Small town Contemporary
Romance with a Twist.
Shhh,
don't tell anyone but I've got a thing for TV medical dramas. Yup! I love them.
Grey's Anatomy, Royal Pains, House, ER, Chicago Hope, Nurse Jackie, the
short-lived Mercy; I was addicted to them all.
I love watching the shows and I really love trying to diagnose the patient
before the TV doctor. I also adore the interpersonal relationships that simmer
in highly charged, emotional environments.
So often people who 'care' for a living are not so great at caring for
themselves.
Of
course, all of these shows I've mentioned are set in big, city hospitals
pulsing with trauma and drama. I've worked in such places but I've also worked
in much smaller hospitals in much smaller towns. In small towns there's a very
fine line between work-life and home-life so it seemed logical to write a book
set in a small town and centering it on the medical clinic and the hospital.
Why
did I choose Montana? Well, with those spectacular Rocky Mountains, its
never-ending blue sky and its relative isolation in comparison with some of the
smaller and more densely populated, eastern states, it seemed the logical
place. Plus, Montana has a Medicine River so how could I let that pass by? It
virtually demanded I set a book there!

Like
all my books, family plays a bit part and Montana
Actually is
no different. Katrina McCade is Montana born and raised and although she's
lived out-of-state, she knows all about being connected to community. Right now
she's living back at her family's ranch, which isn't easy after years away
because family have that frustrating thing of relegating you to the role you've
always played even when you've changed. Katrina's determined to break bad
habits such as falling for guys who break her heart. Josh's arrival in town
puts her new-found determination to the test.
Beau
McCade is a strong, silent cowboy with more reasons than most to be taciturn
and a man of few words. All his life he's struggled to speak and he's convinced
himself that life on the ranch with the animals is where he's happiest. Cows
and dogs are a lot less bewildering than women but his life is about to be
turned on its head from both inside of the family and out.
I
loved writing this book and blending family drama with some medical drama and
overlaying it all with the humor that comes from everyday events. Publishers
Weekly gave
Montana
Actually a
starred review saying, "… The plot twists around medical emergencies,
a second romance line involving Katrina’s brother, the troubles of a local
youth, relationships between parents and children, and former lovers learning
to be friends. All these elements contribute to the comfortable feeling of
small town life. The witty conversations, family drama, and accurate (but never
maudlin) descriptions of loss and grief will have the reader laughing out loud,
wiping away tears, and eagerly awaiting future books. "
Does
that tempt you? You can read an excerpt here.
I
hope you pick up a copy of Montana
Actually
and give it a shot. I promise you a happy ending.
A big-city doctor in a
small-town Montana practice....A former nurse who has sworn off doctors
forever....The scene is set for passions to ignite in Big Sky Country. For
readers of Robyn Carr and Sherryl Woods.
City doctor Josh Stanton and
his sports car don’t suit the country, but with his medical school debt about
to bury him, Josh has to make the best out of a bad situation. Adjusting to his
new job and life in the middle of nowhere isn’t easy, but at least the views of
the mountains—and one distractingly attractive local—are stunning...
After eight years away,
Katrina McCade is back in Bear Paw for a break from her life, bad choices—and
men. But when a broad-shouldered stranger bursts into town, she finds herself
unexpectedly saddled with the town’s sexy new doctor as a tenant. Katrina
doesn’t need a man to make her happy, especially a disgruntled physician.
But try telling her body that…
Excerpt
From Montana Actually, Book 1 Medicine River Series.
The thirty cows blocking the road
was a good indication to Dr. Josh Stanton that he was no longer in Chicago.
That and the inordinate number of bloated roadkill with their legs in the air
that he’d passed in the last few hours along Highway 2 as he traversed the
north of Montana. Sure, Chicago had its fair share of flattened cats on its
busy inner-city streets, but he’d stake his life no one living between North
Halsted and North Wells streets had ever had to step over a deer.
He watched the cows lurch from
decisiveness in their chosen direction to utter chaos as two border collies
raced at their heels, barking frantically and driving them determinedly toward
an open gate on the other side of the road. Josh’s fingers tapped on the top of
the steering wheel as they always did when he was stuck in traffic in Chicago’s
clogged streets. What was the collective noun for a group of cows? Bunch? Herd?
He’d once seen a documentary on ranching in Australia and they’d said “mob” in
their flat accent.
He guessed he’d find out the name
soon enough, as he was close to finishing his 1,458-mile journey across
Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and three-quarters of Montana.
When he’d left home three very
long days ago, he’d thought the north woods of Wisconsin were as isolated as
things got, but now, as he gazed around him and felt the howling west wind
buffeting the car, he knew Menomonie was positively urban in comparison to the
endless grass plains that surrounded him. Where the hell were the trees?
An older man on a horse, whose
weather-beaten face told of a life lived outdoors, stopped next to Josh’s
low-slung sports car. Josh wound down the window, his gaze meeting jean-clad
legs and horse flesh. He craned his neck.
“Taking a trip?” the cowboy asked
conversationally, as if they had all the time in the world to chat.
I
wish. “Relocating.”
“Yeah?” His gaze took in Josh’s
Henley shirt and the computer bag on the seat next to him. “You’re a bit far
north for Seattle. Don’t reckon you should risk the mountain roads driving that
vehicle.”
Josh automatically patted the dash
as if the car’s feelings needed soothing. Granted, his sports car wasn’t the
latest model this side of five years, but it was in great condition and he
loved it. The buzz it gave him when he drove it more than made up for the extra
money it had added to his outstanding loans.
“I’m not going over the
mountains,” he said, his mouth twisting wryly as he checked his triptik.. “I’m
going to Medicine River County and a town called Bear Paw.”
A town that was wrenching him from
his home and staking a claim on his life that went straight through his heart.
A town that Ashley had refused point-blank to even consider visiting, let alone
living in.
The cowboy called out an
instruction to his dogs, who immediately raced behind a recalcitrant calf, and
then he lifted his hat and scratched his head. “Bear Paw. Okay.”
Josh wasn’t certain what to read
into the statement. Sure, he’d seen a photo on the Internet of the small
hospital, but short of that, he didn’t know much else. “My cell’s out of range
so I’ve lost my location on the map, but I think it’s about twenty miles away.
Do you know it?”
“Oh yeah. I know it. What takes
you there?”
Debt
half the size of Montana. “Work. I’m the new physician.”
The man nodded slowly. “Ah.”
Unease skittered through Josh’s
belly. What did the cowboy know that he didn’t? “What the hell does ‘ah’ mean?”
He laughed. “Relax, son. Your
trip’s over.”
As the last cow finally conceded
the grass was indeed greener on the pasture side of the fence and had moved
through the gate, Josh looked down the now clear road and saw nothing. Nothing
if he discounted some sort of a crop and a hell of a lot of sky. He squinted
and just made out what looked like a communications tower. “So where’s the
town?”
The older man pointed down the
dead-straight road. “Three miles gets you to the outskirts and another mile to
the traffic signal. Two miles past that, you’re done with the town and heading
to the mountains.”
That distance in Chicago wouldn’t
even get him from his apartment to his favorite deli. How small was this place?
“What if I turn at the traffic signal?”
“Right? Now that will take you
straight to Canada, eh.” He grinned at his own joke.
The town couldn’t possibly be so
small. “According to Wikipedia,” Josh said, “it’s got a population of three
thousand people.”
The cowboy scratched his head
again. “I guess if you include the ranches, it does. It’s surely bigger than
Bow. Mind, just about everywhere’s bigger’n Bow.”
Disbelief flooded Josh as he
remembered passing a rusty town sign. “That place with the tavern and nothing
else?”
“Yup, that’d be Bow.” He shoved
his hand through the open window. “The name’s Kirk McCade. Welcome to Bear Paw,
Doctor.”
Josh gripped his hand. “Josh
Stanton.”
Kirk slapped his hand on the roof
of the car. “No doubt this baby is a sweet ride, but once you’ve settled in,
best buy yourself an outfit ”
“A what?” Surely the cowboy wasn’t
talking about clothes.
“A truck, a pickup. Winter here’s
tough on vehicles.”
A slither of indignation ran up
Josh’s spine. He might not be used to wide-open spaces, but he knew weather.
“I’ve just spent two years in Chicago, so I know all about winter.”
Kirk laughed so hard Josh worried he’d
fall off the horse.
Giveaway:
To celebrate the launch of Montana Actually, I’m giving away a gift pack of
Huckleberry products (USA residents only. Sorry! The postage out of
the US kills.) Huckleberries grow wild near Glacier National Park where the
book is set. So if you’d like a chance to win some huckleberry lotion, pancake mix,
syrup, Glacier County honey, Montana coffee, a great souvenir bag, as well as a
copy of Montana writing mate, Kari Lynn Dell’s debut novel, The Long Ride Home, then
head on over to my Facebook page to enter!
I see my library has a copy of your new book on order, so I just requested it!
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome, Amy P. Thanks! Out of curiosity, which country do you live in?
ReplyDeleteI'm in the U.S. I live in Pennsylvania.
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