Buffalo Gal - #Friday56 and #Book Beginnings on Fridays

What do a runaway bride and buffalo ranching have in common? And then there are the UFOs! You'll find out in Lisa Wanttaja's delightful romance novel, Buffalo Gal. I enjoyed the way the author made the North Dakota setting a part of the story (torrential rain, tornados), as well as her depiction of the heroine as a strong, independent woman. Lots of humor, too. Good writing.


Book Beginning:
PROLOGUE
Dr. Andrea Moore stared at the clock on her bedroom wall with rising terror. Two more hours and it would all be over. She'd be married.
     She tried to tell herself her nervousness was simply pre-wedding jitters. But she knew it was more than that.


Friday56 from 56% on my Kindle:
"It could be dangerous to stand in the way of our investigation. You don't understand what you're dealing with."

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 246 Pages
Where to Buy: Links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and More

Synopsis:

     On the morning of her wedding, veterinarian Andrea Moore knows she’s making a mistake. When she learns she’s won a buffalo ranch, she runs off to North Dakota but finds herself in the middle of what could be an even bigger mistake. The ranch she’s won is not only home to a herd of bison but also run by a man who can’t hide his hostility.

     Foreman Mike Winterhawk worked long and hard to buy the ranch himself, only to have it handed over to some contest winner. His focus needs to be on why the bison can’t bear calves instead of teaching this city slicker in ugly green cowboy boots how to run a ranch. He can only hope she’ll quickly realize she’s out of her league and hightail it back to Seattle.

     So, why is he so attracted to this intruder, and why does he feel she might be the one who can help him turn White Thunder Ranch around?


              

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Key Largo Blues - #BookBeginnings on Friday and The #Friday56

     In the "About the Author" section of Key Largo Blues, Lynne M. Spreen writes: "Many novels and movies feature the coming-of-age story, in which young people figure out who they are and what they want to be. That's compelling, but so is this: what happens afterwards, twenty or thirty years later, to these interesting people?"

     I love stories about older characters. In Key Largo Blues, Karen Grace is fifty when she goes through major life changes. Her career is in shambles and she is recently divorced after thirty years of marriage. As the book opens, Karen is starting her life anew, building a business, and taking chances. It isn't always easy to start over in midlife, and the author shows her character's doubts, challenges, fears, and triumphs. Key Largo Blues is a book with many layers and one I'm sure I'll read more than once.

     Key Largo Blues is the sequel to Dakota Blues, but the book stands alone. You'll enjoy it even more, however, if you read Dakota Blues first. I'm proud to feature Lynne M. Spreen and other fabulous indie authors on my blog.

Book Beginning:
     Staging was everything.
     Karen Grace closed her windows against the possibility of noise. Key Largo teemed with Christmas Eve revelers, and the marina was like a parking lot, what with fishing charters and pleasure boats coming and going. So Karen took precautions. She couldn't afford to blow her scheme. In one hour, the show would go live.
     And the show, if successful, would launch her business. In the past year, her safe and happy life had imploded. Now footloose and broke, she considered the optics. Her new client had to think Karen was calling from a high-end office building, not an old camping trailer.

Friday 56 (from 56% on my Kindle):
She was accomplishing so much. The degree to which she could focus, living alone in the trailer with no social life, was thrilling. It was also somewhat depressing.

Genre: Women's Fiction / Older Adult (OA)
Amazon Link: Key Largo Blues
Book Length: 275 Pages
Author Website: Any Shiny Thing

Synopsis:
When Karen Grace turned fifty, she lost her husband and her job. Now she’s starting over, and this time, she’s determined to build a new life on her own terms. However, she’s being pulled in multiple directions: her family and friends want more of her time, her hometown sweetheart wants a commitment, and her fledgling business is on life support. With the hard-won confidence of midlife, Karen knows what she needs to do, and pays the heartbreaking price for pursuing her dreams. While grieving that decision, another challenge lands: Frieda’s granddaughter arrives on her doorstep in Key Largo, pleading for refuge. In this life-affirming sequel to Dakota Blues, Karen Grace completes her journey, deciding what can be saved and what must be jettisoned as she navigates passage into the second half of her life.

Disclosure: The author provided me with an advance copy of Key Largo Blues; however, that did not affect my review of the book.

                

Anyone can participate in Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56.
Click HERE to connect to other Book Beginnings posts (sponsored by Rose City Reads) 
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