Anyone with even a passing interest in Christian romance must have noticed the stampede of cowboys sweeping their way into the bestseller charts.
Seeing as I’ve never met a cowboy and can just about distinguish the hindquarters of a horse from its face, I’ll probably never write in this niche. But I like to keep my finger on the pulse of Christian romance and am curious about why these heroes and setting are so well-loved. So, when my talented friend and critique partner shared the manuscript of the first book in her upcoming cowboy/rancher romance series, I gladly volunteered to read it and give her my feedback.
Christian romance author Dalyn Weller lives on a horse ranch in the Pacific Northwest.
Dalyn Weller’s roots are deeply grounded in Western culture. She lives on a horse ranch in the Pacific Northwest and works daily with animals. There’s a depth of authenticity that’s only possible when an author truly writes what she knows. This comes through in the way Dalyn brings the setting, culture, and lifestyle alive in The Rancher’s Surprise Second Chance. Apple Valley, Washington may be fictitious, but it leaped off the pages, along with the characters in this wonderful story.
This is a secret baby romance, which is, in my opinion, one of the toughest to pull off.
Cody McClure and his high school sweetheart Molly Halverson both have a lot of explaining to do. Cody for cheating on his fiancee Molly while he chased rodeo glory, and Molly for keeping Cody’s child a secret from him for so many years.
But now everyone’s chickens are coming home to roost as Molly returns to Apple Valley and her little girl becomes best friends with the son Cody fathered when he cheated on Molly.
I love a good second chance romance because the couple has to work through all the things that made them break up the first time. Molly needs to forgive Cody for being a love rat, while Cody has to work past how Molly kept his daughter from him.
Another aspect of this story I loved is how the older generations of Cody and Molly’s families shared their hard-earned wisdom, steering the young couple to make better choices the second time around.
After reading Dalyn’s manuscript, I, too, am a fan of cowboy romance.
The Rancher’s Surprise Second Chance comes out on July 11th, but you can preorder it now.
Do you enjoy reading about cowboys and ranchers? What are some of your favourite Christian cowboy romance novels? Let me know in the comments.
About The Rancher’s Surprise Second Chance
Their lives are about rodeos, ranches, and second chances.
Eight years ago, Cody McClure came home from the summer rodeo circuit with a pregnant wife even though he’d promised to marry his high school sweetheart. Now he’s the single father of a special needs son in desperate need of a nanny while he runs his family’s ranch.
Molly Halverson left Apple Valley with a broken heart and a secret. Now she’s back, a single mom in need of a job. But the only job available in her small hometown is for the man who trampled her heart and has no idea he fathered her child.
Molly needs a job. Cody needs a nanny. Their children just became best friends. Will Cody and Molly forgive each other and figure out a way to make a patched-up family despite mistakes and betrayal?
Visit Apple Valley, Washington, a town that has existed on handshakes and good morals for generations.
I write fiction that reflects my Christian faith. I love happy endings, heroes and heroines who discover sometimes hard but always vital truths, and stories that uplift and encourage. My family and I live in the east of England where we enjoy rambling in the countryside, reading good books and making up silly lyrics to our favorite songs.
One of my favorite cowboy series is Mandi Blake’s Blackwater Ranch series. I also love Liz Isaacson’s Three Rivers Ranch series. Jo Grafford also has some great cowboys in her books. My least favorite of all books is the secret baby. And, to have the cowboy mentality, they don’t necessarily have to work on a ranch! That’s just an added bonus!
Cowboy romance is a unique and wonderful category of romance fiction, and Dalyn Weller knows how to write it well. In this outstanding article, Milla Holt has provided an appetizer for those who have not yet read cowboy romance. If you are one of them, I highly recommend you start with The Rancher’s Surprise Second Chance.
Thank you for sharing this post today. I am a huge fan of cowboys (mostly historical) I grew up in Apple Valley, CA LOL I lived on a ranch and yes there were cowboys and cowgirls everywhere. we lived not to far from Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. mom was friends with Dale Evans. there is an unwritten code between cowboys that is strictly adhered to.
I know, Trudy! I kind of scrunch up my face when I see “secret baby,” because it sets the bar so high. But when it’s handled as well as Dalyn has, it’s a very moving storyline.
Thanks for the recommendations!
She’s amazing, isn’t she, MaryAnn? I can’t wait to see what else she’s going to do and I’m so glad this is just the beginning of her series.
Wow, Lori, your mother knew Dale Evans? Although I’ve never watched any of her or Roy Rogers’ movies, I used to enjoy “A Date With Dale,” the musical show she did later in her life. I think you’ll love Dalyn’s book. Thanks for your comment!
I have noticed the uptick of cowboys in books lately. I think like anything else (troupes etc), it can be overdone, but at the same time, an author can make it fresh by including various themes within the story. I don’t mind cowboys or cowgirls because it gives the story a different angle. To me there’s what I call a “cowboy code”, hardworking men or women who respect their neighbor, are hard working and stand together in life’s circumstances. They’ll do what needs doing just because it needs to be done (quite a riddle, ‘eh?).
Now I admit, secret baby is not my favorite troupe and I will mostly avoid that kind of story. It’s a hard one to pull off for writers & for me as a reader, there’s got to be a really, really good reason why the baby or child was kept a secret. Say for example, the other parent is a dead-beat or there is a real fear of abuse or neglect to the child…something extreme like that. But to keep a child a secret simply because you don’t like the other parent or are no longer with the other parent just doesn’t set well with me. I will also admit that the stories I have read with this troupe, the author has done an excellent job and I have ending up loving it. The first author that comes to mind & pulls this troupe off well is Ruth Logan Herne…she writes for Love Inspired (and has some cowboy romance books). She writes with heart & soul and makes her characters very real in my mind. I think she could write a phone book and make it interesting…lol!
Let’s see, some other authors who feature cowboys: Tina Radcliffe (Love Inspired), Jody Hedlund, Mary Connealy, Karen Witemeyer, our own Valerie Comer, Deborah Clopton, Alex Verde has a series called “Cowboy Crossing”, and many others that I can’t come up with right now. :-)
Thanks for your response, Trixi, and for the recommendations! I’ve read books by Valerie and Alexa, but not their cowboy ones, and Deborah Clopton and Karen Witemeyer are on my to-be-read pile. Ruth Logan Herne is going on there, too, after your ringing endorsement. :-)
I love cowboy romance. Maybe because I grew up reading cowboy romances passed on by parents. Or maybe it’s just that as an American, we all find something romantic about the cowboy. I’m not sure.
Shannon Taylor Vannatter also writes cowboy romance. ;)
Thanks for the recommendation, Amy! I’ve read and watched a few Western adventure tales, but cowboy romance is new to me.
Here’s a cowboy series I LOVED by Ruth Logan Herne. Each book features a brother, three in all. I HIGHLY recommend them!! :-)
Double S. Ranch
1. Back in the Saddle
2. Home on TBE Range
3. Peace in the Valley
Ooops, I noticed autocorrect thought it was smarter than me…. lol! Second book is “Home on the Range”.
Sorry about that!
Thanks! I just grabbed Back in the Saddle.
yes, but no favs
There is a ‘romance’ about cowboys that I enjoy reading. No favorites come to mind.
I have read a few. It is interesting to learn about ranching and cowboys. I cannot say it would be my first choice in picking up a book. Thank you for sharing. God bless you.
I like some rancher type books with babies but otherwise I’m not a big fan.
I’m not a fan of them but have a couple books.
Thanks for your comment!
There seem to be a lot of very good ones! Thanks for your comment.
Thanks for your comment, Debra! I love reading about settings and professions that are new to me. It really expands my horizons.
Thanks for your comment, Amy! Thanks to recommendations on here, I’ve got a few more books about ranchers to try out.
Thanks for your comment, Sylvain! I’ve added a couple of more cowboy books to my collection just to see whether they have some of the same elements I loved so much in Dalyn’s.
I like cowboys in historical books best. I have read some contemporary books with cowboys but not as big a fan of them. I guess it can depend I don’t mind books set on a ranch but not so much just the cowboy. We don’t have cowboys in Australia we have Jackaroos or Jillaroos on the large stations, but on normal farms we call them farm hands and its not as romantic.
Hi, Jenny. No, I guess “farm hand” doesn’t evoke quite the same feeling as “cowboy”!
Thinking about this some more, the concept of a firemen, police officers, soldiers and the like have an international appeal because so many nationalities have people in those professions. But cowboys are so uniquely American that non-US people like me may not immediately be able to understand what it is about them that captures the romantic imagination.
I think also in Aussie towns (or the ones with farms not stations) you don’t see the cowboys in the cowboy hats and chaps etc. It may be different in the outback where the stations are bigger than some American States. But here we do have large farms that would be similar sizes to ranches. they tend to ride on motor bikes or in utes (Utilities) not as much on horses as they use to and in Australia they use sheep dogs and cattle dogs to help with the work. We don’t have as many rodeo’s etc.
I also think I go in cycles where I love one sort of book then I need a break.
The scale of Australia is just insane! I’ve heard of those massive cattle stations and can’t even wrap my mind around it.
Hi Milla,
OK, first, this is the second fictional “Apple Valley” I’ve heard about. The other one is from Julie Christianson’s rom-com series.
As for cowboys, it’s funny because, in the beginning, I wasn’t a big fan of that trope, since it seemed everyone was writing about them, yet they grew on me, and now it’s one of my favorites, lol. One of the best I’ve found in Christian Contemporary Romance is Jessie Gussman’s Sweet Water Ranch series, and for Sweet Romance is Shanna Hatfield (she does both Historical and Contemporary).
Not much, usually they are nothing like the farms I am familiar with so with so many other books available I tend to skip them.
All it takes is a good book or two for a trend to grow on you, ha ha! I’ve read one of Jessie’s books, and I’ve seen Shanna’s around, too. Thanks so much for your comment!
Thanks for your comment, Dianne! I began seeing more and more cowboy stories around and wanted to see what I was missing. Have a great weekend!