Vella Munn will be awarding a several photographs of Montana's wilderness sent via email (international and U.S. giveaway) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Even though I wrote every one of
the four books and novella in the Montana Lakeside series, I still have a hard
time wrapping my mind around what I’ve done. For most of my writing career,
I’ve been content writing stand-alone stories, but that was before a girlfriend
and I were enjoying some quiet time in a small mountain town following a
writers’ conference.
The conference had been a blast but
exhausting, and there wasn’t much left of our brains. All I wanted was to relax
and for her to give me a taste of the Rocky Mountains over the next couple of
days. We’d settled into our rustic cabin and had stepped onto the deck
overlooking a swift-running creek, glasses of wine in hand. I don’t remember
what we were talking about, probably weighty things like where we were going to
go for dinner and how much snow was already at the highest peaks.
A storm started moving in complete
with blue/black clouds and a wind that made a delightful mess of our hair.
Instead of retreating indoors, we wrapped our coats around us and turned our
faces into the wind. At least I did. (A part of me wants to admit my friend
thought I’d lost my mind but I’m nog going to.)
I’m a wilderness gal. I was born
and raised in the mountains with nature in my DNA. I’d spent the past five days
in a Denver hotel surrounded by people. This afternoon was my reward for pretending
to be the extravert I’m not. As I sipped on my wine and waited for the rain to
start, my mind went to thoughts of how much the out-of-doors means to me. How
it defines me. How deeply I need it.
Suddenly I was wide awake, my mind
churning in the delicious way that happens to writers when they get an idea. Excitement gripped me as my
imagination charged into high gear. I vowed to explore and examine what nature
means to me via romance fiction. I could hardly wait to share with readers what
nature can offer to those who embrace it.
In a matter of minutes, a glass of
wine, a receptive listener, and rain now pelting my face, I knew what I was
going to do—write a contemporary series with each book taking place during a
different season so my characters and readers could fully experience everything
from spring warmth to winter snow. I’d also write a novella that takes place in
a single day but carries the same message.
The message? Nature heals. Being
surrounded by nature leads to self-understanding. Nature makes second chances
possible.
His Montana Rescue is the summer
story. I had no trouble deciding on Echo Rose’s career and back story. My
family owns a cabin in southern Oregon’s mountains within an hour’s drive of
Crater Lake. Summer means long days spend outdoors and constant awareness of
fire conditions. Echo is a forest ranger. The year before her story begins, she
was nearly killed while fighting an out-of-control forest fire. She has scars
and PTSD from the experience. Hero Ray Bowen is at the Lake Serene resort to
oversee its restoration and to do all he can to salvage his reputation and put
his life back together following a betrayal that cost him his business.
Former
firefighter Echo Rose may have recovered from the injuries that nearly ended
her life but the emotional scars still linger. She now devotes herself to
protecting wildlife and sheltering her heart until local contractor Rey Bowen
reminds Echo that life can offer so much more.
Rey Bowen is not the only one at Lake Serene with secrets and a desire to reboot his seriously derailed life. Meeting Echo reminds him that life can sparkle with joy and laughter and passion, but can he show the cautious Echo how to love again even as he struggles to trust his own heart?
Rey Bowen is not the only one at Lake Serene with secrets and a desire to reboot his seriously derailed life. Meeting Echo reminds him that life can sparkle with joy and laughter and passion, but can he show the cautious Echo how to love again even as he struggles to trust his own heart?
Excerpt
“Ranger Echo Rose,” a
rumbling voice said.
Taking it slow, she turned in the direction the words came
from.
Rey Bowen was looking at her, or rather looking down at her.
He wasn’t a giant of a man, just a shade over six feet, but that didn’t stop
her from remembering she was at least seven inches shorter and only one hundred
twenty pounds. For reasons she was careful not to examine too closely, she’d
told herself the breadth of his chest and width of his shoulders were
responsible for her unsettling reaction to him.
What was she thinking? Hadn’t she learned, painfully, to
keep emotional distance between herself and men? She had, darn it. She’d never
drop her guard.
Until she’d done in her ankle, she’d spent much of her time
around physical people, most of them men. She still was around more men than
women, but in recent months she'd mostly rubbed shoulders with people who spent
their days behind desks.
Despite how she'd been forced to earn her living since last
summer, she believed she still understood the physical male. When he was around
women he was trying to impress, the breed carried himself as if he was a bull
elk, strutting a bit, hard muscles pushing against too-tight T-shirts, and
gazes giving out bedroom vibes.
Rey did none of those things. Instead, it was as if he’d
built an emotional wall around himself. The reason was none of her business,
darn it. She had enough to do dealing with her own life.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Vella Munn freely
admits to being a dedicated and sometimes demented fiction writer. She has
always been drawn to nature and those who feel at home in it. A career writer,
she has had way over 60 books published, most of them romances both past and
present. As far as personal statistics go, she has one husband, two sons, four
grandchildren, and is owned by two rescue dogs. Home is southern Oregon within
a two hour drive of Crater Lake. She frequently visits Montana in her mind and
heart.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
