#author JAN SIKES SADDLED HEARTS #newRelease

Peggy Jaeger

Nov 29

You all know I love when my author friends come to visit and bring me their latest work. While Jan Sikes and I have never met, we are very good email and social media buddies! Today she is visiting me and talking about her newest release SADDLED HEARTS which is garnering fantastic reviews from readers everywhere. Let me have her tell you a little about it...

Jan....

Thank you, Peggy, for reaching out to me about a guest blog post for my newest book release, Saddled Hearts! I am honored to be visiting!

While the book is no longer on tour, there were still some parts of the story I had wanted to feature but ran out of time, so I'm going to share one of those here with your followers.

While doing my research for this book, I visited The Gold Horse Ranch. The owners shared a story with me about a colt born on the ranch. The mother died giving birth, and they had to pair the colt with an adopted mother. It was a process to find the right mare who would accept the baby as her own. On the Gold Horse Ranch, they named the baby Magic, and she has a star on her forehead. They said all the other horses gathered around the stall to witness the birth. I was so taken by the story I had to include at least something similar in Saddled Hearts.

Here is the excerpt:

Colt rambled on about the horses while he drove. Genuine caring came through his words. "Lightning is a horse I've had since I was a boy. He was born right here on this ranch, and it was a magical experience."

"Magical?" Sage glanced in his direction.

"His mother died giving birth. I was there with my grandfather that night, and I swear to you, a light shone down inside the stall. I know it sounds corny, but like the pictures you see of baby Jesus and the Star of Bethlehem."

The description made the hairs stand up on Sage's arms. "That's amazing! What do you do when a mom can't feed her baby?"

"We have to pair the colt with another mare. We had to bottle-feed Lightning for a while. It took a few tries, but a mare finally adopted him and raised him. Now he's getting up in years. The average lifespan of a horse, if it's well-cared for, is twenty-five to thirty years. Lightning is sixteen."

"How did he get his name?"

"You'll see when you meet him. He has a mark on his forehead that looks like a lightning bolt, and he could run like the wind. Still can when he wants to. His mother was a Thoroughbred, and his sire a Quarter Horse. That's a great combination. I won many a race on his back."

***

I'll always treasure the day I spent on The Gold Horse Ranch soaking up the way of life and all the stories. I shared some versions of several of them in my book. I'd love to hear from you. Have you ever been around animals that had to be adopted by another to survive? Let's talk!

BLURB:

Colt Layne owns the Layne Horse Sanctuary. He lives an idyllic life between caring for the animals and playing music with his band. That is until a stranger appears with unreasonable demands. When someone murders the man, Colt is arrested. He's been framed, but by whom and why?

He needs to talk with his deceased grandfather. But that's impossible. Or is it?

Sage Coventry is gifted with the ability to communicate with the deceased. Skeptical but desperate, when Colt consults with her, he gets more than messages from beyond the grave as she breezes into his heart with sweet patchouli fragrance and tempting lips he longs to kiss.

The race against time to clear his name and save the ranch launches them on a mission that brings shocking revelations.

UNIVERSAL PURCHASE LINK: https://linktr.ee/Rijanjks

BOOK TRAILER: https://youtu.be/_MQ9fYH5PrI