Whenever You Come Around
Acclaim for Robin Lee Hatcher
“Robin Lee Hatcher weaves a romance with heart that grabs readers and won’t let go.
Whenever You Come Around
pulled me in from the get-go. Charity Anderson, a beautiful, successful author with a deadline and a painful secret, runs into Buck Malone, a handsome, confirmed-bachelor, cowboy from her past, and he needs her help. I was captivated, and I guarantee you’ll be rooting for them, too.”
— Sunni Jeffers, award-winning author of
Heaven’s Strain
“A heartwarming and engaging romance,
Whenever You Come Around
is a splendid read from start to finish!”
— Tamera Alexander,
USA Today
bestselling author of
To Whisper Her Name
and
From a Distance
“A handsome cowboy, horses, and a hurting heroine make for a winning combination in this newest poignant story by Robin Lee Hatcher. A gently paced but delightful ride,
Whenever You Come Around
will take readers on a journey of healing right along with the characters. Readers will feel at home in Kings Meadow and won’t want to leave.”
— Jody Hedlund, bestselling author of
Love Unexpected
“First loves find sweet second chances in King’s Meadow. Heartwarming, romantic, and filled with hope and faith, this is Hatcher at her best!”
— Lisa Wingate, National bestselling author of
The
Story
Keeper
and
The Prayer Box
“In
Whenever You Come Around
Hatcher takes a look at the pain of secrets that kill the heart. But love indeed conquers all. Robin Lee Hatcher is the go-to classic romance author.”
— Rachel Hauck, Award winning, bestselling author of
The
Wedding
Dress
“Robin Lee Hatcher has created an emotionally engaging romance, a story of healing and self forgiveness wrapped up in a package about small town life and a cowboy who lives a life honoring God. I want to live in King’s Meadow.”
— Sharon Dunn, author of
Cold Case Justice
and
Wilderness Target
“
Whenever You Come Around
draws you into the beauty and history of the horse country of King’s Meadow, Idaho. With every turn of the page, Robin Lee Hatcher woos readers with a love story of a modern-day cowboy and a city girl. Buck and Charity rescue each other from the lives they had planned—lives limited by fear. Instead, they discover their unexpected God-ordained happily ever after. A discerning writer, Hatcher handles Charity’s past heartbreak with sensitivity and grace.”
— Beth K. Vogt, author of
Somebody Like You
, one of
Publisher’s Weekly’s
Best Books of 2014
“
Whenever You Come Around
is one of Robin Lee Hatcher’s pure-romance best, with a heroine waiting for total redemption and a strong hero of great worth. I find myself still smiling long after the final page has been read.”
— Hannah Alexander, author of the Hallowed Halls series
“
Whenever You Come Around
is a slow dance of letting go of the past and its very real pain to step into the light of love. It’s a story that will wrap around your soul with the hope that no past is so dark and haunted that it can’t be forgiven and overcome. It’s a love story filled with sweetness, tension, and slow fireworks. Bottom line, it was a romance I couldn’t—and didn’t want to—put down.”
— Cara Putman, award-winning author of
Shadowed by Grace
and
Where Treetops Glisten
“In
Love Without End
, Robin Lee Hatcher once again takes us to Kings Meadow, Idaho in a sweeping love story that captures the heart and soul of romance between two people who have every reason not to fall in love. With an interesting backstory interspersed among the contemporary chapters, and well-drawn, relatable secondary characters, Hatcher hits the mark with her warm and inviting love story.”
— Martha Rogers, author of the series, Winds Across the Prairie and The Journey Homeward
“
Love Without End
, the first book in the new Kings Meadow Romance series, again intertwines two beautiful and heartfelt romances. One in the past and one in the future together make this a special read. I’m so glad Robin wrote a love story for Chet who suffered so much in
A Promise Kept
(January 2014). Kimberly, so wrong for him, becomes so right. Not your run of the mill cowboy romance—enriched with the deft writing and deep emotion.”
— Lyn Cote, author of
Honor
, first in the Quaker Bride series
“No one writes about the joys and challenges of family life better than Robin Lee Hatcher and she’s at the top of her game with
Love Without End
. This beautiful and deeply moving story will capture your heart as it captured mine.”
— Margaret Brownley,
NY Times
bestselling author
“
Love Without End
, Book One in Robin Lee Hatcher’s new Kings Meadow series, is a delight from start to finish. The author’s skill at depicting the love and challenges of family has never been more evident as she deftly combines two love stories—past and present—to capture readers’ hearts and lift their spirits.”
— Marta Perry, author of
The Forgiven
, Keepers of the Promise, Book One
“I always expect excellence when I open a Robin Lee Hatcher novel. She never disappoints. The story here reminds me of a circle without end as Robin takes us through a modern day romance while looping one character through a WWII tale of love and loss and the resurrection of hope and purpose.
Love Without End
touched my heart and guided me to some wonderful truths of how God’s love is a gift and a treasure.”
— Donita K. Paul, bestselling author
“A beautiful, heart-touching story of God’s amazing grace, and how He can restore and make new that which was lost.”
— Francine Rivers,
New York Times
bestselling author, regarding
A Promise Kept
Other Novels by Robin Lee Hatcher
K
INGS
M
EADOW
R
OMANCE
S
ERIES
Love Without End
Whenever You Come Around
Keeper of the Stars (Available November 2015)
W
HERE THE
H
EART
L
IVES
S
ERIES
Beloved
Betrayal
Belonging
T
HE
S
ISTERS OF
B
ETHLEHEM
S
PRINGS
S
ERIES
A Matter of Character
Fit to Be Tied
A Vote of Confidence
A Promise Kept
Heart of Gold
Autumn’s Angel,
a novella found in
A Bride for All Seasons
Copyright © 2015 by Robin Lee Hatcher
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.
Thomas Nelson titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected].
Publisher’s Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.
ISBN 978-1-4016-8770-0 (eBook)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hatcher, Robin Lee.
Whenever you come around / Robin Lee Hatcher.
pages ; cm. — (A King’s Meadow romance ; 2)
Summary: “Just when Charity’s wild imagination failed her, a flesh-and-blood hero walked into her life. Best-selling author Charity Anderson returns to her hometown of Kings Meadow to defeat a bad case of writer’s block. She imagines she’ll spend a lonely summer writing and then return to her home in Boise. She soon finds herself caring for Buck Malone, a wilderness guide — and the object of her unrequited teenage crush. But what else can she do? Her dog Cocoa caused the accident that left Buck with a broken ankle and wrist, taking him off the trail for weeks of prime tourist-season work. Buck and Charity have gone different ways since high school, and at first it seems they have little in common. Buck loves the simple, low-key life he’s made for himself in the mountains of Idaho, and she’s a woman accustomed to the faster, bustling pace of the city. But spending so much time together has Buck hoping to change her mind about staying in the small town she thought she’d left behind for good. It’s a summer for discovering that young love is a spark not soon extinguished”— Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-1-4016-8769-4 (softcover)
1. First loves—Fiction. 2. Man-woman relationships—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3558.A73574W475 2015
813’.54—dc23
2014044614
15 16 17 18 19 20 RRD 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Jerry, with love.
Contents
Official Web Site of Kings Meadow, Idaho
O
FFICIAL
W
EB
S
ITE
OF
K
INGS
M
EADOW
, I
DAHO
K
INGS
M
EADOW
WELCOMES YOU
.
Tucked away in the mountains north of Boise, Idaho, Kings Meadow (population 2,893) is rich in history. The first white man to enter this valley was a miner named John Leonard. Having failed to find his fortune panning for gold, he chose to raise cattle, knowing that the men and women pouring into the Boise Basin in search of wealth needed to eat and would want his beef. The year was 1864. The Leonards have continued to ranch in this valley for the past 150+ years, raising beef cattle well into the twentieth century. Now the ranch is renowned for its champion quarter horses.
One of the local legends was a man by the name of Zeb McHenry who also came to Idaho Territory in the early days of the Boise Basin Gold Rush. Little is known about him after he left the area in 1865. However, it was McHenry who introduced this lush, green valley and the cattle raised by John Leonard to the miners in the Boise Basin.
Hikers and horseback riders can still see the remains of McHenry’s cabin and sluice box.
In 1866, the town of Kings Meadow was founded on the south-west end of the valley. Folklore says the name “Kings” was chosen because of an unfinished chess game between John Leonard and Zeb McHenry.
Residents and visitors love the beauty of nature that surrounds the valley during the summer and winter. Pine-covered mountains rise to about 7,000 feet above sea level on all sides. Hot springs abound. The tranquil Gold Queen River winds its way from east to west; after leaving the valley, it merges with the South Fork of the Payette River, famous for its whitewater. Wildlife is abundant.