E.E. Burke's Best of the West: Linda Broday's Newest Outlaw Bride

Greetings, readers! After a hiatus, I am back with Best of the West, and wanted to kick off this holiday season with a spotlight on a new release in the Outlaw Bride series from New York Times bestselling author Linda Broday.

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Once Upon A Mail-Order Bride

Accused of crimes he didn't commit, ex-preacher Ridge Steele is forced to give up everything he knew and make his home with outlaws. Desperate for someone to confide in, he strikes up correspondence with mail-order bride Adeline Jancy, finding in her the open heart he's been searching for. Upon her arrival, Ridge discovers Addie only communicates through the written word, but he knows a little of what trauma can do to a person and vows to stand by her side.

Addie is eager to start a new life with the kind ex-preacher and the little boy she's stolen away from her father - a zealot priest of a terrorized flock. As her small family settles into life at Hope's Crossing, she even begins to find the voice, and confidence, she'd lost so long ago.

But danger is not far behind, and her father will not be denied. While Addie desperately fights the man who destroyed her childhood, a determined Ridge races to the rescue. The star-crossed lovers will need more than prayers to survive this final challenge...and find their way back to each other again.

Meet Linda

Linda Broday is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of 24 full length western romance novels and short stories. She resides in the Texas Panhandle on land the American Indian, Comancheros, and early cowboys once roamed, and on a still day she can often hear their voices whispering in the breeze. She loves research and looking for little known tidbits to add realism to her stories and is inspired by historical events

Website: LindaBroday.com 

Facebook:  http://facebook.com/lindabrodayauthor  

Twitter: http://twitter.com/lbroday

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/linda.broday/  

Let's find out more about the new release...

Who are your favorite characters from this series?

This is a hard one. I’ve loved each one I breathed life into. Each had their own set of seemingly impossible challenges. But I think Adeline (Addie) Jancy in this one had so much more to overcome. She can’t speak and has to rely on writing everything down. She’s been through sheer hell. Whipped and put in prison by her own father, kept in the dark for two years then hunted once she’s released from the penitentiary. Addie doesn’t think anyone could ever love her—until she meets the outlaw, Ridge Steele. He shows her what unconditional love and a true marriage is. From the moment he meets her, he treats her as an equal. Her wishes and dreams are just as important as his. But then Ridge is the most caring, giving one of the outlaws. And when Addie is taken, he doesn’t stop until she’s back in his arms. I just love this couple who are so right for each other.

Is this the last book of the series?

Yes, this is the 4th and final book of the series and I’m so sad to leave this special outlaw town of Hope’s Crossing. The town has been a safe place of refuge for people seeking asylum and a new start. The four original outlaws who started the town have gotten amnesty and new lives with wives and children but there’s still much to do. They see themselves as caretakers of the land and the ones to find justice for those too weak to find it for themselves. Even so, they know they’re the last of a dying breed. The world is becoming more civilized and the law is fast catching up. They’re ready to turn over the reins to the lawmen though so it’s time to end the series.  

Are you taking your characters in new directions?

I certainly have in this book. The world is changing so fast and westward expansion has put settlements in the far reaches of Texas. Ridge knows his time as an outlaw is short so he works at gaining respectability and settling old scores. He wants to clear his name and get right with the law. He’s tired of looking over his shoulder and is constantly thinking about what he has to do to protect Addie and keep her safe. I’ve never written a non-speaking character before but I wanted Addie completely vulnerable. I found out exactly how hard it is to write someone who can’t utter a word and I can say that I probably won’t attempt it again. Still, I’m glad I did it with this book.

What have you loved most about this series?

I’ve loved writing about these men living outside the law—their honor, the rules they set down for themselves, and the lines they don’t cross. They have so much heart and the sense of justice beats inside them. They’ve been wronged and harshly judged but they keep working to make better lives and finding wives to share their lot with. They want to walk tall in the sunshine and they find a way to make it happen. There is no giving up in these men. They fight hard and love with as much enthusiasm. I would be proud to have any or all stand by my side when the going gets rough. They’re the best of the best and they live inside me.   

What’s next?

I begin a new series in April 2021—Lone Star Legends. Each book will feature one of the children who grew up on the famed Lone Star Ranch as an adult. A new generation of Legends to carry on the family name. Book 1 is The Cowboy of Legend and it features Gracie Legend who is neck deep in the Temperance Movement. She butts heads with a saloon owner in Fort Worth’s Hells Half Acre. Then I’ll have Book 2, A Cowboy’s Christmas Legend, in September 2021. 

Reader Question: Have you ever found yourself committed to an unexpected situation you get into? How did you handle it?

Giveaway:  A book (print or ebook) and a 2021 calendar that I designed.

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E.E. Burke's Best of the West featuring a heart-warming Christmas story from Linda Broday

This Rebel is about to learn the true meaning of Christmas... 

As a late November storm batters her sod house, Rebel Avery’s thoughts are on Travis Lassiter, the outlaw she loves and plans to marry. Eight months ago, he’d been captured, and she fears he’s dead. To occupy her worried mind, she tells two small orphans she’d taken in how she used to celebrate the Advent and gets an idea.

Rebel and the other women set about to make the entire town of Hope’s Crossing the Advent calendar. On their designated day, each home gives the children a treat and strikes a chord of hope and joy. Yet, for Rebel it becomes increasingly apparent that Travis will not return. Her heart breaking, she gives a lonely recluse the only thing of value that she possesses—swaths of red satin fabric she’d saved for a wedding dress.

As they move toward the holiday, sagging spirits are renewed, a makeshift family is formed, and Rebel finds that through troubled times, love endures and conquers all.

Here's an excerpt:

  Rebel Avery was preparing supper when four-year-old Jenny came running, her sobs cutting into her. “What’s wrong, honey?”

  “My dolly’s broken. Everything’s broken.” She thrust her doll’s arm at Rebel and ran crying to her bed.

  First her son Ely fighting at school and coming home angry, then the howling storm breaking her window, and now this. Something had to be done to lift their spirits. To lose Travis Lassiter, the man she loved, so abruptly with scarcely a word since had plunged Rebel into heartbreak and despair. This not knowing if he was alive or dead gnawed at her. Christmas should be full of hope and optimism, not this thick cloud of fear.

  Memories of past Christmases gave Rebel an idea. She grabbed her coat and fought the wind all the way to the Bowdre house.

  Her friend, Nora, opened the door, wiping her hands on her apron. “Rebel, come inside before you freeze to death.”

  “Thank you. This storm’s something.” Rebel untied her scarf. “Everything is wrong.”

  “What do you mean—everything?” Nora led her into the small parlor.

  “Ely has all this anger inside. He fought with Billy Truman again today. Came home with a bloody nose.” Rebel sighed and took a seat. “And Jenny’s doll’s arm came off, and she sobbed that everything was broken. It does seem to be the case. The window was just one. Then the pan of cookies I was baking ended up on the floor. And I haven’t heard a word from Travis and fear he might be dead.” A sob strangled in her throat.

  “Oh honey.” The teakettle whistled, and Nora rose. “How about a nice cup of tea while we chat?”

  “That sounds lovely.”

  Nora left the room and soon returned with a tray laden with tea, cups, and little cookies.   They sat with steaming cups in front of the fire while baby Willow, a child the couple had found next to her dead mother and taken in, crawled around them. Rebel admired the curvy, blond-haired woman who had the kind of strength she wished for.

  Rebel took a sip of tea. “I have an idea and want to see what you think of it.”

  “If it’s a way to dispel this gloom and make everyone get along, I’m all for it.”

  “I want to have an Advent calendar—only the whole town will be the calendar.”

  “Oh, yes! I always loved the cheer Advent added to my holidays when I was a child.” Nora’s brown eyes twinkled. “Tell me more.”

  “We’ll have to somehow fashion a large calendar with a little door on each day.” Rebel’s mind was whirling.

  Nora bit into a cookie. “We’ll make it out of sturdy wood so the wind won’t blow it over.”

  Baby Willow tugged on Rebel’s skirt and she picked her up, inhaling the sweet scent. “Inside each little door will be the name of the person offering treats that day and the children will go to that house.”

  “Yes! Yes! And on each Sunday leading up to Christmas, we’ll light one of the four Advent candles.” Enthusiasm lined Nora’s face.

  “Great idea. I wonder if the blacksmith will make us a holder. When this storm passes, I’ll ask him. We can get candles from the mercantile.” Rebel carefully untangled black strands of her hair from Willow’s little hand. “We’ll get the children involved. I know, maybe we’ll have them draw for a chance to be the one to light the candle in church that Sunday.”

  “If they fight or misbehave, they’ll have their name removed.” Nora reached for the teapot. “More, Rebel?”

  Rebel moved her cup closer. “Unless I miss my guess, this will teach them to get along better, and I think it’ll fill the town with much needed Christmas spirit.” Her hand trembled when she lifted her tea. “I just wish I knew if Travis is alive.”

  

Meet Linda

I'm a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of 27 full length western romance novels and short stories. Watching TV westerns during my youth fed my love of cowboys and the old West and they still inspire me. Here in the Texas Panhandle, I can often hear the voices of the American Indians and early cowboys whispering in the breeze. I love chocolate, research, and watching movies.

FOLLOW ME: 

Website: LindaBroday.com

Facebook Author Page:  http://facebook.com/lindabrodayauthor 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/lbroday  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/linda.broday/

Goodreads:  https://goodreads.com/author/show/1204489.Linda_Broday

BOOK LINKS:

Amazon:  https://amzn.to/2NeZYWK

B&N:        http://bit.ly/2XljwcS

APPLE:   https://apple.co/2I9zWP3

KOBO:     http://bit.ly/2knJDS9

IndieBound: http://bit.ly/2ZbCi7r

Q & A

E.E. What is your favorite Christmas memory?

Linda: I must’ve been around seven years old and my daddy had been burned really bad the month before and was in the hospital. I didn’t know if we’d even have a Christmas at all because Mom spent all her time with him. I hoped Santa would come but I prayed harder that Daddy would get well enough to come home. I woke to a silent house on Christmas morning, my heart heavy and went to the living room. There sat my Daddy, talking low to Mama. His face and arms were heavily bandaged, but he was home. Nothing else mattered, including the lack of gifts.

E.E.: What is your favorite Christmas song?

Linda: There are so many but the one I love most is “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” by Elvis Presley and if you read my answer to the first question you’ll see why.

E.E.: What personality traits of yours helps you most as an author?

Linda: Discipline, determination, and persistence. I’m able to stay focused on my writing which enables me to meet my deadlines in addition to all the other hundreds of things required.

E.E.: Do you have a favorite quote?

Linda: “Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” George Adair

It’s a reminder to face that fear and I’ll get the prize.

E.E.: Is your Christmas story The Christmas Wedding part of a series you’re writing?

Linda: Yes, Rebel Avery and Travis Lassiter are two characters from my Outlaw Mail Order Brides series. Rebel is a former saloon girl and rough around the edges, but she has a big heart. She’s taken in two orphans and given them a home. Travis is an outlaw and just prior to this story (in Saving the Mail Order Bride) he was captured by a bounty hunter. They’re so much in love.

E.E.: This outlaw series is interesting. Why did you want to write about a group of men who skirt the law?

Linda: If you think about it, outlaws were the original bad boys and what’s better than that? They fell into two classes—the good ones and the bad ones. The first are the men who found themselves in situations where they filled in for lawmen in areas where no law existed and found justice with a gun. They didn’t enjoy it, instead saw it as something that had to be done. The bad group were men who got a thrill out of killing and robbing and they deserved to die.

E.E.: What’s next?

Linda: THE MAIL ORDER BRIDE’S SECRET (Book #3 Outlaw Mail Order Brides) releases on January 28, 2020. This story is about outlaw Tait Trinity and Melanie Dunbar. Book 4 will release in the fall of next year and close the series. As yet I have no title for that one.

Check out the other stories in Longing for a Cowboy Christmas

Linda wants to know, do you have a favorite Christmas memory you can share?

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E.E. Burke's Best of the West: Featuring a Christmas anthology with Rosanne Bittner

A Christmas chock full of cowboys! What could be better?

LONGING FOR A COWBOY CHRISTMAS features stories from six bestselling authors including Rosanne Bittner and Linda Broday.

Today we're featuring Christmas in Paradise by Rosanne Bittner

When Sage Lightfoot falls in love with and marries Maggie Tucker in Bittner’s novel, PARADISE VALLEY, Maggie is carrying a child who is the product of an attack. Sage has vowed to love the child as his own … but can he? A Christmas “miracle” birth brings the answer. Love never fails.

 Excerpt from CHRISTMAS IN PARADISE:

…  “Sage, if this baby at least belonged to James, it would be different. He was my legal husband. But those men shot him down and now I’m carrying a baby fathered by one of them.”

“And I made sure they’re all dead, didn’t I? Through it all, I fell in love with you. Have you ever once heard me call that child a bastard?”

Maggie quickly wiped at tears. “No. But I can’t help wondering if you’ve thought it.”

“And what did I tell you about that baby when I told you I wanted to marry you?”

Maggie faced him. “That you would love it like your own, and he or she would inherit part of this ranch like they had your own blood.”

“Am I a liar?”

Maggie sniffed. “No. Joe Cable once told me how honest you are, and that’s what the men like about you.”

“Then why are you doubting my word?”  …

Maggie looked out at the heavenly colors and glorious beauty of Paradise Valley. … “It’s just me, I guess. You’re all man and so sure of yourself, and some men don’t want kids at all, let alone when they aren’t their own.”

Sage pulled her back into his arms. “Well, I do want kids. … I’ll love the one you’re carrying because I love his or her mother.  …  I’ve found the perfect woman to share this ranch with me, and as far as anyone other than you and me knows, that baby you’re carrying is mine.”  …

Longing for a Cowboy Christmas can be found in most Barnes & Noble book stores and WalMart. It can also be ordered at Amazon.com, and can be “one-click” ordered from Amazon through my web site. Check out this book trailer for more information:

Meet Rosanne

USA TODAY best-seller Rosanne Bittner has written and published 68 novels over the past 40 years.  Rosanne’s first love is American history, the Old West and Native Americans.  Her well-researched books cover real events and locations from all facets of the birth and growth of America. She has won numerous writing awards, including a RITA nomination from Romance Writers of America for SONG OF THE WOLF and a WILLA award from Women Writing the West for WHERE HEAVEN BEGINS.  She was named “Queen of Western Romance,” by Romantic Times Reviews, who nominated her second “Outlaw” book, DO NOT FORSAKE ME, for best western romance for 2015. Most of Rosanne’s novels have garnered over 95% five-star reviews from Amazon readers and great reviews from Publisher’s Weekly.  Rosanne belongs to several historical societies and is an active volunteer in a home-town charity organization.  She and her husband of over 50 years live in southwest Michigan.

www.rosannebittner.com

www.rosannebittner.blogspot.com

Facebook/Goodreads/Sourcebooks/Amazon/Diversion Books

CONTACT INFO:

Web site: http://www.rosannebittner.com/

Blog: http://rosannebittner.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RosanneBittner

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RosanneBittnerAuthor

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B000APXL10

e-mail: rosannebittner17@outlook.com

E.E.: What’s your favorite “love” word?

Rosanne: Adore

E.E.: What sound or noise do you love?

Rosanne: The hundreds of birds in the pine trees in my back yard in spring.

E.E.: What is your favorite movie of all time? 

Rosanne: That’s a hard one. I have a whole list of favorite movies, mostly westerns of course. But I also have favorite comedies. I guess I can narrow the favorite historical/westerns down to three –

QUIGLEY, DOWN UNDER – Tom Selleck’s great line - “This ain’t Dodge City, Mister, and you ain’t Bill Hickock.” Bam!

OPEN RANGE – Kevin Costner’s great line – “A lot of men are going to die today, and I’m going to kill them.”

LAST OF THE MOHICANS – Daniel Day-Lewis’s great line – “I will find you!” The heroine was about to be taken off by Indians, but she damn well knew he would find her.

And I have to add here that I absolutely love THE SHOOTIST, John Wayne’s last movie. It was about a dying gunfighter – so fitting for such a hero of western movies who was dying in real life.

And I can’t leave out THE BIG COUNTRY. Its theme song immediately takes you out west and into its magnificent landscape of “BIG” country!

E.E.: What is your biggest vice? 

Rosanne: Nibbling while at the computer. It destroys every diet I ever try.

E.E.: Be honest – when reading, do you put yourself in the heroine’s role?

Rosanne: Sometimes when reading – but  ALWAYS, ALWAYS when I am WRITING!

E.E.: Which era would you least like to have lived in, fashion-wise, and why?

Rosanne: I DID live in it. The 70’s! Yikes! Flowers everywhere! Oranges and golds! Daisies! Bell-bottom pants! Hair down past the eyes, even on men! Terrible movies! Green or gold appliances! Shag carpet! Ugly, ugly suits! Big, wide ties! Giant hoop earrings! Gaudy jewelry! Horrible era for fashion!

E.E.: What will always make you smile, even on a bad day? 

Rosanne: BIRDS

We have some great giveaways today thanks to Rosanne's generosity!

(Third Prize) – An autographed copy of the anthology, LONGING FOR A COWBOY CHRISTMAS.

(Second Prize) – An autographed copy of the anthology AND an autographed copy of my March 2019 book, LOGAN’S LADY.

(First Prize) – An autographed copy of the anthology, PLUS an autographed copy of LOGAN’S LADY, PLUS autographed copies of all four of my “Outlaw Hearts” books and a $25 Amazon gift card.

WOW! 

To enter the drawing, enter your email in the Rafflecopter and leave a comment. You must leave a comment to be considered. Thank you!

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