Article and Interview by Elise Cooper
Her Favorite Wyoming Sheriff by Cari Lynn Webb is the fourth book in a five-novel compilation. Each month there will be a review of the next book in the series. In August there was a review of Wyoming Promise by Anna J. Stewart, In September, there was a review of A Wyoming Secret Proposal by Amy Vastine, October had Wyoming Rodeo Rescue by Carol Ross, and in December Melinda Curtis wraps everything up with Wyoming Christmas Reunion. In this series the authors take readers from Montana to Wyoming with another branch of the Blackwell family.
The first series had the Blackwell’s brothers, the second had the Blackwell’s sisters, and this third series has the Blackwell’s of Eagle Springs, adding to the family tree. Elias Blackwell, known as Big E, is back in Montana. His grandchildren were the focus of the first two series. The first was with his five grandsons, and the second was with five granddaughters. This third series has the setting of Wyoming and centers on Elias’s sisters’ grandchildren, three boys and two girls. Each of the series, including this one, has a plot thread that goes through all five books. There is always one big plot-hole, an unanswered question or two, that will continue with the next book. Everything gets wrapped up in book five, resolving all loose ends.
This novel features Adele Blackwell Kane who is constantly arrested by Sheriff Grady McMillan for violating city ordinances. He seems to want to get her attention by doing things that will annoy her. Adele is a widowed mom of Twin Toddler Girls who is just trying to prove that she can hold her own. She is kind, smart, and has a positive attitude toward everyone. She was like a ray of sunshine.
Grady is anxious for his 6-month commitment to being Sheriff to come to end so he can move out of Wyoming once and for all. He agreed to a temporary position when his father called him to offer the position, even though he no longer lived in Eagle Springs, to honor his mom. The Sheriff appears to be hard and stubborn. He and Adele are continually thrown together because it’s his job to arrest her even if the charges are bogus. Grady feels like Adele is his biggest task and he must work hard to keep her in line. Yet, the more they’re thrown together, the more they begin to have feelings for each other.
This is an uplifting story whose theme is overcoming one’s past. They must overcome their heartbreak from previous marriages. The story was funny, engaging, and sweet with fantastic characters.
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?
Cari Lynn Webb: When we met the five authors would say they want to write about a specific event. This got my mind working. I love to write about First Responders and Sheriffs. As we were dividing up the Blackwell siblings I ended up with Adele and thought about making her a widow. I also love to feed Christmas into the story.
EC: How would you describe Adele?
CLW: She is spunky, spirited, and kind. She does everything for everyone else, putting them before herself. She is a mom of two toddler twin girls and always puts them first, and then her family. She is a genuinely nice person who is optimistic.
EC: How would you describe Grady?
CLW: He is reserved, guarded, and cynical. Through Adele he finds a softer side of himself. He is serious, stubborn, lonely, and resilient. He came through some hard times. Because he was hurt, he became an introvert.
EC: The relationship in the beginning reminded me of two little children-when the boy pushes the girl?
CLW: Yes. He keeps arresting Adele to get her attention. These two people really do not have time for each other but cannot stop thinking of the other that includes annoyance. They feel they want to get on with their life and the distraction annoys them. Both Adele and Grady are frustrated and irritated with each other but are also in awe and fascinated. In every relationship it is not happy-happy, joy-joy each time. They are protective of each other, but they both have stubborn pride.
EC: In the beginning of the book, you talk about your family influences regarding relationships?
CLW: I have been married twenty-two years and we have been known to annoy each other or poke each other just to do it. The love is still there. My grandparents were married seventy plus years and my parents are closing in sixty plus. From my grandparents I learned what true love looks like and from my parents what true love looks like with a lot of hard work, the ups/downs, and highs/lows. It sneaks into every story I write.
EC: Both had a bad marriage?
CLW: With Adele’s late husband Brent everyone thought he was a great guy, and they had a great marriage. But, he abandoned her, did not care about her feelings, and used her for the family name and contacts. Grady’s marriage was based on opportunity, and he went into it with his eyes closed. People post these huge poems on Facebook to their loved ones, yet there is a whole history inside the house even when outside the house it looks phenomenal. I love exploring this. The first time around they did not have quite their best loved stories, which shaped how they approached relationships going forward.
EC: What can you tell us about your next book?
CLW: It will be released in June, titled Falling for the Cowboy Doc. It is the fourth book in the Three Springs, Texas, series. There are four brothers. The heroine is a professional roper, and the hero is an orthopedic doctor.
EC: THANK YOU!!
