Book Spotlight with Extract | A series I have enjoyed reading as Ms Rock draws us closer into the Cade family within her Rocky Mountain Cowboy series! This spotlight focuses on the fourth novel “A Cowboy’s Pride”!

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

You might remember my fondness for reading the prequel of the Rocky Mountain Cowboys – ‘A Cowboy to Keep’? I was overjoyed I could borrow this novel through my local library’s ILL services (inter-library loan) whilst I celebrated the publication of the first novel ‘Christmas at Cade Ranch’?! Since I hosted my interview with Ms Rock last year, the series has experienced quite a bit of growth – as there are now *five!* novels released!

As I eagerly anticipate reading ‘A Cowboy’s Pride’ I will have happily read four of the stories – isn’t that grand?! The first thing you realise when your reading this series is how lush & vivid the scenery is as the Cade Ranch is set in Carbondale, Colorado – nestled in a lovely area of the Rocky Mountains on the Western range where you are quite literally surrounded by the beauty of the mountains and the wildlife who calls the place home. This is the country of wide open ranges, tall mountain peaks, small townes & communities and a lifestyle that is both relaxed and celebrating either ranching or cultural art.

Ms Rock has a lovely niche of depositing you into this family saga through the different eyes of perspective she lends her readers – it is not your typically set series either – as despite the largeness of the Cade clan, you would generally believe each installment would funnel itself exclusively through the ‘men’ of the series but thankfully Ms Rock switched things up quite a bit and has gone a different route completely! Mind you, there is a female Cade amongst the brothers – of whom I am itching to have her own day in the spotlight but for now, what impressed me most is how there are other women whose lives bear remembering as they each have sought redemption & second chances in Carbondale amongst the Cades! A bit like the film ‘Mrs Winterbourne’ where Ricki Lake’s character learnt a hard truth about how if life is going to get a bit rougher and more complicated, it is best to ride out the uncertainties with a family who adopts you into their fold than to bear it all on the harsher side of the streets!

Reflections on ‘A Cowboy to Keep’:

What I thought was so keen about this series is how it harkens back to yesteryear – where the open range and ranches were relying on the law – through bounty hunters, lawmen and the courage of the ranchers themselves to seek justice when needed. The West has a lot of History in this regard and to even get a slice of it within a Contemporary Western playing homage felt ‘right’ to me! I was most encouraged to see how Ms Rock would shape the series whilst owning to the heart of what implores us about the life of living in the West nestled against the Rocky Mountains! Part of the allure for me to read Westerns (both Historical & Contemporary) has been the appeal of the mountains which in of themselves are part of the character and charm which define the Western culture and influences the topography of the settings.

The area of the mountains they were riding in whilst on horse-back is the stuff of envy for any horse girl because they were right in the thick of the wild country – where the mountains were endless, the skies were enriched by the crispness of the climate and there were no trails except the ones you choose to carve for yourself as you rode. The horses could feel the vibe, too, as there is a certain freedom attached to riding on a ranch whose acres are half of 1,000!

The worst thing to be left with when your alone are your thoughts – such as how Dani is finding she’s not nearly as strong as she first perceived she had become ever since Jackson took up residence on the Ranch. It’s hard to shake the restlessness you feel being around someone you know could alter the course of your life – which is why Dani is betwixt and between knowing how she could proceed. She has as job to do – that’s true – but at what cost to herself and to those she’s considered her friends? As you watch her counter-weigh her own mistakes against the (supposed) mistakes of those she knows under her employ, you start to see her wrestling with her own guilt and the line of conscience recrimination which is overtaking her mind and heart.

Reflections on ‘Christmas at Cade Ranch’:

One of the beautiful things about this series is how redemption and second chances permeate through the stories. Erstwhile, you are becoming closer in acquaintance with the Cade family themselves – the ranch they live on becomes the anchour to their lives, the place where they gather and they grow; where love nurtures their present and where it breathes hope into the future. Each installment of this series builds on the last story in sequence – thereby, by the time you start at A Cowboy to Keep whilst reading each new story thereafter, you are given a wonderful portrait of a resilient family. A family whose honest about the hardships in life and where good or bad, this is a family who remains evermore true of themselves.

Ms Rock does a great job of taking you into the heart of addiction – first through the opinions of family who feel they are being helpful but in reality their falling a bit short with a few good observations. Secondly, she takes you into an NA meeting to hear the stories of other addicts who are struggling just like Sofia to quash their innermost doubts and to remain above the pains of addiction whilst re-setting their lives free of the substance of their choice. It was in one of those meetings where Sofia felt both ashamed to be present and rather awkwardly at first, comfortable amongst those who she could relate too.

Ms Rock also highlights what it is like to have a controlling personality – someone who is unable to yield or bend – this was spoken about in regards to Sofia’s father but in the present time-line of the series it is mostly directed towards James who has a definitive way of ‘taking over’ and claiming roles he was not meant to lead because doing so would jeopardise another person’s sense of self.

One of my favourite parts of the story is how closely Sofia and Joy (the Cade siblings mother) bonded over being in such close quarters whilst she was recuperating. Joy still had quite a bit of spunk left in her and she had a right to want to keep living her life to the fullest she could. Sofia inspired her in equal measure of Joy inspiring Sofia to take new risks and to keep bettering herself for her future and her son’s (Javi). Javi was an impressionable child but he also understood what was important in his young life. I can see why Sofia stressed about how he might react around James and why being around James for both of them was proving to be a bit too difficult.

This is a family who embraces how life ebbs & flows through sunshine and rain; where the mirth of joy is as embraced as the sorrows of time. The Cade family is close-knit, boisterous and fun-loving but they have their trials as well. They also are your typical large family of siblings who still love to rib each other, get on each other’s ever last nerve but would be readily available if anyone in the family needed the other – they’re protective of each other & of the people each of them chooses to love.

As you settle into the series, you find yourself drawn to the scenery, the ambiance of their ranch and the multitude of realism permeating throughout the stories themselves. As this is a series about everyday problems, unthinkable adversities but with the light of truth and the hopefulness of a tomorrow spent amongst people you can trust & of whom will support you as life begins to ‘reset’ and turn back round. In other words, you will enjoy your stay with the Cade’s as much as I have myself!

A Cowboy's Pride (Spotlight w/ Notes)
by Karen Rock
Source: Author via Prism Book Tours

Old wounds run deep

Only the truth can heal them…

Rancher Cole Loveland has no interest in dredging up the past, but his ex-fiancée, Katlynn Brennon, has other plans. To save her struggling TV show, she’s come back to Colorado to investigate the infamous Cade-Loveland feud. Trusting Katlynn again isn’t easy—she’s already chosen her career over Cole once. But he’s beginning to realize that true love, like legends, never dies.

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Ranches & Cowboys, Romance Fiction, Western Fiction

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781335633804

Also by this author: A League of Her Own, Author Interview (Christmas at Cade Ranch) Karen Rock, A Cowboy's Pride, Christmas at Cade Ranch, Winning the Cowboy's Heart, A Rancher to Remember

Also in this series: Author Interview (Christmas at Cade Ranch) Karen Rock, A Cowboy's Pride, Winning the Cowboy's Heart, A Rancher to Remember

Published by Harlequin Heartwarming

on 4th September, 2018

Format: Mass Market Paperback

Published by: Harlequin Heartwarming

Converse via: #Contemporary #Western + #Romance

The Rocky Mountain Cowboys series:

A Cowboy to Keep (Prequel) (see also Review)

Christmas at Cade Ranch (Book One)

Falling for a Cowboy (Book Two) (Synopsis)

Bad Boy Rancher (Book Three) (Synopsis)

A Cowboy’s Pride (Book Four)

Read an Extract from ‘A Cowboy’s Pride’:

You have to give Ms Rock credit for constantly sorting out how to pull us back into the throes of the Cade’s with the uniqueness of re-aligning us into the feud which was first explored during my readings of ‘Christmas at Cade Ranch’ where the whole of the argument against the Loveland’s was revealled.

It might not make sense for this kind of unrest to continue between two families but if you read the first novel, you’ll notice that both the Cade’s and the Loveland’s are not the kind who choose to seek out a mediator and hash out their differences! They’d much rather prefer to stand at odds with one another, distance themselves further as the years go past them and renew their mutual disdain for each other in the process!

At the time, I had questioned if that was going to be the final mention of this feud as it seemed to be such a boiling point of angst for both families! Isn’t it interesting how Ms Rock found a creative way to bring us right back to centre & to re-examine this particular blight on the Cade’s history with their neighbours?

In regards to the extract I shared – this is a good overview of the kind of romantic interlude you can expect from one of the Rocky Mountain Cowboy novels – as Ms Rock blessedly writes realistic Western Romances for today’s Contemporary reader. She let’s her characters find their way but she also pushes them a bit to see if they can accept something they might not have wanted to consider – most often, this is the person of whom their affections and heart are murmuring a quickening of affection towards – but how will that resolve? Ahh, that’s the allure of the series! Of finding out how the relationships stick as you watch Ms Rock develop the connections and stitch together the lives of her characters who are in need of a chance at a happier tomorrow.

This blog tour is courtesy of: Prism Book Tours

Click through via the badge to find out what else awaits you!

Similar to blog tours where I feature book reviews, as I choose to highlight an author via a Guest Post, Q&A, Interview, etc., I do not receive compensation for featuring supplemental content on my blog. I provide the questions for interviews and topics for the guest posts; wherein I receive the responses back from publicists and authors directly. I am naturally curious about the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of stories and the writers who pen them; I have a heap of joy bringing this content to my readers.

{SOURCES: Cover art of “A Cowboy to Keep” and “Christmas at Cade Ranch” as well as the synopsis for “A Cowboy to Keep”, the author’s photo and biography were provided by the author Karen Rock and are used with permission. The Prism Book Tours badge were all provided by Prism Book Tours and used with permission. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets embedded by codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Stories in the Spotlight banner and the Comment Box Banner.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2018.

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