By Patricia Davids
May 23, 2017
$5.99 US; 224 pages
ISBN: 978-0-373-62278-8
Fannie Erb isn’t looking for a husband – especially if it means she has to leave behind her beloved horses to go find one. What she needs is a way to assure her parents that she’s not hopeless when it comes to love. And her family friend, Noah Bowman, might just be her solution.
A fake relationship would free them both from unwanted matchmaking plans, but how could Fannie predict that pretending to date the handsome boy next door would awaken genuine emotions? By summer’s end, they’ll be free to go their separate ways, but Fannie’s growing feelings are transforming her neighbor into the only man who might ever reign in her adventurous heart.
PATRICIA DAVIDS is a USA Today Bestselling author who grew up in Kansas. She began her career as a nurse, and put her dreams to write a book on hold as she raised a family and worked in the NICU. After forty years, she began writing seriously in 1996. Today, she enjoys crafting emotionally satisfying romances where love and faith being two people together forever.
GUEST POST
Now, I would like to welcome Patricia to In the Hammock Blog as she shares a little about herself with my readers. Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your shorty, Patricia!!
Summer Hobbies by Patricia Davids
In the summer of 2015 my mother passed away and it quickly became clear that my elderly father couldn’t cope on his own. I made the decision to return home to the family farm located south and east of Abilene, Kansas and become a live-in caregiver. In doing so, I have had the joy of rediscovering the farm life I’d left behind more than forty years ago.
The farm is a working farm and cattle operation run by my youngest brother Gary and his son Kyle. They raise wheat, soybeans, milo and cane. Cane is grown primarily for our own use as cattle feed. Each year my brother and my dad purchase close to 500 head of young steers that are pastured over the summer in the Flint Hills and sold to feed lots in the early fall.
My father’s frail health keeps him off the tractors and out of the fields, but my brother regularly consults Dad on farming and cattle issues. When it became too much for Dad to attend cattle auctions in person, Gary showed us how to pull up the live auctions on the computer. I love him for his compassion. He makes Dad feel he is still an important part of the business he spent his life building. I know Gary could do it all and do it as well without Dad’s input but he is wise enough to listen to Dad’s advice before making his own decisions.
One thing I did not count on when I moved back home was the fact that everyone on the farm has to do their share of the work. I became a cook for harvest crews and delivered the meals to them in the fields. Eating lunch under the shade of a tree at the edge of a field of golden wheat is as much fun now as it was 45 years ago. I have hauled farm equipment, helped check the herds of cattle for sickness or injury, helped with range burning and even done my part at branding time although I don’t get to use the branding iron. I just prod the reluctant steers into the branding chute. A job that is sometimes much harder than it sounds.
Tasks that I did on horseback as a kid are now done from a four-wheeler, but I do get to spend a lot of time outdoors. I can’t believe how thankful I am for this opportunity to get to know my brother better and to take care of Dad. When the work is done, we all enjoy the same summer pastime. Fishing down at the creek.
You should see the size of the large-mouth bass and channel cats we’ve got in there.
Dislcosure: I received a digital copy of the book in exchange for this post.
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