A NEW TRILOGY

After a very hectic 2016 dealing with family issues and working diligently on the Thurston Hotel Series with ten other authors, I decided at the beginning of 2017 to take some personal time for rest and relaxation and to regroup professionally. Now, I’m back!

 

My 2017 project has been turning my novel, Tangled Heartstrings, into a trilogy. I’m delighted to reveal all three covers and book blurbs, and to introduce the wonderful and varied mix of series characters.  These stories read like a family saga with a liberal sprinkling of romance mixed in. Or perhaps these are romances that read like a saga. I will let the readers decide.

 

In Book One, Tangled Heartstrings, Rory is a retiring pro bull rider and Catherine is a child psychologist.  

Professional bull rider, Rory Bennett, learns his biological father’s name at his mother’s deathbed. A new female acquaintance helps him come to terms with his recent loss, but Rory’s anger at his now-deceased father for never acknowledging him sends the cowboy off to confront his half-siblings. Is he heading down a destructive path or about to discover things he least expects?

 

Giving up on the idea of a traditional home and family, Dr. Catherine Wilson takes matters into her own hands. Then she meets Rory Bennett, a man who seems perfect for her. Could her recent decisions sabotage any chance of a future with the handsome cowboy?

 

Rory falls hard for the beautiful child psychologist he met at the lowest point in his life, but he isn’t prepared for the shocking news he learns about her. Will the cowboy and the doctor be able to overcome the challenges they face and work toward a future together?

 

In Book Two, Tangled Memories, I chose an older couple: Wade is the foreman on the Carsen family ranch and  Candace is a real estate agent from Toronto.

After the recent death of the wonderful man who raised her, Candace Reynolds learns he was not her biological father. Searching online, she experiences a double loss when she learns that her biological father is also dead. But she discovers five half-siblings who don’t know she exists. Feeling cheated at having been raised an only child, she is compelled to meet them and learn who she is.

 

Expecting to be spurned by her new family in Calgary, Candace is surprised to be welcomed with open arms. And despite a painful divorce after twenty years of marriage, Candace is immediately attracted to Wade Sharp, the handsome foreman on the Carsen family ranch. She agrees to the family’s request for a DNA test, but a greater test awaits her when a Toronto drug dealer follows her out west, determined to retrieve what he believes she has stolen from him.

 

Wade Sharp cannot deny that the beautiful lady who shows up at the Rolling Acres Ranch sends his heartbeat racing. But when he learns the reason she’s there, he is forced to ignore her and keep their true relationship a secret. Too bad, because at fifty-eight, he thought he’d finally found the woman for him.

 

Will a deadly menace keep Candace from her new-found family and the love of her life? Or will Candace learn what family truly means?

 

In keeping with readers’ current wishes for more diverse characters, I totally mixed things up in Book Three, Tangled Intentions, with Mackenzie, a First Nations addictions counsellor from Winnipeg, and Ellie, a recovering alcoholic, who works as a server at Betty’s Coffee Shop.

 

Mackenzie Turnbull finds a letter his mother wrote but never mailed. When Mac delivers the letter to the addressee, he learns the name of his biological father, but he considers his obligations to his deceased mother complete. At odds with life, Mac’s best option is relocating to Alberta and accepting a staff position at the Carsen Rehab Centre. His half-siblings hound him to take a DNA test to prove his heritage, but Mac has no intentions of joining this family of strangers. He’s more interested in starting his own family with Ellie, the beautiful server he met at the local coffee shop.

 

Ellie Ford is attracted to the handsome newcomer to town, until she learns Mackenzie, an addictions counsellor, is applying for a position at the Carsen Rehab Centre. Ellie’s past is about to slap her in the face and she regrets wasting so many years with destructive habits. She is turning her life around, but she doubts Mac has any intentions of trusting her to have changed. She is formulating a plan for a future alone. Too bad though, the handsome Indigenous man would have been the perfect guy in her life.

 

Will Mac and Ellie forge a new friendship and grow the happily-ever-after love they have both dreamed possible? Or will past bad decisions and poisonous relationships keep them apart?

So, saga or romance or a bit of both? When I think of a saga the words ‘change’ and ‘future’ come to mind. The characters’ lives, especially the heroes and heroines in these books, are altered beyond their control as their stories unfold, and the landscape of the Carsen family and its member’s futures have been forever changed by the decades old actions of the deceased patriarch, Albert Carsen Sr. And as with every romance, these stories have the happily-ever-after ending readers expect. Regardless of whatever genre each reader determines this trilogy best fits, I hope you enjoy the books.

I loved writing this trilogy and offering readers a varied group of heroes and heroines. Book One, Tangled Heartstrings,  http://amzn.to/2dp0i3G and Book Two, Tangled Memories,  http://amzn.to/2hNqtAd are available now on Amazon. Book Three, Tangles Intentions, will be available soon. Happy Reading!