Three Widows of Wylder by Julie Howard

Give a Spooktacular welcome to Julie Howard, author of Three Widows of Wylder, part of the wildly popular Wylder West Series. Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cauldron. Take your choice of a bat wing Chocolate Chip or Pumpkin, or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about Judy and her Three Widows of Wylder. 

Okay Julie, what was the hardest decision you ever made?

To go back to work after I had children. I loved my job but was so torn about leaving my kids in someone else’s care. I ended up quitting that job three different times to stay home with my children for a while. It was a stretch financially but we made it work. My employer was soooo patient with me and always took me back.

 Who would you recommend this book to and what should readers be aware of before reading it?

This has appeal to lovers of historical fiction, those interested in the American Old West, and women who enjoy stories about strong women who overcome the odds. There is a dark theme in this story – each woman has a terrible secret in her past. This isn’t a light read, though there’s plenty of humor, but it is a story of redemption and survival.

What inspired you to write?

I’m inspired by all the wonderful books I’ve enjoyed over the years. I always wanted to be a writer too and create stories others would enjoy. Books are a gift – I so appreciate the wonderful authors out there who have produced their stories.

Do you see yourself in your characters?

There’s a bit of me in all my characters, even the bad ones. I’m not sure how it could be otherwise. I don’t mean I’ve done the things my characters have, but I can dig deep and find a glimmer of understanding how a character might react a certain way. I try to get inside their mind (strange, because they are literally in my mind) and become them while I’m writing their scenes.

Tell us three things we’d find if we looked under your heroine’s bed?

Great question! I have three main characters. There wouldn’t be anything under Clara’s bed as she’s an impeccable housewife. Mary Rose will have an old corset, a boxful of ribbons, two pairs of knickers, five pairs of shoes and a box of stale candy under hers. Emma will store several rabbit snares under her bed, along with a bag of marbles she won five years ago from a boy in a bet at school.

SPEED ROUND FOR A LITTLE ADDED FUN:

Speed Round (one word only answer): Yep, I know torture for a writer!<evil laugh>

Favorite movie: Squid Game (current series)
Favorite book: The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck
Last book read: Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
Favorite color: Green
Stilettos or flipflops: Flipflops
Coffee or tea: Coffee
Ebook or audiobook or paperback: Anything
Pencil or pen: Pen

Favorite song: Imagine by John Lennon

Favorite dessert: Anything chocolate

Favorite junk food: Nachos

Favorite thing to do to relax: Read!

Champagne or gin: Gin

Paranormal or Historical: Tough one, but maybe historical has the edge

Wonder Woman or Top Model: Wonder Woman

Favorite TV show: Seinfeld

Hot or cold: Cold

I’d die if I don’t have: My family

Now tell us a little about Three Widows of Wylder.

After the death of her husband, Clara flees a hanging judge and seeks refuge with her brother in Wylder, Wyoming.

With secrets of her own and good reasons to flee, spoiled and vain Mary Rose joins Clara on the trek to Wyoming. Surely a suitable man exists somewhere.

Emma is a mystery. A crack shot and expert horsewoman, her harrowing past seeps out in a steady drip. She’s on the run from something, but what?

After the three women descend on Wylder, a budding romance leads to exposure of their pasts. As disaster looms, will any of them escape?

Sneak peek between the pages of Three Widows of Wyyder. 

Emma stood, legs apart, one hand on the pistol at her hip. The covered wagon was the type used years ago by pioneers, before trains tamed the prairie, and they still lumbered across areas where tracks hadn’t been laid. Two women sat side-by-side, too focused on their argument to yet notice the camp they entered. Their one horse, overmatched by the heavy wagon, was damp with sweat, its mouth flecked with froth.

“We should have stayed on the main road.” The peevish one appeared much younger, curly gold hair topped by a large straw hat. She wore a light-yellow dress with lace at her wrists and throat, a perfectly inadequate outfit for travel. “Someone could have provided directions.”

The older woman had finely-drawn features, a few strands of gray threaded through her dark, uncovered hair. Dressed in sensible blue calico, she gripped the reins too tight and the poor horse gave a pathetic shake of its head. “The whole point was to avoid people,” she sniped.

Emma strode forward and seized the reins. “For God’s sake, you’re killing him.”

The two women gaped as though at an apparition. The horse, released from harsh hands, lowered its head and halted. Its sides heaved as flies drank at its sweaty flanks.

“Whomever let you two fools handle a horse should be whipped.” Tempted to dispatch the women to hell for their cruelty, Emma rested her hand on the pistol’s handle.

They two travelers spoke in tandem. “Who are you?” and “How dare you call me a fool.”

As Emma crooned into in the horse’s ear, her expert fingers undid the buckles at its shoulders and haunches. By the time the older of the two women climbed to the ground, the horse was unhitched and Emma led it to the creek.

“That’s our horse,” cried the one in yellow. “Clara, what is that insane girl doing? She’s stealing him.”

Emma halted, shoulders stiff. She turned and pointed the pistol at the one with lace at her throat. “I’m no horse thief.” She cocked the hammer. “Apologize.”

Buy Links:  Amazon.  iBooks, Barnes and NobleBookbub,  and Goodreads.

About the author:

Julie Howard is the author of the Wild Crime mystery series and Spirited Quest paranormal mystery series. She is a former journalist and editor who has covered topics ranging from crime to cowboy poetry. She is a member of the Idaho Writers Guild and editor of the Potato Soup Journal. Learn more at juliemhoward.com.

Website: http://juliemhoward.com

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/juliemhowardauthor

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18116047.Julie_Howard

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Julie-Howard/e/B07D6CS4NQ/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/julie-howard?list=author_books

Twitter: https://twitter.com/_JulieMHoward

Follow her on Instagram: @authorjuliehoward

It’s been great having you with us today.  Good luck with Three Widows of Wylder.  I’ll be grabbing my copy.  I’ve read and loved all the Wylder West Series! 

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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!

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Letters & Lies from Colleen L Donnelly

Give a warm welcome to Colleen L. Donnelly, author of Letters and Lies new release. Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about Colleen and her Letters & Lies.

Thank you, Tena, for letting me air my newest characters and the smiles they still give me, even after two years of wrestling them to the page. “Letters and Lies” is a humorous divergence and stretch from my normal serious historical novels, a fun read I wrapped around matters of the heart, utter disappointment, and the staggering realization that going left when you should have gone right can still spawn a measure of success amidst a glut of failures.

I scratch my head at slapstick comedy, and maybe some will at my dry sense of humor. But it worked well when it came to creating a determined heroine I think we can all relate to, one with a blind eye to her own foibles. Louise Archer wanted what she couldn’t have, and wanted it badly enough she gave herself permission to lie, assume a false identity, take over someone else’s family business, upend a small town’s economy, and throw suspicion at a haughty banker in order to get it. Red-faced every time one of her schemes backfires, and horrified at the woman she has become, Louise’s broken heart and social humiliation propel her forward through a plethora of wrongs to make a single right…the right she thought she wanted…something, again, I think we can all relate to, and I hope many enjoy.

Speed Round (one word only answer): Yep, I know torture for a writer!<evil laugh>

Favorite movie: Follow the Stars Home
Favorite book: The Monk (the really old story by Matthew Lewis)
Last book read: Where the Crawdads Sing
Favorite color: Yellow
Stilettos or flipflops: Flipflops
Coffee or tea: COFFEE
Ebook or audiobook or paperback: Paperback
Pencil or pen: Pen

Favorite song: For Those Tears I Died

Streak or not: Once

Favorite dessert: Icebox Dessert

Favorite junk food: Fritos

Favorite thing to do to relax: Walk

Champagne or gin: Don’t drink

Paranormal or Historical: Historical

Wonder Woman or Top Model: Uhhhh…

Favorite TV show: Seinfeld

Hot or cold: Hot

POV: First

I’d die if I don’t have: Coffee

Review or Not: Review

Now give us the scoop on Letters & Lies.

Louise Archer boards a westbound train in St. Louis to find the Kansas homesteader who wooed and proposed to her by correspondence, then jilted her by telegram – Don’t come, I can’t marry you. Giving a false name to hide her humiliation, her lie backfires when a marshal interferes and offers her his seat.

Marshal Everett McCloud intends to verify the woman coming to marry his homesteading friend is suitable. At the St. Louis train station, his plan detours when he offers his seat to a captivating woman whose name thankfully isn’t Louise Archer.

Everett’s plans thwart hers, until he begins to resemble the man she came west to find, and she the woman meant to marry his friend.

Buy Link: https://amzn.to/2yNFGNv

A sneak peek between the pages of Letters & Lies! 

“Kansas Concoctions.” Cook burst into the dining area with a shout, a tray in one hand and a spatula in the other. The tray clattered on the side table. Every head turned, every brow raised, surely every eye spotted the butt of his pistol that jutted from his apron. The gasp which issued from the civilized sector told me they had.

Drat. “Confections,” I said to Joshua. “He means Kansas Confections. Excuse me.” I marched in Cook’s

direction, a steady but civilized step which quickened when the spatula thudded next to the tray. “Cook,” I

hissed. He turned, his surly glare stopping before it reached me. He leveled a gaze on Rudy, and Lizzy next

to him. “Cook,” I hissed even louder. He set out Rudy’s direction. I switched my course and saw Deputy Joshua come to his feet. Now three sets of footsteps marched through the hush which fell over Eat Here. Travelers I had worked so hard to make comfortable stopped eating and talking, everyone’s attention on the Wild West show which promised to ruin everything.

Drat Cook.

About the Author: 

Scientist gone rogue, Colleen has left the world of black and white facts for the mushy swamp of broken hearts, betrayals, and impossible relationships she mixes together on the page instead of in a test tube.

Way to go Colleen!

Now you can find Colleen at:

http://www.colleenldonnelly.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ColleenLDonnelly

https://twitter.com/colleenLdonnell

http://www.Goodreads.com/colleenldonnelly

It was wonderful having you with us today.  Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with Letters & Lies.

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