1. I hear you have horses in your novels.
Hi, everyone and thanks for stopping by to visit. Normally, people don’t think of horses as pets, but I’ve always been fascinated by the big, majestic animals! I went to local horse shows in my younger days and rode my cousin’s ornery pony.
For the past few years, I’ve enjoyed following my granddaughter’s quarter horse competitions, but mostly I love creating stories about ranches where horses are bred and raised. Fun fact: Did you know that some large equine facilities actually have “ride though” Starbucks pickup windows?
2. Do you have horses or pets of your own?
Over the years, my family has had a menagerie of pets. We’ve raised cats, dogs, sheep, calves, rabbits, pigs and one crazy goat named George who thought he was a watchdog. He grew into a very large goat, with big curling horns. He was a friendly (sometimes too friendly) animal. He liked to climb into the cabs of UPS and FedEx trucks. Startled a few delivery guys, but he was harmless. He’d follow me anywhere for marshmallows.
3. Tell us about your books.
I write contemporary western romances and romantic suspense. I’ve written over 20 books, had them translated into more than a dozen foreign languages, published in large print hardcover, used in anthologies, and produced in audiobook format. I have to admit that audio is my newest love.
Here are the blurbs for the three Bridleton books:
Drea’s Homecoming, Book 1: Andrea Bartell is an international model whose jet-set lifestyle kept her from her Texas home for five years. Noah Courtland is the man she left behind after a bitter breakup. He’s in charge of her beloved Bridleton, and it’s at the root of their emotional warfare. Neither wants to rekindle the flames of their relationship, yet the desire hasn’t diminished. It burns hotly, forcing them to deal with their pain and heartache. The unveiling of old promises and secrets might save their relationship, or it could destroy any chance of a future.
Chey’s Cowboy, Book 2: Trace Mitchem is the foreman at Bridleton and a confirmed bachelor whose main goal in life is to build a ranch he can call his own. Cheyenne Bartell is the youngest heir to the Texas ranching dynasty. What she lacks in self-confidence, she makes up for in spirit and determination. Trace and Chey have known each other for years and worked side by side to save Bridleton. He’s prefers to keep a safe distance between them. She wants to explore the smoldering attraction they share. It’s a standoff until an unexpected accident changes everything. Suddenly, Chey is the wary one, and Trace is demanding so much more. Until something happens that changes everything again….
Zack’s Ranch, Book 3: Zack Bartell is a strong, determined Texan who knows what he wants and is willing to fight for it. What he wants most in life is Meredith Courtland and a chance to develop his share of the family ranch at Bridleton. Meri has experienced the deep heartache of a lost love. She’s emotionally wary and unwilling to risk her safe, secure position at Bridleton by having an affair with the incredibly desirable Bartell heir despite the fact that he’s a walking, breathing temptation. But when her volunteer work with wounded veterans tangles the threads of their relationship, they work together to defuse the threat to their lives and happiness.
Buy Links for the Bridleton series and other books by Becky Barker are listed here: BeckyBarkerAmazonAuthorPage
4. Tell us about your kudos or reviews.
I’ve been honored and humbled by some of the wonderful reviews my work has garnered. Zack’s Ranch, the third of my Bridleton series, won the PenCraft Award from AuthorsReading.com. Hanchart Land won a 5-star blue ribbon award from romancejunkies.com, and another western that incorporates more humor, Chameleons, won the National Reader’s Choice award sponsored by the OKRWA [Oklahoma Romance Writers of America chapter].
5. How do you promote your books?
Since engrossing myself in the audiobook industry, I’ve started promoting my work on Facebook and Twitter (or X) by establishing #FridayFreebies where I offer free Audible audio codes each week. Here’s a link where readers, who have Audible, can take their pick of Audible audio codes: BeckyBarkerAudio I also have a very infrequent newsletter via MailChimp.
6. Where can readers learn more about your books and connect with you online?
Website: BeckyBarker.com
Bookbub: My Bookbub Profile
Newsletter: MailChimp Contest/News
Twitter: www.twitter.com/BeckyBarker
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/BeckyBarker
Goodreads: Goodreads
Amazon Author Page: BeckyBarkerAmazonAuthorPage
WIN A BECKY BARKER EBOOK OR PRINT BOOK!
One lucky person who comments on Becky’s interview will be picked to win one of her ebooks or print books! So don’t forget to comment!
MARCIA: Thank you, Becky, for being my October interviewee! I’ve really enjoyed reading your romances and recommend them!
MONTHLY BLOG EBOOK CONTEST! Would you like to win a Marcia James’ ebook? Visitors to this pro-pet blog can join in the fun, comment, and/or share photos of their pets for a chance to win one of my ebooks!
Each month, I’ll randomly pick one blog commenter to win. To leave a comment and/or a photo, click on the word “Reply,” which is just below the social media icons for THIS interview. (Don’t scroll past this interview to the next interview.) Go Pets!
1. I hear you have a cat in the first book of your Romancing the Guardians series. Tell us about the book.
2. Why did you add a cat to this book?
I’ve written a western historical romance series, a time travel romance, and have been included in several anthologies.
I thought up this elderly woman character, Felicity, who was widowed and lived alone, who had a unique way to supplement her Social Security. Her delightfully fluttery personality is cover for scary intelligence. The plot in my mind needed a catalyst, something or someone who could give it a little humor, and be present and perhaps responsible for some of the turning points. A large black cat her late husband had rescued from drowning appeared in my imagination. Thus his name, Lazarus. Then I threw in a romance to add spice and give the plot more dimension. It sort of fell together. Thus Lazarus was already in place for the next book, Dangerous Legacy.
Amazon Buy Links for the Legacy Series (and other Justine Wittich books’) are here: 
Above all, it’s a love story between two very different beings, both of whom have the same wish—to stop a series of murders in the main city of Planet Andaan. Kylie Sanderson is the independent-minded daughter of a wealthy family who wants to do more with her days than play. She has put herself through school, over her father’s objection, to become an exobiologist and police detective with SIRT, the Scientific and Investigative Research Taskforce. When a series of women turn up dead and mutated like lizards, she is assigned the case. Griff is a reptile shapeshifter who is kin to those committing the murders, who wants his brethren to stop what they’re doing because it is wrong.
Funny story. My former husband and I were part of an online RPG [role-playing game] that featured characters of our own making. I had created Kylie and he created Griff as part of our repertoires, and they ended up having a great love story in the RPG. After we had separated, I wasn’t ready to let go of the characters yet. So I dreamed up a plot they could inhabit, and here they are!
1. I hear you have a dog in Miracles from the Heart. Tell us about the book.
“The Christmas Gift” is dedicated to my late Jack Russell, Belladonna aka Belle, the best four-legged friend and shadow I could ever have. She brought me extreme joy and happiness. I’ve had some wonderful dogs in my life, but Belle was extra special. On or off a lead, she stuck by me. We’ve had Basset Hounds, Airedale Terriers, a Doberman, and at one time we had 30 birds–from tiny Finches to Amazon Orange-winged Parrots. [We also had] a house rabbit, several cats, and many, many fish–fresh water and salt.
Second Chance Bride blurb:
I’ve written about 30 or more books. Last Christmas is another book that stars Friday, a rescue dog that was found on a Friday and taken to a shelter. He’s adopted by a small-town police chief.
Someone recently called me a hidden treasure. *LOL* The hidden part is probably correct. There has been so much turmoil in my family because of medical crises that I’ve done hardly anything in years to promote my books. I realized I was becoming invisible to the reading public, so this year I vowed to do something about this. Thank you, Marcia, for giving me that opportunity.
The books I’m featuring here today are Will o’ the Wisp and The Haunting of Laurel Cove. Will o’ the Wisp is contemporary romance with suspense; The Haunting of Laurel Cove is a mystery romance with a bit of the supernatural. Both are published by The Wild Rose Press, and both have animals in the stories.
In The Haunting of Laurel Cove, Jane and her faithful, ragtag companion Pepper come back to Laurel Cove to recover from a vicious attack. She becomes obsessed with an old cabin in the Cove, but Pepper will not let her near it. Jane welcomes her dog’s presence while she discovers answers to the secrets and mysteries of Laurel Cove, while guarding her heart against falling back in love with an old flame, Brendan McGarren.
No Luck At All is a western romance set in the mid-1800s. The story centers around Creel Weston and his new wife, Racine. Creel is a Colorado rancher who went to Boston to obtain a medical degree. They met at dinner party hosted by Racine’s father, who was also Creel’s mentor, and Creel was instantly smitten with her, so much that he decided he wasn’t leaving Boston without her. But unbeknownst to him, Racine suffered deep emotional scars, so much that her father intervened and blackmailed Creel into marrying her, before Creel had a chance to propose. The wedding takes place, and they leave Boston for Creel’s home in Colorado. During an overnight stay in Denver, things come to a head and both realize they have made mistakes and unfairly judged the other…until someone from Creel’s past causes Racine’s doubt to return.
Royce Weston knows firsthand women are exceptional liars, especially the one who has wormed her way into his family’s good graces by claiming amnesia. Since Paige didn’t heed his advice at the poker tables, he reasons a bit of friendly persuasion is needed to send her packing. But when she matches him trick for trick and has his ranch hands jumping to please her, Royce is thoroughly disgusted. A simpering miss she is not. Sassy and daring, if only she’d give him a reason to trust her…
Lucas Weston is living proof of the damage a woman can cause. Determined to keep another miss from running roughshod over his heart, Lucas has garnered the reputation of a man who favors flirting and wild times between the sheets. When he’s roped into escorting Missy back to her home in San Francisco, he isn’t too pleased, until he discovers she uses her poker-playing, whiskey-swilling ways to hide her own fears. What they might be, he doesn’t know, but he’s going to find out. Drawn to her from the start, Missy represents the opportunity for the life fate cheated him seven years ago.
Grief and guilt are as much a part of Jess Jansen as riding herd. Twenty-two years he’s longed for the woman who ran out on him, and now his luck is about to change. Needing a place to hole up during a thunderstorm, the Lazy K looks to be a safe haven. There’s a barn―and a body with soft curves and sapphire eyes he’d know anywhere.
1. I hear you have animals in most of your novels. Tell us about your favorite book featuring animals.
In my contemporary romance, All About Charming Alice, my heroine rescues stray dogs—she has a whole house full of them. One stray, nicknamed Killer, brings the gorgeous and sexy writer Jace Constant into Alice’s life. But Alice doesn’t just like dogs. She also studies and protects snakes and actively protests against such cruel practices as snake shows where those creatures are tortured to death for the amusement of tourists. Jace, however, is terrified by snakes, and it does take a bit of coaxing to get him to change his mind.
Another book in the series is Desert Rose. Rose, the heroine, is Alice’s closest friend, and she very unwillingly adopts Noodle, one of Alice’s strays.
My award-winning debut novel, Always a Princess, was the start of the Clifton Hall series. In the novel, the hero has a little sister he hasn’t seen since he left to fight in France. On his return, he gifts her a spaniel puppy–a naughty one. As her pup does not seem to care for Englishmen, she names it Bony “after the French usurper.” Bony was inspired by my bichon fries Cookie, but as his breed (which is Belgian) wasn’t known in England at the time the book is set (1812), I turned him into spaniel puppy. Much of the novel takes place at Clifton Hall in Lancashire and at least one Lancashire estate was known as a place for breeding Springer spaniels in the Regency era.
The Regency era Romany were persecuted as an underclass, so the warning bell of a dog’s bark meant a lot. Valkin is the Romany hero in this book, and he attempts to subdue his powerful attraction to the heroine, so he spends most of the book frustrated and fantasising–while Chore, the largest canine in the camp, is rutting about all over the place producing pups at a prodigious rate. Chore is the Romany word for ‘thief’ and is a bit of a dig at the many false accusations of theft the Romany are forced to face, both in the past and even today.
Hall. This novella is a race to wed for Chal (Valkin’s youngest brother) and his betrothed. Chore’s main activity in this shorter story is swallowing mince pies at the Christmas feast, destroying the remains of three roast geese, and herding children away from the burning yule log fire as the very English Cliftons and their Romany friends and family feast outdoors. The novella appears in a holiday duet alongside Heather Hallman’s Edwardian Seduction of Tokyo novella, which is excellent as well–although, unfortunately, there are no dogs in this one.
A Delicate Investigation novella in Summer Secrets of the Soho Club:
The Christmas Salon
Love Unbroken appears in Love for Maui (a charity anthology)