Dear Reader,

      When I first embarked on this trilogy set in Montana, I nearly panicked. The closest I’d ever been to this state was watching Legends of the Fall (and even then I noticed more of Brad Pitt than the scenery)! So the research began, and soon I had videos and maps and beautiful photo books strewn all over my office. Before I realized what was happening, I’d fallen in love with an area I had barely thought about previously. And the next thing I knew, my husband, Bill, and I were on a plane headed for Bozeman, Montana, with a string of bed-and-breakfast reservations covering points east and south. I hope in reading my next three stories, you will experience some of the beauty and grandeur we enjoyed during our travels through this truly awesome state.

      In book one of The Montana Malones, you will meet Ryder and Savannah, once high school best friends, reunited after twelve years of separation. (You might want a box of tissues handy for this one.) Also in this book, you’ll get to know the rest of the family: brothers Shane and Joshua, and their father, Maxwell Malone, a semiretired orthopedic surgeon with secrets of his own that are interwoven into all three books. And then there’s Hannah, the cantankerous housekeeper, plus Bucking Horse, a member of the Crow tribe who lives on the ranch and manages to wield his influence over more than the horses that he trains.

      I hope you enjoy The Montana Malones and that these people become as real to you as they have become to me.

      I love to hear from readers! So for those who write and enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope, I will send along a little surprise. In the meantime, a special “thank you” to each and every one of you for taking my books to the USA Today bestseller list. It’s loyal readers like yourself who have made another dream come true.

      Warmest regards,