Before the Leap: An Inspirational Western Romance (Gold Valley Romance Book 1)
Page 18
Join Liz’s newsletter here.
BOOKS IN THE GOLD VALLEY ROMANCE SERIES
Before the Leap: A Gold Valley Romance (Book 1): Jace Lovell only has one thing left after his fiancé abandons him at the altar: his job at Horseshoe Home Ranch. He throws himself into becoming the best foreman the ranch has ever had—and that includes hiring an interior designer to make the ranch owner's wife happy. Belle Edmunds is back in Gold Valley and she's desperate to build a portfolio that she can use to start her own firm in Montana. She applies for the job at Horseshoe Home, and though Jace and Belle grew up together, they've never seen eye to eye on much more than the sky is blue. Jace isn't anywhere near forgiving his fiancé, and he's not sure he's ready for a new relationship with someone as fiery and beautiful as Belle. Can she employ her patience while he figures out how to forgive so they can find their own brand of happily-ever-after?
Read now -- available everywhere!
After the Fall: A Gold Valley Romance (Book 2): Professional snowboarder Sterling Maughan has sequestered himself in his family’s cabin in the exclusive mountain community above Gold Valley, Montana after a devastating fall that ended his career. Lost, with no direction and no motivation, the last thing he wants is company. But Norah Watson has other plans for the cabin. Not only does she clean Sterling’s cabin, she’s a counselor at Silver Creek, a teen rehabilitation center at the base of the mountain that uses horses to aid in the rebuilding of lives, and she brings her girls up to the cabin every twelve weeks. When Sterling finds out there’s a job for an at-risk counselor at Silver Creek, he asks Norah to drive him back and forth. He learns to ride horses and use equine therapy to help his boys—and himself. The more time they spend together, the more convinced Norah is to never tell Sterling about her troubled past, let him see her house on the wrong side of the tracks, or meet her mother. But Sterling is interested in all things Norah, and as his body heals, so does his faith. Will Norah be able to trust Sterling so they can have a chance at true love?
Read on for a sneak peek at the first chaper of After the Fall!
Coming on February 13, 2017!
Pre-order now to have the book delivered on release day!
Through the Mist: A Gold Valley Romance (Book 3): Landon Edmunds has been a cowboy his whole life. An accident five years ago ended his successful rodeo career, and now he’s looking to start a horse ranch of his own, and he’s looking outside of Montana. Which would be great if God hadn’t brought Megan Palmer back to Gold Valley right when Landon is looking to leave. As the preacher’s daughter, Megan isn’t that excited to be back in her childhood hometown. Megan and Landon work together well, and as sparks fly, she’s sure God brought her back to Gold Valley so she could find her happily ever after. Through serious discussion and prayer, can Landon and Megan find their future together?
Coming on April 3, 2017!
Pre-order now to have the book delivered on release day!
MEET THE BOOKS OF THREE RIVERS RANCH ROMANCE SERIES BY LIZ ISAACSON!
Second Chance Ranch: A Three Rivers Ranch Romance (Book 1): After his deployment, injured and discharged Major Squire Ackerman returns to Three Rivers Ranch, wanting to forgive Kelly for ignoring him a decade ago. He’d like to provide the stable life she needs, but with old wounds opening and a ranch on the brink of financial collapse, it will take patience and faith to make their second chance possible.
Read now!
Third Time's the Charm: A Three Rivers Ranch Romance (Book 2): First Lieutenant Peter Marshall has a truckload of debt and no way to provide for a family, but Chelsea helps him see past all the obstacles, all the scars. With so many unknowns, can Pete and Chelsea develop the love, acceptance, and faith needed to find their happily ever after?
Read now!
Fourth and Long: A Three Rivers Ranch Romance (Book 3): Commander Brett Murphy goes to Three Rivers Ranch to find some rest and relaxation with his Army buddies. Having his ex-wife show up with a seven-year-old she claims is his son is anything but the R&R he craves. Kate needs to make amends, and Brett needs to find forgiveness, but are they too late to find their happily ever after?
Read now!
Fifth Generation Cowboy: A Three Rivers Ranch Romance (Book 4): Tom Lovell has watched his friends find their true happiness on Three Rivers Ranch, but everywhere he looks, he only sees friends. Rose Reyes has been bringing her daughter out to the ranch for equine therapy for months, but it doesn't seem to be working. Her challenges with Mari are just as frustrating as ever. Could Tom be exactly what Rose needs? Can he remove his friendship blinders and find love with someone who's been right in front of him all this time?
Read now!
Sixth Street Love Affair: A Three Rivers Ranch Romance Novella: After losing his wife a few years back, Garth Ahlstrom thinks he's ready for a second chance at love. But Juliette Thompson has a secret that could destroy their budding relationship. Can they find the strength, patience, and faith to make things work?
All newsletter subscribers will get this novella for free!
Tap here to sign up for Liz's newsletter.
Read now!
The Seventh Sergeant: A Three Rivers Ranch Romance (Book 5): Life has finally started to settle down for Sergeant Reese Sanders after his devastating injury overseas. Discharged from the Army and now with a good job at Courage Reins, he’s finally found happiness—until a horrific fall puts him right back where he was years ago: Injured and depressed. Carly Watters, Reese's new veteran care coordinator, dislikes small towns almost as much as she loathes cowboys. But she finds herself faced with both when she gets assigned to Reese's case. Do they have the humility and faith to make their relationship more than professional?
Read now!
Eight Second Ride: A Three Rivers Ranch Romance (Book 6): Ethan Greene loves his work at Three Rivers Ranch, but he can't seem to find the right woman to settle down with. When sassy yet vulnerable Brynn Bowman shows up at the ranch to recruit him back to the rodeo circuit, he takes a different approach with the barrel racing champion. His patience and newfound faith pay off when a friendship--and more--starts with Brynn. But she wants out of the rodeo circuit right when Ethan wants to rejoin. Can they find the path God wants them to take and still stay together?
Read now!
Christmas in Three Rivers: A Three Rivers Ranch Romance Novella Collection: Isn't Christmas the best time to fall in love? The cowboys of Three Rivers Ranch think so. Join four of them as they journey toward their path to happily ever after in four, all-new novellas in the Amazon #1 Bestselling Three Rivers Ranch Romance series.
THE NINTH INNING: The Christmas season has never felt like such a burden to boutique owner Andrea Larsen. But with Mama gone and the holidays upon her, Andy finds herself wishing she hadn't been so quick to judge her former boyfriend, cowboy Lawrence Collins. Well, Lawrence hasn't forgotten about Andy either, and he devises a plan to get her out to the ranch so they can reconnect. Do they have the faith and humility to patch things up and start a new relationship?
TEN DAYS IN TOWN: Sandy Keller is tired of the dating scene in Three Rivers. Though she owns the pancake house, she's looking for a fresh start, which means an escape from the town where she grew up. When her older brother's best friend, Tad Jorgensen, comes to town for the holidays, it is a balm to his weary soul. A helicopter tour guide who experienced a near-death experience, he's looking to start over too--but in Three Rivers. Can Sandy and Tad navigate their troubles to find the path God wants them to take--and discover true love--in only ten days?
ELEVEN YEAR REUNION: Pastry chef extraordinaire, Grace Lewis has moved to Three Rivers to help Heidi Ackerman open a bakery in Three Rivers. Grace relishes the idea of starting over in a town where no one knows about her failed cupcakery. She doesn't expect to run into her old high school boyfriend, Jonathan Carver. A carpenter working at Three Rivers Ranch, Jon's in town against his will. But with Grace now on the scene, Jon's thinking life in Three Rivers is suddenly looking up. But with her focus
on baking and his disdain for small towns, can they make their eleven year reunion stick?
THE TWELFTH TOWN: Newscaster Taryn Tucker has had enough of life on-screen. She's bounced from town to town before arriving in Three Rivers, completely alone and completely anonymous--just the way she now likes it. She takes a job cleaning at Three Rivers Ranch, hoping for a chance to figure out who she is and where God wants her. When she meets happy-go-lucky cowhand Kenny Stockton, she doesn't expect sparks to fly. Kenny's always been "the best friend" for his female friends, but the pull between him and Taryn can't be denied. Will they have the courage and faith necessary to make their opposite worlds mesh?
Read now!
The First Lady of Three Rivers Ranch: A Three Rivers Ranch Romance (Book 7): Heidi Duffin has been dreaming about opening her own bakery since she was thirteen years old. She scrimped and saved for years to afford baking and pastry school in San Francisco. And now she only has one year left before she's a certified pastry chef. Frank Ackerman's father has recently retired, and he's taken over the largest cattle ranch in the Texas Panhandle. A horseman through and through, he's also nearing thirty-one and looking for someone to bring love and joy to a homestead that's been dominated by men for a decade. But when he convinces Heidi to come clean the cowboy cabins, she changes all that. But the siren's call of a bakery is still loud in Heidi's ears, even if she's also seeing a future with Frank. Can she rely on her faith in ways she's never had to before or will their relationship end when summer does?
Read now!
SNEAK PEEK! AFTER THE FALL CHAPTER ONE
The announcer’s voice reverberated through Sterling Maughan’s head, bringing him away from the edge of unconsciousness and back to the X-Games blaring from the TV.
He knew that voice. Hated that voice, especially after it had broken up with him on live, national television.
He fumbled for the remote so he could change the channel, the pain in his leg amping up to a sharp ache. One glance at the clock on the Blu-ray player told him he’d missed his last dosage of painkillers by an hour.
Sterling didn’t care. When the nurse came, she’d force-feed it to him. He hit a button and that traitorous, cheating female voice changed into the theme song for a cooking show. He lowered the volume and dropped the remote. It made a weird clunking sound as it hit last night’s pizza box. Or maybe last week’s pizza box. Sterling had stopped cleaning up after his first night at the cabin, eight days ago.
Sleep eluded him for a few minutes as he listened to the evening wind batter the windows. At least it wasn’t the neighbors—the closest ones up here in Gold Valley’s exclusive cabin community were at least a hundred yards away.
Not that Sterling had been admiring the lush pine forest and miles of trails surrounding his family’s cabin. He hadn’t moved from the couch in the basement for more than the necessities for days. His eyes drifted closed and despite the pain in his leg, he sank into the darkness that had consumed his mind so readily since the accident.
A thump from the second floor jolted him awake. His heart pounded as his mind frantically searched for an explanation to the sound. The wind had died, but it could’ve been an animal. Could’ve been a raccoon or a rat.
A scrape echoed through the ceiling, like someone—not a raccoon or a rat—had slid a chair across the floor. Sterling sat up, fully awake now.
Because someone was in the house.
He calmed his breathing and swallowed his pulse back to its proper spot in his chest. His police training required him to be alert, focused, and calm in stressful situations. True, he hadn’t been active in his unit since last fall, when he’d started the professional snowboarding circuit. But once a cop, always a cop.
He stood, careful to put minimal weight on his still-healing knee. The cast had come off last week, but he still wore a full leg brace, which made walking difficult. And climbing stairs? Sterling hadn’t done it in weeks.
His back creaked with his first step, and his left foot felt numb because of the reduced circulation from the brace. A pain behind his right eye balanced both sides of his body with aches he couldn’t erase with a couple of pills.
Another noise—bump, ba-bump—from the second floor urged him toward the stairs, where he lifted his good leg first. One down, fifteen to go.
For the first time, he cursed the size of the cabin—which was a ridiculous name for it. It was a mansion, a luxury lodge. Seven thousand square feet, spanning three floors. Two kitchens, one on the main level where the noise came from, one in the basement where he was living. Ten bathrooms. Eight bedrooms. A game room, a library, and two living rooms.
Definitely a luxury lodge. But the people in the gated resort community called them cabins, so Sterling did too.
His father had done very well in the real estate business, as his mother liked to point out to Sterling about every third month. He’d never been a conformist, and it showed as all five of his older brothers had gone on to law school at William & Mary, or medical school at Johns Hopkins, or banking and finance at Stanford.
Sterling had graduated in the middle of his class from the Police Academy in Salt Lake City.
Still, he steadily climbed the stairs, his good foot planted before lifting that blasted left leg. His mind wandered through a list of who could possibly be at the cabin. His parents had gone to Madagascar for a university internship in January and certainly wouldn’t return only three months into the eight-month program.
His brothers all had a key to the cabin, but everyone but Rex lived in other states. Rex lived in Missoula, an hour and a half away, running their father’s real estate firm, and he hadn’t mentioned coming up to the cabin.
Sterling’s fingers fisted, almost hoping for a fight. At least he knew the police officer in him hadn’t been snuffed out. He didn’t know if he’d be able to return to the force, what with his injuries and all, but he felt confident in his abilities to incapacitate—
—A curvy woman.
Sterling stalled at the top of the stairs and stared at the African-American woman standing in the kitchen, leaning over something he couldn’t see. She wore a tight pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt—not exactly burglary clothing.
Women can be killers too, he thought just before the loudest music he’d ever heard blasted through the house.
The woman shook her booty to the music as she pulled on a pair of yellow rubber gloves. Sterling stared, wondering if she’d put on the rap to cover the sound of his screams and the gloves to prevent the possibility of leaving fingerprints. He couldn’t decide if he should dial 911 or laugh at her terrible dance moves.
A smile formed on his face—possibly the first since his fall eleven weeks ago. He suddenly became aware that he hadn’t showered or shaved in many days, and fought the urge to rush downstairs and attend to his personal hygiene needs.
As he scrubbed his fingers along his scruffy beard, the woman spun around, her eyes half open. Open enough to catch on his though, and she stopped short. Her gloved hand came to her mouth—gross, Sterling thought—and her chocolaty eyes widened.
He lifted his hand in greeting, his smile reducing itself by half. She spun and fumbled at the source of the hip-hop beat, finally silencing it. She placed one hand over her heart as her chest rose and fell, rose and fell. “You scared me.”
Sterling leaned against the wall to give some relief to his aching leg, but otherwise held his position. “What’s up?”
“Nothing.” The woman gestured to a bucket of cleaning supplies at her feet. “I’m here to clean the cabin.” She glanced around like someone would appear to corroborate her story, her black curls swinging from side to side. “I didn’t know anyone would be here.”
Sterling’s gaze swept the counter behind her, focusing on several bags of groceries. “Are you staying?”
“Yes.” She followed his gaze to the fruit and bread. “I’m bringing my girls up here tonight.”
“Girls?” Confusion clouded Sterling’s mind, his words.
“What girls?”
“I work at the teen rehabilitation center at the base of the mountain,” she explained. “You know, Silver Creek, the one with the horses?”
Sterling had been coming to his family’s cabin his entire life. He’d never heard of a teen rehabilitation center. “No, I have no idea about Silver Creek or the horses.”
“Oh, well, I work there.” The woman spoke with her hands, and Sterling worried about the germs spewing from those gloves, though they were probably cleaner than he was. She seemed to realize how ridiculous she looked with those toilet gloves on, because she stripped them off as a dark red stained her cheeks.
“It’s a rehabilitation program for teens with addictions,” she continued. “They live on-site for ninety days, and part of their therapy is to learn to work with horses as they overcome their problems. I’m a counselor.” She took a deep breath, probably because she hadn’t done so once since she started talking.
Sterling cocked one eyebrow at the speed with which she delivered her spiel. “And?”
“And I clean your family’s cabin. I’ve been doing it for a few years.”
“And you bring your girls up here?”
“When they reach the halfway point of their stay, they get to go on an outing if they’ve followed the rules and stayed clean. Your mom has given me permission to bring them to Six Sons. We’ll be here for three days.”
Oh, no they wouldn’t. Sterling had some very important recovering to do. Alone. No teen addicts. No beautiful, exotic camp counselors. Just pizza and cooking shows and sleeping while the drugs kept the pain at bay.
“You’re Sterling Maughan,” the woman said.
Sterling felt the weight of her proclamation, spoken in a tone of awe and reverence like he was worthy of such things. “Yeah.”