Book 5: The Mountain Monroes
Enchanted by the Rodeo Queen
She’s looking for Mr. Right, but can he fill those boots?
Former rodeo queen Emily Clark loves her life in Second Chance, Idaho, but she’s through waiting for a cowboy to sweep her off her feet. Just as she’s thinking of leaving town, she’s offered a job by newcomer Jonah Monroe, a city slicker from Hollywood. Career-minded Jonah isn’t looking to commit—to romance or a ranch—but Emily’s determined to show him exactly what he’s missing…
Tropes: second chance romance, cowboy romance, hero offers to help heroine catch his cousin’s eye
Excerpt:
Old.
That’s what thirty and unmarried was.
Old.
Emily Clark rested Deadly’s hoof on top of her knees and picked out pebbles. They fell onto the barn’s breezeway floor at the Bucking Bull Ranch and lay there waiting to be stepped on or swept away.
Like me. Waiting for Prince Charming.
Prince Charming didn’t reside at the Bucking Bull or in Second Chance, Idaho. In fact, Emily had no idea where to find her forever someone.
Meanwhile, she’d turned thirty. Her eggs were aging out as surely as a swayback horse put out to pasture.
“Happy birthday to you.” Adam, her youngest nephew crooned as he ran into the barn. He skipped through the rest of the song at high speed. At nearly six and about to finish kindergarten, Adam thought he was hot stuff. He stopped next to her and kicked aside a pebble she’d removed from Deadly’s hoof. “Happy birth-day to-oooooooo…you!” He gave her the angelic smile that got him out of trouble ninety-nine percent of the time, one rimmed with red from the popsicle she’d bought him in town earlier. “Can you take me riding?”
“No.”
“Can you take me on Merc’less Mike Moody’s trail?” Meaning the dirt access road that bordered their property and led to the former bandit’s small cave and hideout.
“No.”
Why on earth had the desperado robbed several stagecoaches only to live in a cave at the top of a mountain?
Why on earth was Emily working on a ranch that was miles from a decent pool of eligible cowboys?
As her nephew ran out of the barn, Emily lowered Deadly’s hoof and straightened the kink in her back. Her brother’s horse had a habit of leaning on her. Emily supposed she shouldn’t complain. Her brother Kyle used to lean on her, too. Working his horse made her feel closer to him now that he was dead.
A truck pulled into the yard. Emily went out to see who it was.
A tall man with wavy red hair and a red goatee climbed down from the driver’s seat one leg at a time. He was so citified he didn’t realize you had to hop out of a truck and land with both feet firmly planted. Jonah Monroe’s gaze lit upon Emily. “Hey.”
“Not today,” Emily muttered to herself. “Are you looking for Shane?” His cousin. “He’s inside.” Shane was engaged to Kyle’s widow, Franny.
“I never go looking for Shane.” Jonah’s grin widened. “You’re the person I wanted to see.”
“Happy birthday to me,” Emily said under her breath.
You could hardly throw a rock in Second Chance anymore without hitting a Monroe.
Why couldn’t a different Monroe have been looking for her?
Jonah and Shane Monroe were the cousins of Bo Monroe, a gorgeous, burly Texan who had more nicknames among the women in town than a mockingbird had songs to sing - Brawny Bo, Whoa Bo, Mr. Bodacious. Emily wanted nothing more than to be the apple of Bo's eye. Instead, she was invisible.
But not to Jonah. The quick-quipping scriptwriter from the Hollywood branch of the wealthy Monroe family seemed to see everything, including Emily’s infatuation with Bo. And it wasn’t like he let his observations slide. He called her out on it. Constantly.
Emily, Bo doesn’t like to be mooned after.
Emily, Bo likes intelligent conversation.
Emily.
Emily.
Emily.
Emily swallowed back a growl of frustration.
The Story Behind the Story
I love My Fair Lady stories where someone thinks they can transform someone else so they can catch the elusive love interest. Here, Jonah is infatuated with Emily, who may have once been a rodeo queen but is now a staunch tomboy/ cowboy. Emily is infatuated with Bo, Jonah’s cousin, who is the most beautiful of the Monroe men and totally emotionally unavailable to Emily. Such fun!
Cookies: the myth of Merciless Mike Moody continues and a new twist is introduced that impacts Book 7.
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