Darby: Ghost Mountain Ranch by Jan Scarbrough is a Western Fiction/Romance Bookish Event pick #westernromance #romanticmystery #romance #mustread #giveaway
- N. N. Light
- 5 hours ago
- 4 min read
Title: Darby: Ghost Mountain Ranch
Author: Jan Scarbrough
Genre: Romantic Mystery
Book Blurb:
A secret-filled past. A Montana ranch haunted by old memories. A second chance at the love she abandoned.
Thirty years ago, Darby York fled her family’s Montana ranch—haunted by a mother’s tragic death and her own lingering guilt. She built a new life in Kentucky with horses, art, and eventually marriage and children, all while avoiding the secrets she left behind.
Now widowed and worried about her ailing father, Darby returns to the place she once called home. But revisiting Ghost Mountain Ranch means facing Hank Slade—the rugged wrangler she once abandoned. Can they reclaim the second-chance romance they lost, or will untold truths shatter them once again?
When old grief resurfaces and shocking revelations come to light, Darby must decide: will she run from her past like her mother did, or finally stand her ground for the love she’s always deserved?
Don’t miss this emotional Western romance full of family secrets, rekindled passion, and the undeniable power of coming home. Find out if Hank and Darby can overcome the shadows of yesterday in Darby: Ghost Mountain Ranch – Book 2
Excerpt:
Hank Slade placed the receiver back on the cradle, hauled a lung full of air, and faced Leo’s I-can-take-it expression. “She won’t come.”
“I didn’t think she’d come.” Leo’s voice was flat. His old, rheumy eyes followed Hank across the office floor.
Hank sank into his desk chair. His shoulders slumped. “She said she was busy.”
“But you sure did shame her good.”
Hank tilted back in his chair. “Tried to.”
“Well.” Leo pushed himself out of the armchair across from Hank’s desk. “I thank you for doing what you could do.”
“For as much good as it did.” Hank rummaged through the stack of papers on his desktop shifting an invoice into another pile on the right. When he came on at the Ghost Mountain Ranch back in January, he hadn’t realized the extent of Leo’s estrangement from his only child Darby. “Thirty years is a long time to hold a grudge.”
Leo hefted on a Carhartt coat over his down vest and picked up his cowboy hat from a side table. “Girl ran away, and she’s just not coming home.”
Hank’s gut snarled into a knot like the one he’d felt that Friday night when he and Darby were eighteen. He’d been worried then about the first kiss he wanted. Now he worried about the man he’d known most of his life. Leo was no longer the energetic cowboy he remembered. Bad heart, plus a fall from a horse had taken its toll on the eighty-five-year-old. “I hope I didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“Nope.” The old man grasped the office doorknob with a gnarled hand. “Her mother dying like she did caused Darby to leave.”
“But why would she leave you?”
“She had her reasons.”
His answer made no sense, but that was all the taciturn man would give. Leo set his cowboy hat on his head, opened the office door, and stepped out onto the porch.
Montana cold blew into the cabin, and Hank felt the chill more keenly than normal. It seeped inside him, turning the concern he felt into an icy shard in his stomach. Hank tapped a finger on the desk. He’d left the ranch at eighteen, after he and Darby had broken up, and he’d never been back. But if his dad had been alive and he knew he might be dying, he’d have come home straight away.
“Damn, Darby, this isn’t right.”
He stood, snatched up the phone, and dialed the office number back in Kentucky where a woman who said she was Darby’s daughter might answer again.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
Audible: https://amzn.to/3EqVQOX
What makes your featured book a must-read?
This is the first book of a family saga trilogy that answers the question about the death of Darby’s mother. Darby returns home to the Montana dude ranch because of her father’s failing health and rekindles her love with Hank, an old flame. If you like second chance, later in life stories, this book is for you.
Giveaway –
Enter to win a $10 Amazon gift card:
Open Internationally.
Runs April 22 – April 28, 2025.
Winner will be drawn on April 29, 2025.
Author Biography:
The author of two popular Bluegrass romance series, Jan Scarbrough writes heartwarming contemporary stories about home and family, single moms, and children. Living in the horse country of Kentucky makes it easy for Jan to add small town, Southern charm to her books and the excitement of a Bluegrass horse race or a competitive horse show.
Jan leaves her contemporary voice behind with two paranormal gothic romances, Timeless and Tangled Memories, a Romance Writers of America (RWA) Golden Heart finalist. Her historical romance, My Lord Raven, is a medieval story of honor and betrayal.
A member of Novelist, Inc., Jan self-publishes her books. She lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with two rescued dogs and two rescued cats.
Social Media Links:
Website: https://janscarbrough.com/
Monthly Newsletter and complementary eBook: https://janscarbrough.com/contact/
