Patricia Johns: Just Part of the Package

     I fancy myself a gardener. Except, I don't really have enough patience. I'm the kind of woman who draws a deep, poetic satisfaction from a sprouted seed, and then gets too impatient to wait for the plant to mature and actually give her some tomatoes, so she tears out those quivering young sprouts (which were planted too late anyway) and puts in some full basil plants instead.

     It's shameful. To everything there is a season...  but some seasons are just too short to waste! And when you've already planted your seeds WAY too late because for some unknown reason you rely on social media and Yahoo news to inform you of the proper times for these things, you realize that you aren't the gardener you imagined yourself to be.

     You are a balcony plant waterer. That is all.

     Thank goodness I have other talents! And I've realized that I just have to embrace who I am--weaknesses as well as strengths--because this bundle of impatience, enthusiasm and writing talent is ME.

     In THE RANCHER'S CITY GIRL, Eloise kills house plants, and she's certainly not the ranching woman that Cory needs in his life, and she knows better than to try and change herself into someone else. Who wants to play act for the rest of her life, pretending to be what someone else wants?

     Our weaknesses are as much a part of who we are as our strengths. What imperfections have you embraced as simply being part of the unique package this is you?

When Cory Stone discovers the father he never met is gravely ill, he brings the ornery man to his Montana ranch, along with his round-the-clock nurse. Once again Cory finds himself falling for the wrong woman--a city slicker like the ex-fiancee who broke his heart. But in Eloise LeBlanc, Cory also finds a kindred spirit. The caring beauty knows firsthand about love and loss. Neither of them is looking for a new romance, and Cory certainly isn't searching for love. But can the independent city girl heal the heart of a broken cowboy?

THE RANCHER'S CITY GIRL came out in January 2015, and is still available online.