A happily Ever After for Leaning Bear...

When I first included Leaning Bear in this series I believe his first scenes were bickering with Wyatt. The strong willed Cheyenne meets the short tempered brother of Dawson McCade, whom he calls friend. I find those scenes so funny...even as Dawson is rescuing Wyatt from where he was left near beaten to death he and Leaning Bear have exchanges that make me laugh.

But the magical thing is that when writers say the characters write themselves...Leaning Bear did just that. 

In Dawson's story we find the two friends protecting each other time and again but in that we find while Leaning Bear is not a McCade he is still without a doubt Dawson's brother. 

And in Dawson's Haven both Leaning Bear and Dawson are wrongly accused of murder. And as we follow them we read their fight and struggle to prove themselves innocent of all charges...

And as this story transpired when I was writing I had to be careful that Leaning Bear didn't take over as sometimes secondary characters will try to do. But he kept on until I had fallen hard for the Cheyenne medicine and yes...he is getting a story. 

Paint the Sky will follow Evan's Ransom with a story that will be the first to be labeled:

A McCades of Cheyenne Novel: Paint the Sky

And I am excited for Leaning Bear who will get his happily ever after, one unique as far as the other stories have gone. 

Leaning Bear will fall hard for Alli, a school teacher sent to work with the children on the reservation. That task in itself should send the woman on the run but it intrigues Leaning Bear that she stays. But the true romance begins as Leaning Bear escapes from the reservation to a small retreat in the woods where he can be alone and he one days discovers Alli is at the small creek painting. 

We discover in Dawson's Haven at the trial that Leaning Bear can draw beautifully. So he begins meeting this woman at times to sit and watch her paint...only she scolds herself that she can never get the colors of the sky just right. Thus her Cheyenne nic name from our Medicine Man....Paint the Sky. 

I won't give up the story here but I promise this first McCade novel will make you swoon a time or two. Isn't forbidden love sometimes the best?

A visit with the McCade brothers one at at time...Evan McCade...Coming soon!

The long awaited story for the 4th McCade son is in the works!!! And I couldn't be more excited as I return to Cheyenne in 2022 to finish Evan's Ransom. You won't want to miss this one.

I was side tracked a bit with a few short stories as you all know and in taking that time, I didn't want to do anything to rush Evan's story. He deserves my undivided attention to create what happens to our youngest McCade Brother and I promise lots of unexpected surprises in this story as I wind up the four brothers.

Evan is a man driven by hard work though he is haunted by things in his past that drive him to drink...something that worries more than his mother Dodge. All the brothers have tried to keep the youngest McCade in check but as it turns out...they are all aware of a deep family secret that brings Evan to his knees.

As Evan comes face to face with his past, when he leaves Cheyenne and his family behind to search for the truth within himself...the truth he thinks he may find with liquor gambling and women. But as he spirals out of control...his past returns in the form of his first love...

Enter Charli, the long lost niece of Marcus Benton...and so opens a story of lost love renewed, redemption, ransom and ultimately Love. I already have about half of this story written in scenes

My hopes are that with Evan's story I bring the McCades of Cheyenne full circle and end the brothers on a note that will have readers sigh and want more...and ya know what. More to come with a story for:

Leaning Bear-Paint the Sky will follow Evan's Ransom

Dodge and Brett: Loving Brett 
Hudson Collier: Hudson's Hope
Zane Carver McCade: Zane's Law

And as other McCades arrive or join the clan they just might get a story one of these days so stay tuned. 

A visit with the McCade Brothers....Dawson McCade!

 

When I created Dawson McCade I wanted a brother who was more than just another cowboy. Dawson is the only brother who doesn't live on the McCade ranch. He has a cabin miles away from the family and has spent a lot of time with his lifelong friend Leaning Bear, a Cheyenne Medicine Man. 

The two met when he was young and over the years they have passed back and forth a knife and beads that signify their ongoing friendship. 

I have always been fascinated by native American history in the old west as sad as it was in true life. But in his story I have Dawson stand up for the tribes and his friend. But Dawson's brothers worry about his connection with the tribes where he finds his work as an interpreter. He sees the big picture in what the government is doing to the Indian nations and he takes a stand more than once. 

Some of his passion for what he believes comes from his deceased father who taught him to stand up for the causes he finds right. And as a McCade he does that well, while still remaining close and protective of the family.

And while Dawson doesn't reside on the ranch he is never far and always willing to help his brothers where needed. But it is Dawson's compassion for others that is unleashed when he crosses paths with Haven Oakley as she runs from Cheyenne Dog Soldiers. In that day and time, Dog Soldier would have pretty much been on reservations as I explain in my notes inside the book, but this is fiction and works for the story. 

His quick rescue of the young woman allows him time to discover the truths she is hiding in caring for her younger siblings. As a romance transpires between the two of them, they will each come to the others resuce before the story ends. 

In Haven, Dawson finds a woman worthy of his heart and love and when his life is placed on the line and he is wrongly accused of murder, he still does everything in his power to protect her and her sibings.

It's so easy to fall in love with this McCade Brother but I will tell you, the trial in this story is one of the hardest things I have ever written. The emotions tied to the trial of Dawson and Leaning Bear were intense. And the ending, something that will make youy hold your breath for justice. 

Dawson's love for Haven is a beautiful story and as you all know if you have been reading, these two will show up again and you'll get to see just how the family grows. 

Excerpt:

She leaned against his shoulder studying the stone. 
“What just happened between us?” 
How was he to answer a question like that? Hell, 
he was more unnerved by what hadn’t happened, and 
the tightness of his buckskin trousers had relented little. 
He glanced across the meadow, his mind racing but his 
heart sure. “What would you want it to be?” 
The pink blush across her face hadn’t abated. “The 
beginning of something very beautiful.” 
He gave a slight chuckle. “If you knew my 
thoughts, you’d run faster than you did from those Dog 
Soldiers.” 
She took his hand again. “I have no fear of you, 
Dawson McCade.” 
He stood with a smile, tugging her up beside him. 
“You should.” 

Blub:

When Dawson McCade rescues a woman from the hands of Dog Soldiers, he doesn't expect to nearly lose his life and his heart. Translating for the Cheyenne is risky, but protecting Haven Oakley may be the most dangerous thing he's ever done. When he is wrongly accused of murder, he finds himself injured and on the run. Clearing his name will be the biggest hurdle of his life, but nothing will keep him from the woman who has captured his heart.
Haven Oakley is fighting to keep her homestead, working the claim her father died to protect and raising her two younger brothers. Soft-Spoken, Buckskin-clad Dawson McCade is the first man she has ever loved. But all too soon, her dreams are crushed when Dawson is arrested. Racing against time and risking all she has, Haven fights to free him of the charges and save the love she'd thought lost.

A visit with the McCade brothers one at a time...Wyatt McCade.

Sometimes as authors develop their heros they picture just what this hero looks like and who they act like and so on. It has been no different for me. When I first started letting Wyatt's personality show itself in Sawyer's Rose, all I could think of was Nick Barkley from The Big Valley. One of my favorite cowboys out there in TV land. And of course Wyatt McCade being the second of John McCade's sons fits that first temperament well.

Wyatt quickly became my favorite of these brothers but then I say that for every new hero I write. But Wyatt found a place as the bounty hunting brother who admires the sheriff in his eldest brother, Sawyer, and often times becomes the peacemaker between Sawyer and youngest brother Evan. While Wyatt is quick to anger, he is also fast to find the things that matter. Wyatt prides himself on a clean shirt of all things and keeping his hair and beard trimmed. They say give your characters a little bit of some quirk and in the old west that wasn't what too many cowboys worried about. Sawyer's teases him he prunes like a girl but Wuyatt's response is "Yep but I look good." But Wyatt is the most like his deceased father with a quick temper and strong as heck. He is a fighter and will stand up against the worst outlaws and is a dead eye shot with any weapon. He puts money in his pocket bringing in outlaws for the Bounty and is the best there is at tracking down those who do wrong.

But every man has his weakness and for Wyatt that is the lady doctor, Teas Sullivan. The widow physician has a past she cannot forgive herself about enough to let go and love Wyatt McCade and so she turns down his proposal which all but crushes our hero and her. But as the story transpires...Wyatt is beaten and left for dead by the same man who killed his father. As he regains his strength he will stop at nothing when the same man holds Tess hostage in a bad game of hide and seek. Wyatt is now faced with the biggest bounty of his life and will stop at nothing to rescue the only woman he has ever loved. ANd it's Wyatt who finally brings down the evil that has been stalking the McCades for years. Swoon...at least for me. Wyatt is every woman's hero, overcoming big obstacle to hold the doctor in his arms again.

BLURB:

         Bounty hunter Wyatt McCade is recklessly taking down one outlaw at a time. Hard work is one way to forget Tess Sullivan’s womanly curves. But when he learns that she never left Cheyenne, he rides home and right into a trap. Left for dead, he recovers in the capable hands of the lady doctor and even if she can’t forgive herself, loving her is the easy part. But when McCade lands are threatened and he uncovers the truth, it is Tess who is caught in the balance. Finding himself on the bounty hunt of his life, he’ll risk it all to rescue the woman he loves.              

            Doctor Tess Sullivan shattered her own heart by turning down Wyatt McCade’s proposal. Worse than the hurt in his eyes was watching him ride out of Cheyenne, knowing she’d made the biggest mistake of her life. Pining for his return, she blames herself when he is brought to Cheyenne beaten and near death. Forgiveness comes quickly in the arms of the bounty hunter she has always loved, but she soon finds herself the pawn in a deadly game of revenge, praying Wyatt will find her before it’s too late.

EXCERPT>>>

“Wyatt?” “Huh?” 

 “I loved you…long before Israel died.” The confession rocked her thoughts. She had loved Israel, but she had longed for Wyatt years before Israel had died. It had been wrong, and there were times it made her feel like she hadn’t done right by her deceased husband. She weaved her fingers into Wyatt’s, touching with tenderness where the fracture had been. “I did, right or wrong. I mean…I loved Israel, we had so much in common with his study of science and plants and my study of medicine, but I was guilty of dreaming for you long before…he died.” 

     His smile was tender as he lifted her chin. “I’ve known that for a long time, Doc. And I can’t count how many nights I lay awake, wishing I were holding you.” She held tighter to him. “And when you left Cheyenne, it was all my fault. I knew I had made a mistake. I wasn’t even myself without you. It was as if I kept falling and falling, never hitting the ground to land anywhere.” 

 With that he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. “I’ll always be here to catch you, Doc, always.”