What’s you favorite type fictional hero? I don’t go for
strictly alpha or beta—I prefer a happy blend of the two. That is the type hero
I write—strong yet not afraid to let a woman know he loves her, protective
without being a control freak. My newly released boxed set, MEN OF STONE
MOUNTAIN: MICAH, ZACH, AND JOEL unites the stories of these three brothers for
a reduced price. Let’s meet the Men of Stone Mountain. I hope you’ll love them
as much as I do.
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| Brazos River near Mineral Wells, Texas with Palo Pinto Mountains in background |
This Stone Mountain is in North Central Texas in the Palo
Pinto Mountains. Mountains in this area are not like the Rockies. Caves,
ravines, springs, and cedar brakes riddle the land through which the Brazos
River weaves. Small oaks that gave the land its name dominate the hillsides,
but there also are cedar, live oaks, cottonwood, willows, hackberry and other
trees. In current times, mesquite trees are a threat to ranchers, but those
only appeared a couple of hundred years ago.
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| Comanche warriors courtesy of Dover |
Comanche, Apache, and Kiowa hunted and summered here. Living
near springs and creeks, the Comanche grew crops and hunted game. Families returned to the same spot year after
year. But then the anglos arrived. A time of unrest resulted and continued up
to the 1870’s.
This brings us to the arrival of Micah, Zach, and Joel
Stone. These boys are brothers in the best sense of the word—closely knit,
loyal, and supportive of one another. They grew up in Johnson County, south of
Fort Worth. During the Civil War, all
three brothers bore arms. Although their father wanted them to remain home, Zach
and Joel joined the Confederate Army. A year later, Micah joined the Union
Army. Even fighting on different sides did not cause discord when the War
ended. After their parents’ death, Zach
moved west. He discovered a beautiful valley halfway up an unnamed mountain. He
named it Stone Mountain and built a sturdy cabin.
In BRAZOS BRIDE, the youngest brother, Micah, homesteaded
nearby in the (fictional) Radford Springs area and then bought the adjoining
homestead. When Micah was accused of murdering his neighbor over water rights,
Joel and Zach stayed with him. Joel defended his brother in court and obtained
a “not guilty” verdict. Many in the county still thought Micah guilty. His
having fought for the Union did not win friends either. Zach and Joel determined
to help him discover the real murderer and clear his name. Two former soldiers stay with Micah also.Slim and Bert are loyal to Micah and depend on him to guide them, yet they'd do anything to help him..
Micah has met the woman for him, but knows she is way out of his league. She's wealthy, he is strapped for cash. What could he possibly offer her? He can think of nothing about him she'd want, but he can't keep her out of his thoughts and dreams.
In HIGH STAKES BRIDE, Zach had moved back to his valley.
Before many months had passed, Comanche raided nearby farms and kidnapped three
children. The Warren parents approached Zach to rescue their son, David. Zach
joined forces with a local freighter and a Paneteka Comanche to obtain the
children’s release. By this time, the two boys and girl had been traded to the
Kiowa, the fiercest of the area tribes, and taken to Indian Territory. Zach traded
for the children and returned them to their families. In gratitude, the Warrens
offered to sell Zach their large home and ranch at pennies on the dollar. He
accepted and the grateful couple took their son back to Kentucky. With his new ranch and home, Zach believed himself the luckiest man in Texas. Now, if he only had a wife and children to share his good fortune.
Joel Stone is the eldest and his book is BLUEBONNET BRIDE.
His time defending Micah forced him to realize he was a lawman rather than a
rancher. He let his foreman manage his small ranch and became Radford County
Sheriff. Using his previous Army training and Ranger skills, he kept Radford
Springs a clean, orderly town. To accomplish this, he needed to live in town
where he could remain vigilant, but he hated lodging at the local boarding house. He craved privacy and quiet. A departing family offered the largest house in
town for sale. The place was complete on the outside, but the family ran out of
money before the inside was completed, coupled with the father’s poor
workmanship on the interior sections he constructed. Joel had admired that
wreck of a house, and he bought it. Joel’s hobby was working with wood, and
this converted to great carpenter skills for his new home. Working on one room
at a time, Joel started remodeling the previous owner’s mistakes and oversights. He
figured in only a few years, he’d have the grandest home in the county—if his
body withstood the hard work in addition to keeping the town safe. Yet, he often wondered why, as the eldest, he hadn't married and settled down to build his own family.
This background gets you to where each book opens. I enjoyed
writing each of these stories. I hope you are intrigued enough to read the
entire trilogy of MEN OF STONE MOUNTAIN.
Here’s the Amazon link:
Thanks for stopping by!
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