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So after writing a whole series of sweet, small town, contemporary romances, why am I starting a new series of Christian cowboys? Here’s the scoop: The McCormick’s Creek romances were planned from the beginning to be clean and secular. A friend asked if I’d considered writing Christian romance, but I hadn’t felt my stories leading that direction. Not at all. McCormick’s Creek was great to write, discovering new characters and conniving to help them fall in love. But the most fun I had was in Safe in His Heart (#3) where Robin goes out to get a stray dog from a ranch where it was causing problems. I didn’t know who her love interest was going to be, so imagine my delight when she was greeted by a young cowboy unloading hay! Their love story includes ranch stuff, her learning to ride horses, an injured horse, and more. Having raised horses most of my life, it was total fun! |
With the next book, Stealing His Heart, where Robin’s BFF-turned-mean-girl nemesis returns to town. Raine has made a TON of mistakes, some quite serious, and the last one was a huge wake-up call for her. So it’s a redemption story: her path back to being a good person and proving herself trustworthy again.
Unsurprisingly, my faith kept wanting to come out as I wrote. But this isn’t an inspirational series, I had to keep reminding myself.I had a little more freedom with The Christmas Key to Her Heart, because Nora’s faith is so much a part of her. But I still kept it to a minimum.
While I still have more characters to meet in McCormick’s Creek, I was feeling the urge to start a new series. And this time, I wanted to include horses and faith. Not heavy evangelical stories or crisis-of-faith journeys. Just regular people for whom Christianity is a normal part of their lives. And horses that nicker and twitch their ears and are characters in their own right.
So…Black Rock Ranch is home to one aging father, four handsome brothers, a younger sister, and a bunch of ranch hands. Plus cattle and horses and problems and… you get the idea. Adam and Maddy’s story, Cherished by the Rancher, will be out TOMORROW (June 4th).
I hope you’ll come with me on this new ride!
