Front Range, Colorado Territory. May 1867. A run-away bride. A soldier returning from war. A woman who dreams of being a veterinarian. A man who kept his life, but lost his soul. One brother’s plea, another brother lost. Fists wanting to fly. Bullets begging to bite. Memories wrapped in darkness. Love beckoning in the light. Wild horses straining to be free. Giddyap. This is book three … and Brody is back.
Happy release day to Book Three – Colorado Cowboys: To Tame A Cowboy, written by Jody Hedlund, and available now from Tantor Audio! In a rich world full of heart, grit and soul, the opportunity to voice this incredibly special cast of characters, in this beautiful book, was not only so much fun, but truly such an honor.
So let’s recap, shall we? When we first met Brody McQuaid, it was briefly – at the end of Book One: A Cowboy For Keeps. The year was 1862 and Brody had just turned eighteen and had been itching to join the Union army, so that he could help in the war efforts. Despite the animosity between Wyatt and Flynn, Flynn reluctantly decides that if moving west would save Brody, and prevent him from enlisting, then no matter what his estrangement with Wyatt was, he’d do it. Unfortunately the move west comes a little too late, and at the top of Book Two: The Heart Of A Cowboy, we learn that even the best laid plans … can sometimes go awry. The night before the McQuaid family is set to head west, Brody sneaks off in the middle of the night to enlist. We don’t see him again until eighteen months later, at the end of Book Two. The chapter opens in a federal hospital in Philadelphia. Brody has been wounded and is unrecognizable, having become a mere shell of the man he once was. Emaciated. A heap of skin and bones. His humanity, all but gone. If it weren’t for the tiny hand of his infant niece, Flora, reaching out to him and holding on to him tight, he would have just allowed himself to slip further into the abyss that wouldn’t stop calling to him. The next time we see Brody, in Book Three: To Tame A Cowboy, we learn that while he has healed physically, he might never heal emotionally. Brody has tried to take his life, he is full of haunted memories and remorse. Guilt and anger fuel his days – and now he lets his fists do all his talking. Only two things keep him going – his love for his niece, and the love and companionship that he feels for the untamed wild horses that are currently being hunted on the land. He longs to set them free, just as much as he longs to be free himself …
To Tame A Cowboy sets the stage for this gripping historical romance, by opening on the night before Savannah Marshall’s fancy wedding. Where, instead of pre-wedding bliss, the bride-to-be is feeling more and more like a corralled mustang by the minute. Savannah has wanted her whole life to be a veterinarian, and to one day have her own practice. If she agrees to this marriage of convenience that her father is pushing for, she knows that her days as a veterinarian are as good as numbered. She just needs time to think . . . but the clock is ticking. If she is going to flee – it needs to be now! In the darkness of predawn, Savannah makes a life altering decision. Pushing down her guilt, and hiding her traveling clothes and pack, she saddles up and rides out into the high country, while everyone on the plantation sleeps. While she might not have all of this figured out quite yet, one thing she’s sure of, is that she can’t give up on the only thing she has ever wanted to do – heal and care for animals. As she leads her horse out into the chill of the morning, she has no idea that a whole new life is about to open up to her. One that not only includes the animals, she so desperately wants to help, but also perhaps, an untamed cowboy … who could surely use a whole lot of love and care, as well.
Susan Hanfield 