APPLE BLOSSOMS IN MONTANA by Author Lucinda Race **The Orchard Brides** **Book Birthday**

It gives me great pleasure to welcome my good friend and fellow author, Lucinda Race, to Romance Sweet Reads. We'll be featuring her new book, Apple Blossoms in Montana, Book 5 in The Orchard Brides series of sweet, contemporary romances.

It’s been twenty years; Renee and Hank are back where things started but reality is like a spring frost and is a long-distance relationship their only option for a second chance at love?

Renee Mitchell has returned to the small Montana town of River Junction to take over her family’s orchard. With big dreams for the future, she plants a large parcel of land with new apple trees. No sooner is the job done, when a herd of cattle from the neighboring ranch breaks through a fence line and creates mulch from the tiny saplings. With a streak of stubbornness as wide as the Colorado River, Renee’s determined to be a success. Even when her first love shows up with the offer to pay for replacement trees and lend muscle to replant.

Hank Shepard left River Junction at eighteen and, except for losing his chance with Renee Mitchell, he’s lived life with zero regrets. He takes a short-term leave of absence from his law practice, returning to his family ranch to help his dad get back on his feet. The last thing he expects while he’s there is to reconnect with the woman he let get away. But wayward Shephard Ranch cattle bring him full circle back to Renee.

Hank is determined to make amends for the destruction to her orchard and for how they left things almost twenty years ago. It doesn’t take long for Renee and Hank to rediscover their long dormant feeling are like the orchard after the long winter, ready to flourish.

When it’s time for Hank to return to his law practice, will they be able to make a long-distance relationship work? Or, is the difference between city life and big sky country too much to overcome?

Apple Blossoms in Montana is available on Kindle Unlimited

Also available in PRINT

Renee Mitchell couldn’t believe her eyes. The small apple trees that had taken her days to plant were trampled into the ground and the culprits were grazing on the new shoots of grass between what was to be the new section in her orchard. She threw her head back and let out an ear-splitting scream. That helped her feel a smidge better, not that anyone could hear her since this was Big Sky Country, Montana, where every day of the growing season was critical. If she could even get new stock, it would be at least a two-week setback and she was not calling her parents in New Mexico to share the bad news. Riverbank Orchard was her business now and she’d figure out a solution on her own. But first these stupid cows needed to get off her land before they did even more damage.

Cautiously, she inched closer to the large beasts, wary of how they might react. At least they didn’t have those wide horns that were famous in Texas. All these cows had were yellow tags dangling like earrings from their ears. Maybe it had the name of the ranch stamped on them. Once she got close enough without spooking one, she discovered they were numbers only. She popped her hands on her hips. “That’s not going to do me a bit of good.”

She reached for her cell phone but didn’t bother pulling it out. Cell reception was spotty out here, and besides, who was she going to call with her tale of woe? It’s not like there was a local resource to help find lost cattle, was there?

In the distance, on the other side of the small riverbed, she could see a lone figure galloping in her direction. Maybe that was the person responsible for these beasts. She stomped through the now downed trees, closing the distance between herself and the horse and rider. A man was in the saddle, and as they got closer, she could tell he was tall but not who he was. His cowboy hat was pulled low over his face, probably to keep the bright sun from his eyes, or more likely to not see the mess his cows made to her field. For a fraction of a second, she thought about the fence she should have put up first, but once the cows were out of the barn, there was no use worrying about the door being closed.

She lifted a hand in greeting and called out to him. “Missing any cows?”

He pulled up on the reins and came to a full stop on the opposite side of the river. He scanned the landscape in back of her and scowled. “As a matter of fact, I am and I can see they’ve invaded your orchard.”

There was something about the man that was vaguely familiar, and his smooth voice tickled a long-ago memory, but Renee dismissed it. She needed to stick to the business at hand and have him move his cows back across the river. If they crossed once, they could do it again; the water wasn’t that high or running too fast now that the spring thaw was over for the most part.

“Well, we’re going to need to discuss the damage they did.”

The man urged his horse through the stream, and it danced up the low-rise bank in front of her. He swung his leg over the saddle and jumped down before giving her a hard look. A flicker of recognition flashed in his caramel-brown eyes, but it was gone just as quickly. Clearly, they must have met, and then Renee knew. She took a step back and stumbled. Before she landed on her butt, he had reached out and steadied her.

“Renee, are you alright?”

The deep timbre of his voice caused her heart to skip. Hank Shepard. The first boy she had ever kissed and the one man she had never forgotten. It had been almost twenty years since she had seen him and other than a touch of gray in his light-brown hair and the sun crinkles around his eyes, he looked exactly the same—drop-dead gorgeous as ever. It would have been better if he’d gotten out of shape with a big belly but no, he had stayed trim and muscular. And this was all with a quick assessment.

“Renee?”

Despite the way his voice made her belly flip, she had to focus on the question and not the man asking it.

“Yes, I’m fine. I just tripped on a root.”

He looked down at the grassy bank and gave her a quirk of a smile. “Glad it wasn’t anything bigger.”

Award-winning and best-selling author Lucinda Race is a lifelong fan of romantic fiction. As a young girl, she spent hours reading romance novels and getting lost in the hope they represent. While her friends dreamed of becoming doctors and engineers, her dreams were to become a writer—a romance novelist.

As life twisted and turned, she found herself writing nonfiction but longed to turn to her true passion. After developing the storyline for The Loudon Series, it was time to start living her dream. Her fingers practically fly over computer keys she weaves stories about strong women and the men who love them.

Lucinda lives with her two little dogs, a miniature long hair dachshund and a shitzu mix rescue, in the rolling hills of western Massachusetts. When she's not at her day job, she’s immersed in her fictional worlds. And if she’s not writing romance novels, she’s reading everything she can get her hands on.

Lucinda's Website ~ Facebook ~ Reader's Group ~ Twitter ~ Instagram

Pinterest ~ YouTube ~ Amazon Author Page ~ BookBub ~ Goodreads

All the of the books in The Orchard Brides Series are available on

Kindle Unlimited

And, while you're there, don't forget to get our companion cookbook,

Treats From the Orchard

Just 99 cents with all proceeds to the national SPCA.

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Thank you so much for stopping by. Please be sure to check out our second post of the day and come back every day between now and May 3rd, for more wonderful authors and great books!

Nancy