Belles,  clean fiction,  Old West,  prairie life,  Short Stories,  summer stories,  sweet love stories,  true love,  Western historical romance,  Wild West,  Wyoming

Belles of Wyoming Summer Collection

Hi! I’m so glad you are joining me today! As I mentioned before, two of my books, In the Nick of Time and Daring to Love Again, will be part of the Belles of Wyoming summer collection. This collection of stories from several different authors takes place in summer, and most of them end with a barn raising for Rosalie and Marin Davis, two newlyweds in the town of Belle. However, each book is a standalone. Readers will get glimpses of other people in town, but the books themselves can be read in any order.

We have 20 novellas releasing throughout the month of September 2019, Monday – Friday of each week. For the purpose of helping our readers find these stories, I’m listing the first 10 here in their publishing order. (The next 10 will be listed on another blog post soon to come.) Click on the covers to be taken to their product page.

Lightning Strikes Twice by Ginny Sterling

Katherine Cornell-Madison had always been the reliable one in the family. As the eldest child, she strives to lead by example. Volunteering to help those in need and serving as a midwife for those less fortunate – she finds herself suddenly married to a man who is in need of help himself! When Katherine is beginning to develop a fondness for her new husband… she is left a widow.

Jeremy Bryant had nothing to offer a woman but his name. With meager funds, an unsteady income, and a job that took him away from home all the time – he was not the greatest catch – except for his looks! He’s handsome, hardworking and completely smitten with Katherine. Having delivered the beautiful widow to her sister, Carrie – has him suddenly wanting to win her affections.

Can a man with a vibrant personality mend her broken heart? Could Katherine be lucky enough to fall in love a second time around?

 

In the Nick of Time by Julia Ridgmont

Sometimes life hands you a challenge, and sometimes a challenge gives you a new life.

For Aurora Weathersby, a simple farmer’s daughter, falling for the mill house owner’s son in Belle, Wyoming was easy as pie. What isn’t easy is seeing Nick Carrington pay no heed to her while he pines for another girl. When the Western Renegades Show comes to a neighboring town and her younger brother wants to go see it, Rorie sees this as her opportunity to catch Nick’s eye once and for all. Little does she know that the show is going to change her entire life…

If it wasn’t for Rorie Weathersby’s temper being as red-hot as her hair, Nick would hardly notice her. As it is, he’s got his eye on another young woman in Belle, but she’s not cooperating. When he sees an opportunity to win her over by organizing a youth excursion into the next town over to see the show, he jumps right on it–never thinking that he’ll be called on to help Rorie find her missing brother.

Then things take an unexpected turn, and Rorie and Nick suddenly find themselves temporarily married. Will they be able to find her brother and bring him back to Belle in time for an important barn raising? Will they want to stay married to each other after all is said and done? And will they ever find the love they’ve both wanted and deserve?

 

June’s Remedy by Jenna Brandt

She needs to start over after the loss of her husband, he needs to let go of the past. Can they find a way to be the remedy for each other’s broken heart?

June Hillman’s life was turned upside after the sudden death of her husband. The bank showed no mercy, quickly repossessing their family apothecary in Glenda, Wyoming. June, along with her four-year-old son, move back to her childhood home of Belle, ready to start over. When she returns, she finds the town has hardly changed, except for her first love, Daniel Wentworth.

A broken heart is enough to make any man swear off women, that is until Daniel walks into the new apothecary to find its run by his childhood sweetheart, June. She’s an unwanted distraction, threatening to take his focus not only from his wandering cowboy ways, but from his vow to never love again.

Will June find happiness back in Belle? Can Daniel be the man June needs? And will they find a way to make a second go-of-it?

 

The Wrong Bride by Lynn Donovan

Her daddy calls her May Flower. Her best friend calls her May. He certainly knows better! She’ll punch him in the nose if he called her anything else. He has grown from a scrawny little boy to a handsome strapping man. His coal-black hair and vibrant dark eyes make her heart race faster than their horses on a nippy spring morn. When she learns he is getting married, but not to her, she wants to punch his father instead. How can she stand by and let her best friend make such a terrible mistake?
Hoyt Cole has loved May Tanner as long as he can remember. Now that she’s grown into a beautiful woman, he is even more convinced he wants her for his wife. But his parents have other plans. He has to marry Nellie Harris or lose the ranch entirely. Against everyone’s advice, he chooses his best friend to stand up with him at the wedding. May reluctantly agrees.
Will he go through with it? Will May object when the Pastor asks if anyone knows why these two should not be married? What will happen to the Cole Ranch if Hoyt and May follow their hearts? Will the Belles of Wyoming ring for the wrong bride?

 

Grace for a Drifter by Marisa Masterson

With a new name, Grace Winkelman fled west to teach in a small town. How could she anticipate her past following her that far?
Errol Marsden wandered for years, taking his cobbler’s wagon from town to town fixing shoes. His heart broke with the sudden death of his young wife almost four years before. He’s shocked to glimpse her on a street in Fort Bridger and follows her to Belle.
Will he get the answers he needs to understand why she faked her death? When the couple is drawn into the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Grace’s aunt, will they work together or let old lies stand in their way?

 

Lupe’s Luck by R Castro

Lupe Cortez lived in California her whole life, and despite the changes brought by the Mexican American War of 1846 – 1848, she’d been happy, comfortable, and confident in her small community and position in life.

Then her family moved to Belle, Wyoming, guided by Elias Anthony Hill. He was strong, intelligent, utterly charming, and her father’s boss. Elias was the head blacksmith; because he’d inherited the family business from his departed dad.

Elias’ higher status in life would’ve been her first warning, because men like him, didn’t usually travel with the crew and they never gave a second thought to girls like Lupe. And mostly, wealthier men didn’t make time to know her kind, a Mexican American, which would’ve made more sense. Yet, there was something different about Elias, and she couldn’t be sure what? Still, Elias wasn’t like those other men. He made time to get to know her and really listen, despite their different status in life.

After they arrived in Belle, Lupe found herself the victim of a freak accident in the stables. Not even she could have imagined how different things would be when she woke up.

 

Blue Steel Bride by P Creeden

Tabitha Harker lost her husband nine short months ago. When her Aunt Ruth invites her to live with her in Belle, Wyoming, Tabitha makes the move from Boston to Belle, taking the first steps to overcome the fear that wanted to keep her trapped in her house.

Ethan Younger lost all hope in finding a wife when his first love left him for another man. And Tabitha Harker is just like all other women, conniving, cunning, and mean. At least, that’s what he thinks at first, until the puzzling woman shows more sides of herself to him.

Aunt Ruth’s broken foot brings both of these hurting people together for the summer. But will they get past their personal tragedies to realize that they need one another?

 

Stealing Her Heart by Cyndi Raye

A woman living in fear – A man determined to gain her trust – A secret that could tear them apart.

Martha Winslow vows never to trust a man. Abandoned by her husband, she is trying to a make life for her and her son in Belle, Wyoming. When the opportunity to work as a housekeeper for one of the new residents arises, she doesn’t realize the job will take place at the one house that frightens her the most. She also doesn’t count on Duke Callahan being her protector.

Duke Callahan knew time was running out. He had sold his mother and younger sister on an idyllic life in the small town of Belle, Wyoming. He never expected the house he bought to need so much work, and his family was arriving in two months! He could get the job done, if only he could keep his eyes off his new housekeeper.

When Martha tries to hide the real reason she wants to work for Duke, will he ever be able to trust anything she says or does again? What about Duke? He holds a secret about his life he doesn’t want anyone to know yet. What happens when the past meets present; can they overcome the secrets each of them keep hidden?

 

Eleanor’s Dilemma by Cheryl Wright

When Eleanor Carter witnesses her husband’s murder, and can identify the culprits, she’s taken into protective custody. Living in sin with her protector for an unknown period of time doesn’t sit right with her, so she takes the only option available to her – she marries him. She insists it’s a marriage of convenience only, and they agree to annul the marriage when it’s all over.

Glen Sanders has been protector for a number of women, but none quite like this one. Everything must be done by the book, and when he embraces her to keep up the pretense of their marriage, she flinches. At least at first.

His suggestion they marry to pull off the pretense is not only for her protection. He is certainly not adverse to having this high society lady as his wife for the rest of their days.

Can these two make their forced exile work? And will their close proximity force them to face their feelings for each other?

 

Wild Rose Summer by Jo Grafford

A dreamer like her father, Rose Addington has been secretly penning novels for romantic-minded young ladies under the pseudonym of R. Addington. Unfortunately, her dragon of a guardian, Aunt Flo, doesn’t approve of dreaming. Her crotchety spinster heart is set on marrying off her niece by summer’s end to a suitable gentleman of good breeding.

When a local farmer accidentally bumbles his way into their unlocked townhome, Aunt Flo decides to add shooting lessons to Rose’s endless list of educational past-times. It soon becomes clear to Rose that gun shop owner Lancaster Tracy is shamelessly courting her during her lessons — right beneath her aunt’s autocratic nose.

Now she has two secrets to hide from her aunt — her writing and her new beau. She worries when her aunt finds out about them, she will be forced to the same crossroads her father faced years ago. What will her choice be? Her family’s dynasty or her personal happiness?

 

 

Which ones have you read so far? Which one catches your attention the most, either by the cover or the description? Email me at juliaridgmontbooks@gmail.com and you’ll be entered for a chance to win a paperback of In the Nick of Time. One winner will be randomly chosen on September 18.

 

Happy reading!

 

Julia

 

 

2 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *