Ghost Mountain Ranch by Jan Scarbrough

Ghost Mountain Ranch Series

by Jan Scarbrough

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Book Blurbs:

The Ghost Mountain Ranch series is a good blend of mystery and romance. 

The secrets of the past still 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? 

 

"Kudos to Jan Scarbrough for keeping the characters interesting and the plot twists intriguing from the first book to the last." Reader Review 

 https://books2read.com/GhostMountainRanch (ebook) 

Paperback: https://amzn.to/3vHieeS 

Excerpt 

 Hank Slade placed the receiver back on the cradle, hauled a lung full of air, and faced Leo’s I-can-take-it expression. “She won’t come.” 

“I didn’t think she’d come.” Leo’s voice was flat. His old, rheumy eyes followed Hank across the office floor. 

Hank sank into his desk chair. His shoulders slumped. “She said she was busy.” 

“But you sure did shame her good.” 

Hank tilted back in his chair. “Tried to.” 

“Well.” Leo pushed himself out of the armchair across from Hank’s desk. “I thank you for doing what you could do.” 

“For as much good as it did.” Hank rummaged through the stack of papers on his desktop shifting an invoice into another pile on the right. When he came on at the Ghost Mountain Ranch back in January, he hadn’t realized the extent of Leo’s estrangement from his only child Darby. “Thirty years is a long time to hold a grudge.” 

Leo hefted on a Carhartt coat over his down vest and picked up his cowboy hat from a side table. “Girl ran away, and she’s just not coming home.” 

Hank’s gut snarled into a knot like the one he’d felt that Friday night when he and Darby were eighteen. He’d been worried then about the first kiss he wanted. Now he worried about the man he’d known most of his life. Leo was no longer the energetic cowboy he remembered. Bad heart, plus a fall from a horse had taken its toll on the eighty-five-year-old. “I hope I didn’t have anything to do with it.” 

“Nope.” The old man grasped the office doorknob with a gnarled hand. “Her mother dying like she did caused Darby to leave.” 

“But why would she leave you?” 

“She had her reasons.” 

His answer made no sense, but that was all the taciturn man would give. Leo set his cowboy hat on his head, opened the office door, and stepped out onto the porch. 

Montana cold blew into the cabin, and Hank felt the chill more keenly than normal. It seeped inside him, turning the concern he felt into an icy shard in his stomach. Hank tapped a finger on the desk. He’d left the ranch at eighteen, after he and Darby had broken up, and he’d never been back. But if his dad had been alive and he knew he might be dying, he’d have come home straight away. 

“Damn, Darby, this isn’t right.” 

He stood, snatched up the phone, and dialed the office number back in Kentucky where a woman who said she was Darby’s daughter might answer again. 

 

Bio: 

The author of two popular Bluegrass romance series, Jan Scarbrough writes heartwarming contemporary stories about home and family, single moms, and children. 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. 

The Ghost Mountain Ranch series is a contemporary western series with a good blend of mystery and happily-ever-after romance. The Dawsons of Montana is another four-book contemporary western series. The character of Hank brings together two series: The Dawsons of Montana and Ghost Mountain Ranch. 

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. She lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with two rescued dogs and two rescued cats. 

https://janscarbrough.com/ website 

Newsletter signup (free ebook) https://janscarbrough.com/contact/ 

 

Primal Destiny by Dania Voss

 

Fate that refuses to be ignored

Primal Destiny

by Dania Voss

Genre: Steamy Paranormal Romance

The secret is out. Shifters exist and live among humans.

Humans fall into two camps: Those who consider shifters monsters but manage to co-exist with them, and those who want to get close to them, relishing their power.

Tessa Cooper, a single mother devoted to her three-year-old daughter, is firmly in the first camp, doing her best to keep her biases to herself. But one look at Dario Kingston Renzetti, a wealthy lion shifter, and she senses her life will never be the same.

The moment Dario sees Tessa in his bar, he knows he’s found his fated mate – age difference be damned. Learning she wants nothing to do with shifters – especially romantically – is another matter altogether. But nobody said he wasn't determined.

Can Dario’s persistence convince Tessa he’s not hiding dark secrets that would reinforce her opinion of shifters, or will she deny them their primal destiny?

Pick up this steamy, age gap, rejected mate paranormal romance today and find out.

 

 

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Tessa was impressed by Dario’s and Fabrizio’s generosity. She now understood why Emelia had sung Dario’s praises since she’d started at the magazine two years ago.

Over delicious and filling appetizers, they helped Emelia calm down and organize what needed to be done in the next couple of hours before she and Fabrizio flew to Boston.

“I hate leaving you in the lurch for so many weeks though, Dario,” Emelia lamented. Then she glanced at Tessa with excitement in her eyes. “I know! Tessa should fill in for me while I’m gone. The idiots she worked for laid her off two days ago. That job was beneath her anyway. It would be perfect.”

Tessa’s head was spinning. In a matter of minutes, she had all of Emelia’s magazine system login credentials, had hugged her goodbye, and was now alone with Dario.

Who had removed his costume cape and was now gloriously shirtless.

She bolted out of her chair, needing to put some distance between them, and leaned against his desk. “Surely you can find someone else to fill in for Emelia. Someone already at the magazine? I appreciate her confidence in me, but I can’t work for you.”

Dario raised a brow from his seat at the conference table. Hunger flared in his hypnotic blue eyes. “Because of your shifter bias, as Emelia put it?”

A flush crept across Tessa’s cheeks as he called her out on her shifter issues. “I… I’ll admit shifters make me uncomfortable. I mean no offense to you and yours personally.”

Dario regarded her compassionately before he stood and walked toward her. He stopped in front of her, leaving some much-needed space between them. Still, she felt his body heat and her pulse ratcheted up.

“I appreciate that. Think of the practicalities, though. You’d be helping your friend when she needs you and finally getting work experience worthy of your Columbia MBA.”

Dario was right of course, but he did strange things to her emotions. Tessa felt out of control around him and that scared the shit out of her. “I could get that work experience anywhere. I don’t need to get it from your magazine. Why are you so insistent?” He stealthily got closer, making her tremble against her will, his unique scent driving her insane with desire.

He twirled a lock of her hair around his fingers, and Tessa’s body lit up with awareness. How did he do that?

“Because you, per sempre mio, are my mate.”

Tessa couldn’t bring herself to resist when Dario captured her lips in a hungry kiss. Their tongues tangled greedily, and her head swam. Their connection was electric. He tasted like heaven and sin, and she was hopelessly hooked.

They were both panting when they broke apart. “No. I can’t be your mate.” She whispered, but in her heart, she believed Dario was probably right.

“I know it doesn’t fit with your shifter bias narrative, but I and my lion knew the moment we saw you; the moment we smelled your delectable scent that you were our destiny. Our primal destiny.” Dario didn’t stop her when she moved away from him and rubbed her arms, nearly in a panic.

“You might be mistaken.”

“I’m absolutely certain and I think you are too. You feel the mating bond just as I do, don’t you?

If that’s what she felt toward him was called, she did. “No, I don’t. I’ll help Emelia out because she needs me, but we can’t ever kiss again. I mean it.”

The deep timbre of Dario’s laugh sent chills down Tessa’s spine.

“Oh, my sweet mate, but we will. Many more times. Because you’ll want to. You can count on it,” Dario declared as a wicked grin spread across his face.

Int’l bestseller and award-winning author Dania Voss writes compelling, sexy romance with personality, heat, and heart. Born in Rome, Italy and raised in Chicagoland, she creates stories with authentic, engaging characters. She loves anything pink and is a huge fan of 80s hair bands.

A favorite with romance readers, her debut novel “On the Ropes,” the first in her Windy City Nights series, became an international bestseller. Dania’s books have won multiple awards, and her work has been highlighted on NBC, ABC, CBS, and FOX. She has been featured in the Chicago Tribune, Southern Writers Magazine, and Chicago Entrepreneurs Magazine (selected as the #8 Top Chicago Author in 2021).

When she’s not writing, you can find Dania at a sporting event, a rock concert, or the movies (preferably a comedy).

 

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What to Read Next If You Loved [Popular Series] by Caroline Clemmons

Have you ever reached the final page of a beloved series, closed the book with a sigh, and thought, “Now what?” If you’re anything like me, the book hangover after a good Western romance series is very real. Today, I want to play matchmaker between your last favorite binge read and your next happy reading streak. 

Instead of naming only one “popular series,” I’m going to give you a few common types of reader favorites—then suggest what to read next if that sounds like you. That way, you can plug in whichever series you’ve just finished and find your next stop on the Western romance trail. 

If you loved big family sagas 

If your last read followed a sprawling Western family—siblings, cousins, and in‑laws all getting their own stories—you probably loved the sense of home those books created. You want another series where you can move from one couple to the next and still feel rooted in the same world. 

What to read next: 

Try another family‑centered Western series, where each book follows a different sibling or relative, but the ranch, town, or valley stays familiar from book to book. 

Look for reading‑order pages or series lists from your favorite authors so you can follow the family in the right order. Many Western romance authors keep these handy on their websites or Goodreads. 

Why you’ll like it: You’ll get that same “come back to the ranch” feeling, new love stories, and the joy of seeing past couples pop up as side characters. 

If you loved mail‑order brides and small frontier towns 

Maybe your recent favorite series involved mail‑order brides arriving by train, meeting husbands they’ve only seen in letters, and building a life in a dusty frontier town full of secrets and surprises. You loved watching strangers become a community. 

What to read next: 

Look for mail‑order bride or marriage‑of‑convenience series set in one town or region, where each bride brings a different personality and backstory. 

Seek out multi‑author Western bride projects; many invite different writers to create stories in one shared town or theme, giving you lots of variety within a familiar framework. 

Why you’ll like it: You’ll find more strong, resourceful women, good men doing their best in a hard land, and that cozy feeling of recognizing the sheriff, the shopkeeper, and the town busybody from book to book. 

If you loved rugged lawmen and high stakes 

Perhaps your last binge was all about sheriffs, Texas Rangers, Pinkerton agents, and ranchers caught up in danger. You turned the pages for the suspense as much as the romance. 

What to read next: 

Try Western romance series that blend romance with mystery—look for blurbs that mention outlaws, stagecoach robberies, land disputes, or long‑buried family secrets. 

Explore multi‑author Western projects centered on lawmen or protectors; these often feature connected characters across several books and authors. 

Why you’ll like it: You’ll get that same mix of danger, loyalty, and justice, plus the satisfaction of seeing love bloom in the middle of trouble. 

If you loved time‑travel twists 

Some readers fall hard for Western time‑travel romances—stories where a modern woman ends up in 19th‑century Texas or Montana and has to puzzle her way through corsets, cattle, and a very different kind of cowboy. 

What to read next: 

Look for Western time‑travel trilogies or connected books: modern‑day heroines stepping back in time, or historical characters visiting our world. 

Check your favorite Western author’s backlist; quite a few have one small time‑travel series tucked among their historicals. 

Why you’ll like it: You’ll still get wide‑open skies and frontier communities, but with fun fish‑out‑of‑water moments and the question of whether love can cross centuries. 

If you loved multi‑author Western worlds 

Sometimes what hooks you is not just one author, but a whole shared Western town or theme—Christmas brides, widows, proxy brides, matchmakers, or frontier holidays—written by a circle of authors. You enjoy hopping from one writer’s style to another while staying in a connected world. 

What to read next: 

Explore the other multi‑author series your favorite Western author has joined. Many writers participate in several shared universes, so if you liked one, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy the others.  

On author sites and Goodreads, look for sections labeled “multi‑author series,” “worlds,” or “shared towns” to find the full list.g 

Why you’ll like it: You can mix and match reading order, discover new favorite authors, and still enjoy overlapping locations, families, and events. 

How to find your next read, whatever you loved 

Even if your last favorite series wasn’t Western—or wasn’t mine—you can use a simple trick to find your next book: follow the feeling. Ask yourself: 

Did I love the family dynamics most? 

Was it the small town where everyone knows each other? 

Did the danger and mystery keep me turning pages? 

Was it the mail‑order, second‑chance, or forced‑proximity setup? 

Once you know which part of the story hooked you, look for another series that promises the same emotional flavor, even if the exact tropes or setting change. Goodreads, author websites, and reader groups are wonderful for this kind of “If you liked X, try Y” exploring. 

A gentle nudge to explore my Western world 

If you’ve already read and enjoyed some of my series, you might like to know there’s a whole connected Western world waiting for you—Texas families, mail‑order brides, lawmen, Montana ranchers, time‑travel twists, and more. My reading‑order page gathers many of them in one place so you can pick where to ride next. 

Of course, the real joy of reading is finding stories that feel like they were written just for you. Whether you continue exploring my books or branch out to new authors and series, I hope this gives you a few ideas for what to read next when you reach that last, bittersweet page. 

 

The Rescuer by G.K. Brady

 

 

She’s moving on. 

He’s running out of time. 

One reckless night changes everything.

The Rescuer

Fall River Series Book 3

by G.K. Brady

Genre: Small-Town Second Chance Romantic Suspense

She’s moving on. He’s running out of time. One reckless night changes everything.

Reece Hunnicutt has spent his life coming to the rescue—whether it’s pulling climbers off treacherous mountain faces or volunteering to string the town’s Christmas lights. But after walking away from the elite search and rescue squad that gave him purpose, Reece is a man untethered, without a landing pad and dodging questions about his future. The one constant in his life? His quiet dedication to his small mountain town and his brothers who have no idea he’s about to embark on a new future that will take him to the other side of the continent.

Town veterinarian Neve Embry has been nursing a one-sided love for Reece since childhood. But she’s done waiting for him to see her as more than a kid sister who needs his protection. Between juggling a struggling clinic and starting up an exciting new relationship with a charming billionaire resort owner, Neve is determined to move on. Sparks might not fly with her new beau, but at least her heart isn’t on the line.

Until one impulsive night in Vegas changes everything.

Waking up married to Reece is the last thing Neve expects—or wants. But when her clinic is vandalized and her life upended, Reece insists on sticking around until the culprit is caught. Forced to live under the same roof, their shaky alliance begins to crack under the weight of their undeniable chemistry.

As danger closes in and secrets come to light, Reece and Neve must confront the truth about their desires—and decide whether this love can be rescued.

 

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The urge to giggle had everything to do with nerves and nothing to do with how he looked. No, nothing about his physique was giggle-worthy. If Neve could have crafted the perfect male specimen, he would have looked exactly like Reece. A sculpted torso that started at wide shoulders and tapered to a trim waist, like a V, above a perfectly square butt. Smooth, tan skin.

His back was to her, so she couldn’t assess the man package, but judging by the way it had felt against her in bed, he wasn’t lacking in that department either.

He came to a stop and glanced over his shoulder. “You’re staring.”

She swallowed a yelp.

A slow grin spread over his face—at least the side she could see in profile. “You know what they say. You see mine, I see yours.”

“That’s so childish!” she spluttered. “Besides, you’ve already seen it, and so have I.”

“We were five years old, Neve. I think things have changed since then.”

Details.

She brushed at something tickling her shoulder and looked up. “They have robes in here. His and hers, judging by the sizes.”

“Good because I can’t find a single stitch. Throw one out, would you?”

Hoisting herself to her feet, she slid the smaller robe from its hanger and quickly pulled it on before handing him the other one through the closet door.

“Thanks.” Fabric rustled. “As much fun as it is talking to you through a closet door, I think it’d be much easier if you came out.”

“Are you decent?”

“Always.”

She opened the door and stepped out—and tried not to laugh, especially given the seriousness of their dilemma. The robe hit him at the knees, and the sleeves were halfway up his forearms.

“We need to figure this out,” they both said at the same time.

“Maybe there are some clues in here.” Reece loped toward their adjoining doors, which stood wide open, but before she could follow, he let out a strangled sort of noise from his bedroom.

“What is it?” She hurried through the doorway.

“Found our clothes.”

His bed looked as though a herd of elephants had tap-danced on it. Scattered around said bed were various bits of his and her wedding outfits. Her panties lay in a crumpled heap beside his boxers, and her matching strapless bra hung over a chair that sat cockeyed to the desk. On the nightstand stood two empty champagne bottles, along with a half-dozen martini glasses, also empty.

She gasped and tried not to hurl.

He held up his hands. “Don’t panic.” Traipsing over to the desk, he switched on the lamp and picked up a piece of paper. A groan punched from his lungs.

“What? What is it?”

He locked gazes with her. “You can panic now.”

A mere beat passed, and she was by his side, gawking at what he held in his hands. Her already-unsettled stomach plummeted to her toes. “That’s … that’s …”

“A marriage license. Yeah.”

“It’s got to be a joke. Are those our real names?”

“Looks like.”

He plucked up what looked like a receipt and whipped his head toward her. His eyes dipped to her hand. “Holy Mother of …”

She followed his gaze, and her mouth swung open.

He pointed at her hand. “That is not fake.”

On her left ring finger was a big-ass diamond and a matching band.

Now she darted her eyes to his left hand. “Uh, you seem to be wearing what looks like the man version of mine. These must be fake! Right?”

“Don’t think so.” He held up the receipt.

She covered her mouth to hold back a choked cry. “Is that a six? With four zeros after it?”

“No, that’s an eight.” He rubbed his forehead with his free hand. “Damn! I bought these!”

She inspected the ring, which was almost too big for her small finger. “It is beautiful.”

“I have great taste. Did you have a say in it, or did I just … buy it?”

She blinked. “You’re asking me?”

“You were there, weren’t you?”

“Yeah, I was there, but I was as drunk as you, and everything’s a black hole.”

Dear God, what had they done?

 

 **Don’t miss the rest of the series! **

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Since childhood, all sorts of stories and characters have lived in G.K. Brady’s imagination, elbowing one another for attention, so she’s finally giving them their voice on the written page.

 

An award-winning writer of contemporary romance, she loves telling tales of the less-than-perfect hero or heroine who transforms with each turn of a page. She also writes historical fiction under the pen name Griffin Brady.

 

G.K. is a wife and the proud mom of three grown sons. When she’s not writing, she might be reading, traveling, drinking wine, listening to music, or gardening—sometimes all at once! She currently resides in Colorado with her very patient husband.

  

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Detective Ryan Mysteries by Clive Fleury

 

 

The truth doesn’t sleep — and neither does Detective Ryan.

Off Season

A Detective Ryan Mystery #1

by Clive Fleury

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Detective Ryan navigates drug overdoses, a mysterious foot on the beach and a long-buried cold case.

Detective Ramesh Ryan's career with Sydney's prestigious Organized Crime Unit is on the up, until he loses a court case against the city's most powerful drug dealer. In disgrace, the detective is relocated to the tiny Australian beach town of Barton.

It is off-season in Barton-when its few criminals usually take a well-earned rest. But not this year! With the detective's arrival, the town suddenly becomes murder central. Two bodies are discovered in the space of days, both victims of drug overdoses. Then a mysterious foot is found washed up on the beach, and memories are awoken of an unsolved cold case of the teenager who disappeared fifteen years ago. Add to this a blossoming romance, along with a contract taken out on Ryan's life, and it's clear that the detective has jumped out of the Sydney frying pan into the Barton fire.

What follows is an action-packed adventure, thrilling at every turn-where truth and lies are almost impossible to separate, and unexpected twists are the order of the day.

 

Praise For OFF SEASON

 

“Off Season is a sensational and thrilling mystery that will take its reader on a journey of ups and downs and twists and turns galore while always entertaining and thrilling you!”

 —Aimee – GOODREADS review

 

“Attention grabber. Moves quickly and smoothly. Informative. Enjoyable. Don't miss.”

—Margaret – GOODREADS review

 

“Fleury masterfully crafts a narrative that is both fast-paced and intricately plotted. The story kicks off with a bang and maintains its momentum throughout, with each chapter ending on a tantalizing cliffhanger. The plot is peppered with unexpected twists and turns, keeping readers interested.”

—J. Komrie - GOODREADS review

 

“Great build-up of suspense, a layered plot, and an enticing protagonist. Takes a lot of turns, which I love. This is definitely a page turner for anyone who loves a good crime mystery.”

—Carolina Rolim – Verified AMAZON reader review

  

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All Or None

A Detective Ryan Mystery #2

Returning to Sydney, Detective Ramesh Ryan is promoted to the Homicide Squad. Zoe Yang joins him there. Now a detective herself, she is assigned as his junior partner. Straight up, the cops are off and running-investigating the discovery of a murdered company director. Following the clues, Detective Ryan finds that this and a second murder may be linked to past events.

As the pressure mounts for a quick solution to the case, the detective finds that he too, is in the killer's crosshairs. But Ryan is distracted from the investigation by a romantic encounter with an old university friend. He also worries about his mother, Mumta, and her new obsessive desire for grandchildren from her only son. Could this be linked to her recent medical tests? And there's another pressing problem-the plague of rats in his apartment block.

Detective Ryan's hands are well and truly full!

 

Praise For ALL OR NONE

A riveting read. Anyone who likes mystery and crime, you won’t be able to put this down. Thought it was an elegant continuation of this universe. - Carolina R, Amazon Reviewer

I really enjoyed this book. I love it when you keep changing your mind about who did it to find out at the end that you're still wrong. – Nancy F., Goodreads Reviewer

 

All or None exceeded my expectations. The murders kept me guessing, but what I loved most was Ryan himself tough on the outside, vulnerable on the inside, and surrounded by challenges that made him relatable. – Mary M., Goodreads Reviewer

 

I devoured this ARC in two sittings. The tension builds perfectly, and the clues are woven in so well that you feel like you’re investigating alongside Ryan and Zoe. The personal subplots (his mom, the romance, even the rats!) add depth without slowing down the action. – Minor C, Goodreads Reviewer

 

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Clive Fleury is an award-winning writer of books and screenplays and has worked all over the world as a Film/TV director, writer and producer. He has written six books, most recently 'All Or None', the second novel in the Detective Ryan Murder Mystery series.

 

'All Or None' sees Detective Ryan back in the thick of things. His latest investigation into a mysterious death couldn’t come at a worse time. He discovers his mother is hiding a troubling secret and is further sidetracked by a new romance. Fans of who dunnit's, crime thrillers, and cop and detective stories will love this novel. 

 

Clive's other books include 'Off Season' - book one in the Detective Ryan Murder Mystery series; 'Kill Code' - a dystopian science fiction novel set in a world facing climate change;  ‘Scary Lizzy’  - a novel about an eight year old girl, who befriends an African child ghost –  and the teen action adventure book; ‘The Boy Next Door ‘ -  a story of what happens when a teenage girl has a crush on her next door neighbor, who isn’t all he seems.  He also co-wrote ‘Art Pengriffin and The Curse of The Four’ - a young adult fantasy adventure about a teenage boy who discovers his father was Merlin the Magician.

 

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Reading Western Romance as Self‑Care by Caroline Clemmons

Reading Western romance can be a form of self‑care—one that smells faintly of dust and leather, sounds like boots on a wooden boardwalk, and ends with the deep exhale of a guaranteed happily‑ever‑after. When the world feels loud and uncertain, slipping into a story set under a wide Western sky can be a way to rest your mind without turning it off entirely. 

Why Western Romance Makes Such Good Self‑Care 

All romance offers comfort, but Westerns add their own particular kind of refuge. The settings are wide open: mountains, plains, small frontier towns where everybody knows everybody. You get danger and hardship, yes, but you also get community, second chances, and people who show up for one another. 

Readers often tell me they reach for Westerns when life feels too crowded or too sharp. A story that promises both adventure and a happy ending lets you feel things—fear, grief, hope—without staying stuck in the hard parts. You know that, by the last chapter, the couple will find a way through. 

The Comfort of a Guaranteed HEA 

Romance as a genre comes with one firm promise: by the end of the book, the central love story will resolve in a satisfying way. That predictability is not a weakness; it is part of why romance works so well as self‑care. 

There is research showing that reading can lower stress, improve mood, and help us regulate our emotions. When you combine that with Western romance’s familiar rhythms—meeting, conflict, danger, and finally safety—you get a story that reassures your nervous system as much as your heart. 

Hurt/Comfort, Trauma, and Healing on the Page 

Many Western romances, including mine, do not shy away from characters with painful pasts: widows, veterans, people cast out by their families, those carrying shame or secrets. Watching them find love, safety, and a place to belong can be quietly healing, especially if you have your own scars. 

Romance authors and readers talk about “hurt/comfort” stories for a reason. You see trauma responses—avoidance, over‑independence, fear of intimacy—depicted as understandable, not broken, and you see those characters gently move toward connection. For some readers, that is easier to take in than a self‑help book telling them what to do. 

Reading as a Grounding Ritual 

Many of us read Western romance the same way some people meditate or journal: as a grounding practice. A warm drink, a favorite chair, and a familiar kind of story can pull your attention out of anxious spirals and into one clear narrative. 

Romance readers have described this as using books as a “grounding exercise”—something that gives your mind just enough to hold onto (these characters, this town, this ranch) so it can relax. Western settings help by being both vivid and a little bit removed from modern life: no email, no social media, just cattle, storms, and church socials to worry about for a while. 

Choosing Western Reads for Different Kinds of Bad Days 

Not every hard day needs the same book. One way to use Western romance consciously as self‑care is to think in moods: 

For high stress: gentler stories with lower on‑page danger and plenty of community, humor, and small comforts. These function almost like a weighted blanket in book form. 

For sadness or grief: books where characters carry their own losses and find ways to live and love again. Many readers find this type of story validating and hopeful. 

For burnout: lighter, more playful Westerns, maybe novellas or short reads, that you can finish in an evening and close with a sense of completion. 

You may already have your own “self‑care shelf” or favorite rereads—the books you can pick up knowing exactly how they will make you feel by the end. There is nothing lesser about going back to them; that is what they are for. 

Making Space for Reading Without Guilt 

One barrier many readers mention is guilt: there is laundry to fold, emails to answer, “serious” books they think they should be reading instead. But self‑care is not something you earn only after you are completely exhausted; it is something that helps you not reach that point quite so fast. 

Articles on reading and mental health point out that taking even half an hour with a book you love can lower stress and improve sleep. If Western romance is what reliably gives you that effect, then building it into your routine is not frivolous. It is maintenance—like watering a garden instead of waiting until everything wilts. 

If you want to make it intentional, you might: 

Set aside a particular night as your “reading Westerns” evening. 

Pair your book with a small ritual: tea, a blanket, a certain playlist. 

Turn off notifications for that time and let yourself be in Tarnation, or Kincaid country, or some other favorite fictional town instead of doom‑scrolling. 

Western Love Stories as a Kindness to Yourself 

In my own books, I come back to themes of redemption, found family, and trust for a reason. I believe we are drawn to Western romance because it lets us watch people who have been hurt still choose love, community, and hope. 

You do not have to justify that to anyone. If reading about ranchers, mail‑order brides, widows, and second chances helps you feel a little less alone in your own worries, that is reason enough. 

So the next time life feels like too much, you have my full permission to pick up a Western romance—mine or anyone’s—and treat that reading time as self‑care. Settle into your chair, let the horses trot across the page, and give yourself over to the comfort of knowing that, at least in this story, love will win in the end. 

 

Remake the Song by Flo Fitzpatrick

Remake the Song

Flo Fitzpatrick

Buy Link

Blurb:

2025: Shiloh Meridien teaches dance, dates, roams flea markets and is relatively happy. But she’s harbored a life-long love for singer Marcus Kennedy, and, when given the opportunity to travel back in time to try and save him from a killer, Shiloh grabs it.

1975: Marcus Kennedy sings and protests for causes. He rescues Shiloh as she experiences a strange post-traumatic event, instantly falling for the dancer, but pushes her away after he’s diagnosed with Parkinson’s. When Shiloh is attacked by the person determined to murder Marcus, destroying her dreams of dancing professionally, she must choose whether to return to the pleasant certainty of her original future or fight to win back Marcus and remake the past.

Excerpt:

The exceedingly short vendor dressed in a bumble costume took off, mumbling in an Irish accent she was going to find refreshments. Which left me musing about a folk singer I’d fallen in love with when I was a teenager…more than fifty years ago.

Marcus Kennedy died in 1975 on his birthday at the age of twenty-seven. Was he another victim of the legendary musician’s curse? No one really could pin down the “why” although the “how” was pretty clear. Theories at the time were that his death, via a needle filled with heroin, was either accidental, although his friends vehemently stated Kennedy had always been opposed to drugs, suicide for no good reason, or murder for no good reason. Fifty years later his death was still a mystery.

An article written in the 1990s in a top music magazine brought up the suicide angle again, stating that Kennedy began experiencing Parkinson’s-like symptoms attributed to exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam, where he’d sung numerous times for the troops in the late nineteen-sixties. But the reporter then went on to discuss motives for murder, mentioning more than one possible suspect, starting with the U.S. government trying to shut down his investigation into the aforementioned spraying of Agent Orange, corrupt and bigoted cops practicing racial profiling in Manhattan before the term was widely used, and a greedy real estate tycoon messing with New York landmarks, including one of Marcus’s pet projects, a veterans’ center which had once been a famous ballroom dance hall. The journalist claimed that Marcus had nailed all the “bad guys” in a song he’d planned to release as a single. Then he died. If there had ever been such a song, it died with him.

Marcus Kennedy. Born and raised in the midtown West Side area of Manhattan called Hell’s Kitchen. He could play nearly any instrument set in front of him and possessed an incredible vocal range. He snagged a record deal when he was sixteen and began releasing folk songs he’d composed himself. He was granted a full scholarship and early admission to Julliard and then, following his graduation, toured for about six months with a professional opera company throughout Europe. After witnessing America’s struggles with Civil Rights, war, poverty, pollution, and political corruption from an ocean away, he returned home to New York City. He stuck with the same record label and sang primarily for small audiences in small clubs in Greenwich Village. None of his albums hit gold or platinum while he was alive, which was mind-boggling considering how talented he was.

I’d been a twenty-year-old dancer living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan when I heard the news over the radio on a bright, sunny, December sixteenth in 1975. I’d gotten to see him about four months earlier, in August, in a small theater, also in midtown. It had been a benefit concert for the Am-Vets center, which was the very space the greedy real estate tycoon wanted demolished, and coincidently, the place where Marcus’s body was found.

After hearing of his death, I became angry, devastated, and grief-stricken. I was also confused and frightened by my own reaction to the news. How could someone I’d never met impact my emotions for such an absurdly long time? Days, weeks, months, and, yes, years after his death I continued to mourn his loss.

I now stared down at the vinyl album and the liner notes. He’d included quirky new takes on old spirituals like “Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel?” and “Wayfaring Stranger,” an ancient Irish anti-war ballad, “Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier” (made popular during America’s Revolutionary and Civil Wars), one or two vaudeville- era tunes like “Any Time” and “A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody” and a beautiful French version of “Always” (Toujours) which Marcus had discovered on an album recorded in 1941 at a Paris nightclub called Café Violette.

Years later, music critics finally heaped praise on the work, lauding his courage in not following the trend of other folk and protest singers to merge into rock or pop or disco, and instead provide old songs with a fresh sound. When Marcus was asked in an interview with a major magazine why he’d chosen such a mix of “odd” musical genres, he responded, “Blame an obscure piece of poetry for the inspiration. Let me quote: The friends that have it I do wrong, whenever I remake a song, should know what issue is at stake, it is myself that I remake.”

But Marcus Kennedy never got the chance to remake.

Bio:

Flo Fitzpatrick is multi-published in mystery and romance…with a great deal of overlap between genres and usually tossing in what used to be termed paranormal activity (time travel, second sight, reincarnation) and/or humor. Her second novel (Kensington, 2005) Hot Stuff, was nominated as Best Romantic Suspense by RT Book Reviews and optioned for film. Flo earned an M.A. in Theatre and a B.F.A. in Dance, worked as a performer, choreographer, and teacher, and often set her novels in venues relating to the arts. Before Covid, she sang with a band called The Usual Suspects but now her performing is primarily dancing and singing around the living room, to the vast entertainment of her 12-year-old mixed-breed dog Juniper.