Our guest today is going to take us back in time to 1900’s Colorado, but this is no history lesson, this is a marriage of convenience-mystery-historical romance and it’s amazing! Please join me in welcoming, Jo Goodman!
Lexi: We’re so excited to have you here to talk about your third installment of your Cowboys of Colorado series. Even though A TOUCH OF FOREVER’s hero isn’t exactly a cowboy, he’s the perfect hero. Roen Shepard is a railroad engineer from New York, a job that takes him places. And Roen needs to go places, right?
He does, indeed. Roen is a bit of an outsider in his own family. They’re part of the Bohemian crowd of artists, novelist, poets, performers – all of them creative and free-spirited. It’s little wonder that Roen accepts that he is the odd one out. When they call him the black sheep, it’s not because he’s a bad boy, it’s simply that they are unable to appreciate his happy talent for calculation makes him a master civil engineer and bridge builder. Roen takes his latest assignment to put Manhattan and a rather vengeful ex-lover far behind him. At least that’s the plan. If plans went smoothly, there wouldn’t be much of a story, would there? Roen’s would-be fiancée has a surprise for him and this time it’s not a gun aimed at his groin.
Lexi: Some things you can’t outrun. And for Lily, there are some things you can’t outlast. She’d lost her husband and had sworn off men, but then things happen and she finds herself in a marriage of convenience. That’s a lot to wrap ones head around. What’s more difficult for Lily, coming to terms with her arrangement with Roen, or realizing she can’t keep her secrets to herself any longer?
I like to think Lily stood her ground when she negotiated the terms of her marriage to Roen. He proposed the scheme, but after calling the idea ridiculous, she countered his offer with demands of her own. While Lily is vulnerable, she showed a steel spine just then, perhaps surprising herself. Because she set terms with Roen, I believe that she feels that she has a voice in the relationship and this gives her confidence. The secrets, though, are something else again, and if you know what she is keeping to herself, it’s not difficult to imagine why she be so frightened to say them aloud. The struggle as to whether she can or should reveal her truth to Roen is definitely harder for her to come to terms with.
Lexi: Running, secrets, and a mystery haunting them both. How will Lily and Roen ever have time to fall in love?! Are there any stolen moments you can tell us about?
I suppose my favorite stolen moment occurs after Lily and Roen arrive home after a surprise wedding reception at the local saloon. Lily doesn’t typically drink, but her glass keeps getting refilled, and since Roen promised he wouldn’t drink, she’s the tipsy one at bedtime. Roen’s sense of decency is tested as he fends off her amorous overtures. He figures rightly that taking advantage of her condition will not bode well for their future together, and he is thinking they could have one even if she isn’t.
Lexi: A TOUCH OF FOREVER has so much to love! And at 416 pages, we can love it even longer! Long romances for the win! Thank you so much for stopping by today, Jo. A huge congratulations on your release and here’s to many more! Cheers!
Thank you, and let me say I LOVE the clever name of your book club.
A Touch of Forever(Cowboys of Colorado #3)
by Jo Goodman
Paperback, 416 pages
Expected publication: June 4th 2019 by Berkley Books
ISBN 0440000645
A marriage of convenience turns into a sweetly seductive love-off-the-rails romance in the latest Cowboys of Colorado novel from USA Today bestselling author Jo Goodman.
Lily Salt has sworn off men. After finally gaining her independence, the last thing she needs is another man telling her what to do. But the handsome railroad engineer from New York isn't at all what she expected. He's kind, gentle...and tempting enough to make her wonder what a second chance at love might be worth.
A self-acknowledged black sheep, Roen Shepard knows what it means to feel alone. Recognizing a kindred spirit in the reserved widow whose fascinating blue-green eyes have seen too much, and charmed by the warmth of her ready-made family, the two begin an unlikely friendship.
When a complication from his past follows him to Frost Falls, Roen proposes a mad scheme to protect the new life he's built and keep close the stubborn woman he's accidentally fallen for--a marriage of convenience. But Lily has secrets of her own, and the closer he gets to uncovering them, the more he comes to realize that the only truth that matters is the secret to unlocking her heart.
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About the Author:
To find characters to illustrate my first family saga, I cut out models from the Sears catalogue. I was in fourth grade, but it was a start. In seventh grade I wrote a melodrama about two orphan sisters, one of whom was pregnant. There was also a story about a runaway girl with the unlikely name of Strawberry and one about mistaken identities and an evil blind date. My supportive, but vaguely concerned parents, sighed with relief when I announced I was going to write children's books. They bought me an electric typewriter and crossed their fingers, but somehow PASSION'S BRIDE came out. No one was really surprised.
I graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry and some notion that I would do marine research. Years of competitive swimming didn't help me anticipate seasickness. A career change seemed in order. I began working with adolescents and families, first as a childcare worker and later, after graduating from West Virginia University with a master's degree in counseling, as a therapist. I am currently the executive director of a child caring/mental health agency and find my work and my writing often compliment each other. One grounds me in reality and the other offers a break from it.
http://www.jogoodman.com/
Awww, I love the surprise wedding reception!
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