FEATURED BOOK AND INTERVIEW: The Texas Rancher's Return by Allie Pleiter

Black-sheep cowboy Gunner Buckton is home for one reason—to keep Blue Thorn Ranch in his family where it's been for generations. No one—not even Brooke Calder—will take it from him. The cute, down-home widow may not look like a slick developer, but she works for one. Along with her adorable daughter, she's a threat to his homestead—and to his wounded heart. Brooke needs this job. Gunner may be as ornery as a bull, but it's her task to win him over. The battle lines are drawn. Only problem is, around the handsome Texan, she doesn't know which side she's on.

Interview:

How exciting to have Brooke Calden, the heroine from The Texas Rancher’s Return, a February 2016 release from Love Inspired Romance.

1.  Melba, tell me the most interesting thing about you.

I’m a young widowed mother.  My husband was shot in the mission field, and it’s left my daughter and I trying to make a life.  That may not be interesting, but it’s important.  I think my heart may be ready to move on, but I need to be extra careful for my daughter Audie’s sake.

2.  What do you do for fun?

Every Friday, my daughter and I go out for Tacos.  Friday Taco Trio had to become Friday Tacos for Two when my husband died, but it’s one of a hundred adjustments Audie and I have made.  We have fun with it, because life goes on.

3.  What do you put off doing because you dread it?

Thinking too far into the future.  Audie and I have much to be thankful for, and my job with DelTex has a bright future, so I try to take one day at a time.

4.  What are you afraid of most in life?

Discovering that I can’t make it on my own.  Or, maybe even more than that, discovering that I’m ready to let a new man into my and Audie’s life.

5.  What do you want out of life?

My new job is giving me the chance to really shine, and I’m going to show everyone that I really can balance my work and being a mother.  I’m going to be important at DelTex, and that will give Audie lots of opportunities.

6.  What is the most important thing to you?

Not what, who.  Audie.  She’s everything to me.  Only now there is this rancher I need to convince to parter with DelTex, and I’m surprised by how I’m pulled to him.

7.  Do you read books? If so, what is your favorite type of book?

I’m a single mom.  The only reading I have time for are bedtime stories and cereal boxes.

8.  If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I wish I trusted what my heart is telling me.  Am I ready to open my heart again?

9.  Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?

I don’t have a pet, but right now there’s a stubborn bison named Daisy making my life very complicated.

10. If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?

I’d go back to when I was a little girl so I could fully remember what it was like to be Audie’s age.