Sarita Leone Archives - Tena Stetler

Dec 4th Wylder West Series New Releases

Happy Holidays! Boy do I have a great treat for you. The first four books of the Wylder West a multi-author series from The Wild Rose Press released on December 2, 2020. Here’s a quick rundown on the fantastic books that will make great Christmas Gifts!

Shall we start with The Wylder Country Social Club by Nicole McCaffrey:

Eliza Jane O’Hanlan is called west to care for her ailing mother. Raised by a spinster aunt, she only knows that her mother is a successful businesswoman. When she arrives in Wylder she is shocked to learn her mother is the town madam. But the secrets don’t end there…

Doctor Sam “Coyote” Sullivan saw enough suffering and dying in the war to last a lifetime. He is more than happy to help the town madam keep her girls free of disease—and worse. The moment she arrives in town, the madam’s daughter makes it clear she doesn’t approve of her mother’s unconventional methods—or him.

Before long, Eliza doesn’t just have the town of Wylder in a stir. She has Coyote pretty stirred up, too.

Sneak peek between the pages of The Wylder Country Social Club:

“Howdy!” The girl said, regarding her with a wide smile. “You new here, honey? Miss Addie didn’t say we had any new girls comin’ on.” She walked to the porch rail and extended a hand. “My name’s Ruby.”

Eliza climbed the steps. Up close, Ruby looked much older than “girl.” Considerably so.

“Miss O’Hanlan,” the doctor called from the yard below. “Before you go inside, I think—”

“Come on in,” Ruby held the door open. “Miss Addie had a fall a little while back so she won’t be down here to greet you, but I’ll take you up. What’d you say your name was ag’in hon? Course it don’t matter, we’ll be changin’ it anyway…”

The girl rambled on but Eliza stopped in mid step. Heavy red drapes with gold trim covered the windows, blocking most of the light and keeping the interior dim. A gold-trimmed mirror all but covered one wall and a life-sized painting of a woman who looked just like Mother, wearing a low-cut velvet gown, dominated the first landing.

The cloying aromas of perfume and tobacco mingled to tease her nose along with another muskier scent she couldn’t place. “This looks like…” She turned a slow circle.

The doctor bounded up the steps. “Miss O’Hanlan, I think you should know—”

A prickle of realization moved over her skin. “This is a whore house!”

The Wylder Country Social Club trailer.

Buy Links: Amazon

Now let’s take a look at Wylder Hearts by Kim Turner

Torn between obligation and true love, Laurel must make a difficult choice.

Caleb Holt is the man to see for a good horse. Abuse an animal and he’ll teach the lesson that goes with it. When he lands on top of a woman in the midst of a brawl and snags a passionate kiss, he sparks a fire he never expected. But it doesn’t take the cowboy long to learn a lesson of his own… sometimes love comes with a price.

Seamstress Laurel Adams is embarrassed by Caleb’s stolen kiss. Though she is determined to raise her son alone, she wonders at the ease of falling for the handsome horseman. But when the husband who abandoned her returns, there is only one choice to make—the one that breaks her heart into tiny pieces.

Wylder Hearts is the first book in this series I’ve read and the review follows; As time allows, I will be reading and reviewing each book.

A great new multi-author series from the Wild Rose Press set in fictional Wylder, Wyoming territory in the late 1800’s. Kim Turner’s Wylder Hearts is the first book I’ve read in the series.

Laurel abandoned by her husband with a baby in the wilds of nowhere, as he chased the gold fever and riches he imagined without a thought to wife and child. With a horse named Pink and sewing machine, she set out to make a new life for herself and her young son, Jesse, in Wylder.

Rancher, Caleb Holt, guards his heart and Laurel is a hesitant with this bold cowboy that literally falls on her then of all things steals a kiss.

That one kiss set Caleb on a path to a woman he didn’t even know but a woman who’d heated his blood with only one kiss. Caleb’s kiss turned Laurel’s world upside down.

Caleb is good for her and good for her son. His strength and patience will pay off. When she starts sewing a beautiful wedding dress the unthinkable happens. He’s baack, her husband, like a bad penny. The rest you’ll have to read for yourself, no spoilers here.

The first few pages drew me right into the story. Loving the characters and rooting for them through the trials and tribulations of living in the Wylder west. The author made the story come alive with her wonderful descriptions and larger than life characters making you feel like part of the story. I love that.

Secondary characters were wonderful, Widow Lowery, who owns the dress shop is hard on the outside but soft and a heart of gold on the inside, unless you get on her wrong side, then it’s the broom for you. LOL Leona, the wash woman is a spitfire with an opinion about everything. Will she get her own story and HEA? We’ll have to wait and see. Kim we are talking to you. Then you have Laurel’s boy, Jesse, and his darling rooster named Harold. This cast of characters will warm your heart. Except sneaky and underhanded Jonah, the deadbeat husband who you’ll love to hate. I thoroughly enjoyed this story from beginning to end and highly recommend Wylder Hearts.

Heck, in truth, I can’t wait to read the other stories brought to life in Wylder, Wyoming Territory.

5-stars!

Sneak peek between the pages of Wylder Hearts:

The businessman bolted forward and swung a fist that made contact with his chin, leaving him off balance and staggering backward. Trying to avoid the crowd that had collected he bobbled and went down, expecting to hit of the ground. But the impact never came. Instead he landed softly to a shrill feminine scream, and the greenest eyes he’d ever beheld.

Time simply froze, the world around him a haze as he found himself mesmerized by the beauty of the woman beneath him. It had been a damn long time since he was in such a position as this.

Unable to move with the crowd about them, he apologized allowing a slight smile to curl his lips, though he knew he should get back to the fight. He reached to tip his hat and realized he’d lost it. The feel of her bosom pressed between them stirred up a thing or two. “Beggin’ your pardon, Ma’am.”

“I’m quite all right.” She pushed to rise, but the crowd surrounding them was thick.

“Actually, I was apologizing for this.” Caleb bent to kiss her, slow and searing, her lips plump and tender, holding him there a moment longer than needed. He held her surprised green-eyed gaze a moment more and then he was back to the fight.

Wylder Hearts Trailer

Buy Links: Amazon

Next up A Walk on the Wylder Side by Laura Strickland

Outspoken, rebellious Cissy Arkwright was sent west from her Chicago home to work at a boarding house in Wylder, Wyoming. The last thing she expects is friendship with the handsome new boarder, a man with an air of danger and the power to make her smile.

Buck Standish is on the run from his past. He’d like to put aside the life of a gun-for-hire, especially once he meets Cissy. But experience tells him the past has a way of catching up, pistols in hand. He’s lost his heart to Cissy—should he protect her by hitting the trail again? Or stay in Wylder and fight for their future?

Sneak between the pages of the Wylder Side:

He wore a gun. No, two of them, one on either hip.

Cissy still hadn’t got used to that. People in Chicago owned guns, sure. And unsavory elements there went about performing even more unsavory deeds, with the help of those firearms. But they didn’t strut around with pistols strapped to their sides the way men—and some women—did in Wylder, Wyoming.

This man wore his weapons low, like some sort of gunslinger, and looked more than prepared to use them. Or maybe he just sought to shield them from the deluge of water.

Apart from that, he wasn’t one of Mrs. Culpepper’s roomers, all of whom Cissy recognized. He looked about thirty, a tall man and lean with it—those hips certainly were lean—with a well-sculpted face now expressing extreme shock. He wore black—black trousers with a black shirt and leather vest. His hair was also black, longish in the back, and at the moment sodden.

For an instant frozen in time, Cissy stared at him and he stared back at her as if nothing—no one—else existed.

Buy Links: Amazon

Finally a timely A Wylder Christmas by Sarita Leone

Can a Christmas miracle bring a southern belle into the arms of a Union soldier?

Violet Bloom leaves Charleston to come west as a mail-order bride. But when she steps off the stagecoach, she’s greeted by tragic news. She vows to begin anew in Wylder, to lay haunting memories to rest, and find peace.

Former Union soldier Thomas Harvey’s dreams of homesteading are crushed, along with his heart, at the passing of his wife. He moves to town and struggles to survive—not for himself, but for his spirited young daughter.

After Thomas rescues Violet during a snowstorm, neither has any thought of romance. But Christmas magic is in the air. It’s a time of forgiveness and new beginnings—even for lost souls.

This is the second book in the Wylder Seires that I’ve read. What a get cozy, heartwarming, great Christmas read! Violet Bloom carries scars from what she witnessed as a child in the south during the Civil War. Coming out to the wild west for the promise of a new life and new husband, Violet discovers neither is available. She pulls herself up by her boot straps and take a position as school teacher in Wylder, Wyoming. Rescued from a snowdrift and again from renegade cowboys by a former Union Soldier, will this southern belle put aside grievances she harbors to find happiness? No spoilers here. Grab a copy of the book and find out. You’ll be so glad you did!

This is a heartwarming story about doing what’s right even at risk to yourself, forgiveness, and second chances. There are twists and turns, rescue of a princess, laugh out loud moments, coupled with great characters, wonderful descriptions makes for a well written book I thoroughly enjoyed. I highly recommend A Wylder Christmas. It’s a great read anytime of the year!

The multi-author series The Wylder West from The Wild Rose Press promises a fun and exciting look at the wild west.

Sneak peek between the pages of A Wylder Christmas:

Dear Lord, the man was in a snowbank.

She bent her knees until she crouched, pulled in a huge breath, held her arms above her head, and jumped as hard as she ever had.

Strong hands grabbed hers. He lifted her body out of the hole, rolling over onto his back as she cleared the tunnel of snow he’d dug to reach the trap door, and pulled her onto his body.

They were both breathless from the exertion and lay panting for several moments.

Violet’s back and feet were instantly cold. She began to shiver, which caught the man’s attention.

He sat up, holding her in his lap, and unbuttoned his shirt. Beneath the flannel he wore a red woolen undershirt, which he pulled her against as he wrapped the ends of his outer shirt around her.

“Let’s get inside before we both freeze to death. I’ll come back to cover the cellar later.”

Thomas stood, taking Violet in his arms and carrying her.

When she felt his large, warm hand on her skin, she learned that the nightdress that had been so lovingly created for a wedding night was torn on the back side.

And the man’s hand? It was on her bare backside.

Links: Amazon

There will be many more Wylder West stories in the coming months, so keep an eye out. I’ll feature them right here. Good luck to Sarita Leone, Kim Turner, Laura Strickland and Nicole McCaffrey with their books. Wishes for many successes!