BJ
Daniels: Interview & Reviews of The Clementine
Sisters Series by Elise Cooper
(Hard Rustler #1; Gunslinger #2;
Rugged Defender #3)
Rogue
Gunslinger and
Rugged
Defender, the second and third books
of the Clementine Sisters series by B. J. Daniels
blends a great plot, setting, and characters.
People cannot imagine how this author can improve,
but each book in this series keeps getting better.
In Rogue Gunslinger, T.J. Clementine
is a mystery author that is being stalked. Receiving
mail from one particular fan escalates into threats
because she is not following their writing advice.
Hoping to escape from possible danger she travels
to her childhood home to be with her other two
sisters in Whitehorse Montana. Coincidentally
she again meets in Montana, the man, Silas Walker,
who either saved her or pushed her into an on-coming
truck while in New York City Deciding to investigate
Silas, she realizes he protected her, and that
as a former policeman he can help her find the
culprit. This loner and mountain man becomes not
only her savior, but they form a bond while trying
to keep each other safe.
For Daniels, T. J. is most like her. “There
is some of us in our characters even if we do
not like to believe it. In Rogue Gunslinger,
I got into what it is like to be a writer, including
all the demands. I have often told my agent I
just want to write books but was told that is
not possible. TJ and myself are not fond of social
media. I have said, ‘the day I quit it will
be because of social media.’ If someone
reads a book and likes it that is when readers
go looking for the author. In high school, I was
a day dreamer as she is. Sometimes the story feels
real to life for me. For example, I moved things
around in a town to represent how I saw it. When
I visit there, some things seem out of place.
TJ and I had writing choose us with our characters
taking on a life of their own.”
AMAZON
3 in 1: Hard Rustler\Rogue
Gunslinger\Rugged Defender
Harlequin
Sept/Oct 2018
Romantic
Suspense - Western
9781335526649
|
The
next book of the series, Rugged Defender,
focuses on the third sister, Chloe. She lost her
job as an investigative reporter. Now in Montana
for the holidays she decides that sitting around
is not for her. Realizing that a high school classmate,
Justin Calhoun, left in disgrace with many unanswered
questions about his brother’s death, she
searches out the truth. Chloe and Justin decide
to team up to find out what happened to his brother,
having their lives threatened in the process.
“I love writing about Montana. I live in
the prairie and just as with the town of Whitehorse
you can see the Little Rockies in the distance.
I weave in the real life of the small town. We
don’t even have stop lights and the nearest
Target is three hours away. People love to dance
and often go to bars to do it. It is also true
that guys wear jeans almost any place including
weddings, funerals, and churches. I once wrote
‘a guy wearing a suit is either an undertaker
or a lawyer.’ I describe in the books as
I see Montana with ‘the wild prairie, the
endless sky, the wide-open places… The peace
and quiet. Not one siren to be heard. No traffic.
No honking taxis. No loud music from the apartment
next door.’”
As a recap, the first book in the story, Hard
Rustler, begins with a city gal, Annabelle
(Annie) Clementine, traveling back to her home
town of Whitehorse Montana. After high school,
she decided to escape the monotony to become a
famous model, leaving her love interest, Dawson,
behind. Now, thirteen years later, she is back
to sell her late grandmother’s house and
to get out of town as soon as possible. Confronted
by someone who wants to find something in that
house she realizes her life is in danger. Annie
and Dawson must sort out the mystery and determine
what her grandmother was hiding.
Daniels
noted, “I understand how Annabelle wants
to do something with her life, a desire to succeed.
This happens a lot with Montana children who leave
to get a job but often come home to raise their
children. In this story, she comes home with her
tail between her legs. I think at the beginning
of the story she is a snob, arrogant, and determined.
Later those qualities come out as spunky, strong,
and a risk-taker.”
These
books are about estranged sisters coming to terms
with the past and making amends. It’s a
love story and a mystery, with a lot of suspense.
Each sister in their own way are strong independent
women who know themselves and end up knowing what
they want out of life. |
AMAZON
Harlequin
Intrigue
August 21, 2018/ ISBN 1335526587
Romantic Suspense - Western
|
Whitehorse,
Montana: The Clementine Sisters # 1
Reviewed
by Elise Cooper
Hard
Rustler by bestselling author B. J. Daniels
brings to life the Montana countryside in her
latest novel. Readers will enjoy the characters,
setting, and mystery. The plot is a modern-day
version of past Westerns.
The setting is very important, and Daniels based
it when “I moved to Montana from Texas at
the age of five. I write what I see and know about.
The Western way of life is all I have ever known.
It is a much simpler way of life. We now live
in a small town where most people are rancher
cowboys. As in the story, it is isolated, with
the closest Target Store three hours away. Someone
can be driving either sixty miles south or north
and they will not see anybody all day. In the
book, there is a scene like that where Annabelle
had run out of gas, and she feels completely alone
and secluded. This is all true to life. I always
have food and a blanket in the car in case it
breaks down because cell phones do not work here.”
The story begins with a city gal, Annabelle (Annie)
Clementine, traveling back to her home town of
Whitehorse Montana. After high school, she decided
to escape the monotony to become a famous model,
leaving her love interest behind. Now, thirteen
years later, she is back to sell her late grandmother’s
house and to get out of town as soon as possible.
The one problem, she is destitute with no money
and seems to depend on her ex-boyfriend, Dawson
Rogers, to rescue her. He helps by bailing her
out, so her car is not repossessed, siphoning
off the gas, and saving her life. It seems someone
wants to find something in her grandmother’s
house that has been hidden for years and is willing
to kill for an answer. Annie and Dawson must sort
out the mystery and determine what her grandmother
was hiding.
Daniels wrote Annabelle as “someone who
wants to do something with her life, a desire
to succeed. This happens a lot with Montana children
who leave to get a job but often come home to
raise their children. In this story, she comes
home with her tail between her legs. I think at
the beginning of the story she is a snob, arrogant,
and determined. Later those qualities come out
as spunky, strong, and a risk-taker. She and Dawson
at first appear to be opposites. She has a driving
ambition, and he is satisfied with the simpler
things in life. After being high school lovers,
he knew he had to let her go and sensed she had
this restless streak. This is why he did not fight
more for her to stay. When she came back, she
started to realize what was important in life.
She had sowed her oats.”
As with most westerns boy meets girl, boy loses
the girl, and the boy gets the girl. This novel
has that and more, inputting modern day issues
into a suspenseful mystery. |