I am so honored to have Rancher McBride nominated for a CAPA! Calvin McBride and Josie Hollister were fun characters to bring to life. Rancher McBride is the first story in the McBride series that also includes Doctor McBride and Sheriff McBride.
It’s a short novella (only 25 pages) and available from The Wild Rose Press.
Blurb: Blue Spring’s most eligible bachelor is about to go down. Josie Hollister has determined she’s willing to give up her dream of being a rancher and settle for being a rancher’s wife. She throws away her britches for petticoats and corsets, but the act causes Calvin McBride to run for the hills. Calvin McBride wants Josie in his bed every night, but the woman has gone loco. All that lace and those floppy hats will set his Texas longhorns into a stampede! Can his brother convince him it’s not the clothes that makes the woman?
The Romance Studio’s review: Calvin McBride is a simple man with simple tastes. He wants a wife who'll be at his side day and night sharing in every aspect of ranch life. When Josie Hollister shows up dressed like a girl he goes a little haywire. To him anyone wearing a dress wouldn't be much good on a horse or branding cattle or any other part of his life. Two people who love one another need a little help to find out what's really important.
Lauri Robinson uses humor in a good way to show it's always better to be yourself. Josie and Calvin love one another but Josie decides she has to try to act like someone else to get what she wants. Instead of getting the man she's set her sights on she scares him half to death acting like the very opposite of the woman he wants by his side. The interaction of the characters and the dialogue in this installment of the McBride family saga is excellent. Ms. Robinson spins a yarn that makes great reading with plenty of smiles.
And a short excerpt:
He took a long gulp of water. The last thing he needed was some fancy little thing to be his wife. If that were the case, he would’ve married one long ago, while he was still in his twenties. Hell, he was thirty-three and knew what he wanted. The past few months he’d figured it was Josie. The truth settled on his shoulders like dead weight. Hell, he’d have to start over in his search for the perfect rancher’s wife.
His shoulders slumped and water caught in the back of his throat. He swallowed before he choked. It burned all the way down. Twisting his neck, a pop vibrated down his shoulders. With his heart sitting in the pit of his stomach like a big old rock, he asked, “When you heading back to Texas?”
Josie looked like a cat that just swallowed a bird. Her eyes were big and round, and her mouth formed a little o shape. “Excuse me?”
“I asked when you’re heading back.”
“Oh, um…” She licked her lips, biting on the bottom one for a moment. A frown formed between her brows. “I don’t know for sure.”
“Well, stop out at the ranch on your way. I’ll have the bank draft for the cattle.” He rose from his chair. “Thanks for dinner, Aunt Birdie.” Grabbing his hat from the hat tree in the hall, he left the house. A sad, empty feeling settled in his chest, as if he’d just said so long to his last friend.
The slam of the front door made Josie jump in her chair. Birdie reached over and patted her hand. “Don’t fret, sweetie. He’ll be back. He’s more hard- headed than a mule. Always was.”
She tried to give the other woman a smile, but the corners of her mouth refused to lift. Twirling her fork in her potatoes, she glanced to the hall. Cal certainly seemed upset about something. Her brows arched. Or maybe he was just shocked at seeing her dressed like a woman. Maybe the sight had been too enticing for him to linger. She bit her lips together, holding in the smile forming on her lips.
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