucky, where she’d been safe and happy as a child. The family farm is now a campground. Weary and discouraged, she talks owner Ezra McIntire into renting her a not-quite-ready cabin.

With PTSD keeping him company, Ez thrives on the seclusion of the campground. The redhead in Cabin Three adds suggestions to his improvement plans, urging color and vibrancy where there was none.

Neither is looking for love, yet the attraction they share is undeniable. Can the comfort of campfires, hayrides, and sweet kisses bring these two lost souls together?

Buy Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple Books

Author Bio and Links

Liz Flaherty is rather bewildered by where she’s at in life. She doesn’t feel…er…elderly, but the truth is that she is. The Magnificent Seven grands have grown up on her, her own kids are all now older than she is, and her husband Duane has the same firm hold on her heart he’s always had.

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Giveaway

Liz Flaherty will be awarding a $5 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

I’m happy to welcome equestrian and author Julia Merritt. Today, Julia shares equine tips and her debut novel, horse/man.

1. Horses are wonderful creatures with far more intelligence and ability than they have been given credit for. There’s new research coming out every day that illuminates difference facets of their capabilities, and a growing number of equestrians who want to honour and work with horses as partners using their language and perspective.

2. Horses are a mirror of ourselves, and they will teach the humans that interact with them – whether the humans want to learn or not! If you become involved in horses, make sure you invest in some serious self-reflection. The journey is very rewarding.

3. There’s a discipline for everyone! Whether you prefer the adrenaline rush of galloping over fences cross-country, or having a quiet walk together, there are a multitude of option. You don’t even have to ride to be involved and find great joy in them.

4. There are many ways to participate as an athlete, and you don’t have to own a horse to do it. You can take lessons and book extra practice rides, lease a horse owned by someone else, or even find an arrangement to trade stable work for riding time.

5. Horses may seem like a thing of the past, but there are millions in North America, and there’s undoubtedly a community of horse people near you. If it’s not the discipline you like, they can probably refer you to the right people in the area.

6. The financial costs of being involved in horses are scalable to many levels of income. The glittery photos from the top levels of the sport may look intimidating, but there are many ways to contain the costs – and having to count our pennies is more common than you may think.

7. Horse people can be a little eccentric, often preferring animals to humans. If you find someone who’s unfriendly or bad at business, don’t let it spoil your whole experience of the sport. There are many people who are trying to make the sport more welcoming, so pay the crusty ones no mind and find someone who cares about new riders.

8. Equestrian sport is something that a person of any age or ability can do. Riders can be eighty years old, have a physical disability, be two years old, or anywhere in-between. Not every horse or stable can help every rider, but once you find the right match, it is a wonder. The horse equalizes and unites us.

9. Horses are livestock, not house pets. They have physical and mental needs that are very different from dogs and cats, and these must be respected. When people ignore those needs, the animals struggle.

10. Horses will captivate you. You can spend a lifetime learning about them. They will delight you and break your heart, but the effort is worth it.

Blurb

What happens when your entire identity revolves around a way of life that is becoming obsolete?

In the 1920s, as Canada progresses through the Industrial Revolution, horses are still the rural engines of survival. As a child Adam lives this reality on his family’s farm in the Ottawa Valley, planning to take over one day and have a family of his own. When his parents die during the Great Depression, nineteen-year-old Adam is disinherited in favour of his brother and is forced to move to the city to find work. Without a formal education his choices are few, yet he finds a place to use his horsemanship skills in the dwindling forces of the Canadian cavalry based near Montreal. There he finds pride in being a mounted soldier, and friendship with his fellow dragoons. But the cavalry units are mechanized by the beginning of World War Two, and when Adam is sent to Europe, he must abandon his equine partners for trucks and tanks. In the catastrophic experience of war, he will lose everything once again.

Broken in body and spirit, he returns to Canada where he must confront the question of survival in a world that doesn’t seem to have a place for an injured soldier. Full of poetic reflections on what it means to work with horses, horse/man is a powerful story about a man searching for dignity and connection in the face of a rapidly shifting world.

Excerpt

Adam got onto his knees for a better view, holding on to the side of the wagon.

The car revealed itself to be a shiny Model T. Perhaps the driver, like the horses, could not resist the lure of moving in the sunshine. Adam watched the car bump slowly over the ruts, advancing towards them. Grey smoke wisped behind it.

Ciaran slowed the team to a walk, and they could hear the engine, a hum that grew to a rumble. Pete and Jack jerked their heads as it got close, banging into each other.

“Go on, get up,” Ciaran growled. The horses’ ears twisted sideways and forwards, trying to decide between the driver or the instinct to flee. The wagon’s tongue rattled as their legs jostled.

The car driver slowed and lifted his hand as he passed the wagon. Ciaran raised his hand in response, the other clenched on the lines attached to Jack and Pete’s gaping mouths. When the car had gone safely by, he reached over, picked the buggy whip out of its holder, and smacked each rump with the corded lash.

“Go on, trot!” he commanded, loosening the lines. The team straightened out and carried on with their jobs. Adam stared at the receding vehicle, wrinkling his nose at the stench of the fumes.

Buy Links

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Indigo | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Smashwords

Author Bio and Links

Julia Merritt has been captivated by horses ever since she could see out of the car window. Then she grew up and became a public library CEO and certified animal bodyworker. She lives in Ontario, Canada, with her thoroughbred horses and smooth collie dogs. This is her first novel.

Connect with Julia Merritt:

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We’re giving away 100 e-copies of horse/man, the new historical fiction novel by Julia Merritt. Don’t miss your chance to win! Click to enter here.

Giveaway

Julia Merritt will be awarding a $15 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

I’m happy to welcome back Wild Rose Press author Margot Johnson. Today, Margot shares her favorite travel destinations and her new release, Let it Melt.

Here’s Margot!

Let it Melt is book Two in the Merilee Tours series.

Merilee reinvents her boring life by launching a tour business which leads to fun adventures and surprising romance. In Let it Snowball, she takes her guests to bakeries in three different towns to sample Christmas cookies. In Let it Melt, she hosts a Valentine’s Sweetheart Tour to a country restaurant and to a café in another town for dessert.

Merilee’s tours are based around the fictional town of Goldview, Saskatchewan, the Canadian prairie province where I live. Like Merilee, I love to visit different places whether close to home or farther afield.

Here are ten of my favorite travel destinations, many of them in SK, Canada’s sunniest province!

1. Moose Jaw, SK – a city with a small-town feel, I set my first book, Love Takes Flight, there. Legend has it that Al Capone hid out in tunnels under the city, and it has a great mineral spa for a relaxing soak.

2. Waskesiu, SK – This touristy town sits on the shores of a lake in Prince Albert National Park in northern Saskatchewan. Our family visits every year to breathe the fresh, pine-scented air, hang out at the beach, and watch for wildlife. Elk often cruise the town, and you might see a bear along the road.

3. Madge Lake, SK – Another beautiful lake setting in Saskatchewan where our family has started an annual holiday tradition.

4. Eastend, SK – This small town is best known for the nearby discovery of a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton nicknamed “Scotty” in 1994. We stayed in a country cottage and had fun exploring the area.

5. Niagara Falls & Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario – The falls and scenery are amazing, and the area is full of tourist attractions, historic sites, and quaint shops.

6. Quebec City – My daughters and I holidayed there and soaked up some history, sampled poutine, and practiced our French.

7. Prince Edward Island – I only made a short stop there partway through a business trip, but I’d love to return. It’s the setting for the Anne of Green Gables books, and it boasts distinctive, red soil.

8. New York City – Rick and I honeymooned there, and I’ll never forget the excitement of attending Wicked and Jersey Boys on Broadway and seeing all the famous sights in person.

9. Disney World, Florida – Because who doesn’t love nonstop fun—with or without kids.

10. Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico – There’s no better place to escape winter than this peaceful area with its beautiful beaches and perfect weather. I can’t wait to book tickets when it’s safe to travel.

Blurb

How on earth did Jill, a single divorcee, land on a romantic Valentine’s Sweetheart Tour for couples? Worse, she’s paired with Jack, her daughter’s brash father-in-law, and everyone thinks he’s her valentine. Stranded in a Canadian prairie blizzard, how soon can she kiss this awkward evening goodbye?

Long divorced, Jack would love to charm Jill with his toned body and dynamic personality, but his wisecracks and obsession with fitness get in the way—especially when he nabs a post at the same school where she teaches.

Even the most romantic month of the year can’t melt their differences and sweeten Jill’s feelings…or can it?

Read/Buy Links

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

Author Bio and Links

Margot Johnson writes feel-good stories of dreams, family, and romance.

She is the author of two sweet romance novels, LOVE TAKES FLIGHT and LOVE LEADS THE WAY, and two novellas, LET IT SNOWBALL and LET IT MELT. Her characters can’t possibly find their happy endings…or can they?

Before turning her focus to the fun writing life, Margot held leadership roles in human resources and communications. Her motto is “Dream big and work hard.”

When not writing, she loves to connect with family and friends, volunteer with SK Writers Guild, and walk at least 10,000 steps a day (except when it’s minus 40!)

Margot lives in the Canadian prairies with her amazing husband and adorable golden retriever.

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I’m happy to welcome award-winning author Nancy Raven Smith. Today, Nancy shares her favorite cozy mysteries and new release, Bushwacked in the Outback.

Here’s Nancy!

While I enjoy many mystery genres, this is a list of my favorite cozy mystery series. Some are old, some are new, and the list is in no particular order. It’s in no particular order. Things that I enjoy most in cozies are well written original characters, unusual locations, humor, suspense, adventure, and the unexpected. And of course, my top ten list should probably be my top fifty to include all the ones I truly enjoy. I hope you’ll discover a series that you’re not familiar with and enjoy it, too. Everyone has their own list of authors whose work they enjoy. Please share your favorite cozies. I’d love to discover some new ones.

1. Agatha Raisin Mysteries by M.C. Beaton

Agatha is a former ad agency owner, now retired to her dream cottage in a small English village. She’s quirky, unintentionally funny, and on the hunt for a man. She soon learns her imagined idyllic life has barnacles attached – including unfriendly villagers and dead bodies. I’ll never forget Beating About The Bush where Agatha defends Wizz Wazz the donkey and becomes a national celebrity.

Sadly M.C. Beaton passed in 2019. R.W. Green will continue the series.

2. Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries by Kerry Greenwood

Phryne is rich, elegant and smart. With her pearl handled pistol and the help of her family, adopted and otherwise, she stops injustice wherever she sees it. The stories take place in 1920s Australia, but Phryne is not boxed in by the usual conventions of her time.

3. Miss Fortune Mystery Series by Jana DeLeon

Fortune is a CIA assassin hiding in Sinful, Louisiana from an international arms dealer. But living in a small, southern, bayou town, pretending to be a librarian may be her hardest assignment yet. When bones show up in her yard, as well as two old ladies, she’s suddenly embroiled in a local mystery. And it turns out there’s more to the old ladies than she expected. Will her cover get blown?

4. The Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries by Heather Haven

Lee Alvarez is the lead P.I. for her family’s detective agency located in Silicon Valley, CA. It’s called Discretionary Inquiries and it deals mainly with the theft of intellectual property and computer software with an occasional murder thrown in here and there. Each family member has his or her own special talent that makes the agency work. Like any family, each one also has their flaws and quirks.

5. Country Club Murders by Julie Mulhern
Ellison Russell has a problem. She’s a body magnet. She even swims into dead bodies at her Country Club pool. She also has to deal with a rebellious teenaged daughter, an over bearing mother, and a suspicious new detective. Her husband’s multiple affairs don’t help. Neither does the fact that she’s also a target for killers who are unsure of what she knows.

6. Poppy Field’s Adventures by Julie Mulhern

Poppy’s Mexican beach vacation is the start of her crazy new life when she’s abducted by a drug lord. She’s not prepared to rise to the occasion. She’s a rich, fashionista, with a movie-star mother, 84 million Instagram followers, and paparazzi following her every move. She has no obvious talent other than a gift for picking clothes and accessories.

Now her life has turned into one of her mother’s movies, but with real bullets and bad guys. Will she be able to survive?

7. Patricia Fisher Mystery Adventures by Steve Higgs

Discovering her husband’s affair sends middle-aged Patricia off the deep end. She empties her husband’s bank account and signs on to an around the world cruise ship that’s departing immediately. Unfortunately, she’s quickly thrown in the middle of a murder investigation where she’s the main suspect. Did she jump out of one bad situation and into a worse one? Can she solve the murder and save herself with the help of the new friends she’s made on board?

8. Murder on Maui Series – Robert W. Stephens

Edgar Allan “Poe” Rutherford has lost his job and his girl. He heads to Maui, where he’s looking forward to a vacation with an old friend. When a murder is blamed on his friend, Poe is determined to solve the mystery. He not only manages to save his friend, but he discovers two new loves – Maui and Detective Alana Hu.

9. Chloe Jackson Sea Glass Saloon Mystery Series by Sherry Harris

Most of us know Sherry Harris as the author of the popular Garage Sale Mysteries, but she has a new series with protagonist Chloe Jackson, a former Chicago librarian. Chloe is fulfilling a promise to help her late boyfriend’s grandmother run the Sea Glass Saloon located in the Florida Panhandle town of Emerald Cove. Turns out the location is the target of land developers and vacationers. Chloe loves her new life pouring beers and mixing cocktails at the Saloon. It’s just that the grandmother and the residents aren’t what she was expecting.

10. Chet and Bernie Mysteries by Spencer Quinn

Author Spencer Quinn had me at his titles. Who can resist Dog On It, To Fetch A Thief, Scents and Sensibility, Tender Is The Bite, or It’s A Wonderful Woof? The original, funny mysteries told through Chet, the dog’s, POV don’t disappoint either.

Blurb

“If you can’t follow the money, follow the body.”

Lexi loves her job as a Beverly Hills bank fraud investigator. It lets her pursue scam artists and con men – known in the business as land sharks.

Sadly, one crook left her with a broken heart and a destroyed reputation. And the bank’s president is looking for any excuse to fire her.

Yet she risks everything when she follows a dead embezzler’s casket to Coober Pedy in the Australian outback. She knows it’s a gamble, but it’s her last hope to recover the bank’s stolen money. Unfortunately, she’s persona non grata in that country. She needs to get in, find the money, and get out before the Australian police discover her presence. But will the unexpected appearance of an ex-lover make her linger too long?

If you like cozy mysteries in exotic locations with deadly secrets and touches of humor, then you’ll enjoy the multi award winning Land Sharks Cozy Mystery series.

Buy Links

Amazon (US) | Amazon (CA) | Amazon (UK) | Amazon (AU)

Author Bio and Links

Nancy Raven Smith grew up in Virginia, where she ran and participated in horse sport events. On their farm, she rescued horses, dogs, and cats and is an advocate for animal rescue. Later in California, she traded her event experience for film work. Her screenplays and novels have won numerous major awards. When not writing, Raven Smith enjoys her family and friends, travel, art, movies, and white-water rafting. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Women in Film.

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