Painted Pony Books would like to announce the release of the first book in an exciting new young adult series by James J. Griffin, Lone Star Ranger: A Ranger to Ride With.
Nathaniel Stewart’s life changes in the blink of an eye when his family is murdered by a band of marauding raiders. They’ve made one terrible mistake…they didn’t finish the job. Fourteen-year-old Nathaniel is very much alive and ready to exact the justice his mother, father, and older brother deserve.
Taken in by a company of Texas Rangers, he begins to learn what it means to survive in the rugged wilds of Texas. Each of the Rangers have something to teach Nate, as they come to call him, and he’s a fast learner. When some of the same raiders later return, Nate proves his mettle when he saves the Rangers from being ambushed and wiped out.
A RANGER TO RIDE WITH is the first story in the new western series, LONE STAR RANGER. Look for A RANGER TO RECKON WITH, coming soon!
Excerpt:
Nathaniel Stewart
had just left his house and was walking down Linden Street in his hometown of
Wilmington, Delaware. In a few moments, he’d arrive at his best friend Hugh
Dickinson’s home. He and Hugh would meet up with a few other friends, then
either head to the river for a swim, or more likely just laze around in one of
the boys’ back yards.
The day was
pleasant for late July, the air warm with a gentle breeze blowing, not hot and
sticky as it usually was this time of year. Nathaniel whistled as he walked
along the tree lined street, fronted with its rows of neat brick houses with
their well-kept yards and flower boxes filled with colorful blooms on the
windowsills. He was fourteen years old, with unruly brown hair and eyes of the
same hue. He’d recently grown a couple of inches, so had the typical thin build
of most teenaged boys. He’d also recently realized that girls were beginning to
interest him, and that when he walked by some of them smiled at him, then
giggled for some reason. Truth be told, he had no idea why he was out of
the blue interested in girls. All he knew was that the scrawny, dumb, silly
females who’d always made pests of themselves were suddenly pretty and
attractive. And one of the prettiest was Becky Palmer, with her pert turned up
nose, blonde hair, and blue eyes the color of forget-me-nots. For some reason
he felt he’d like to sit next to her on the front porch swing. He’d never admit
that to Hugh or any of the other guys, though.
Nathaniel
meandered along, not being in any particular hurry. Unexpectedly, Becky
appeared at the end of the block. When she spotted Nathaniel, she waved to him
and called his name.
“Nathaniel!
Nathaniel Stewart!”
Nathaniel raised
a hand to wave in response.
“Nathaniel! Get
back to hoeing, right this minute. Those weeds aren’t going to pull themselves
out of the ground!”
Nathaniel was
roused from his daydream by the shouting of his mother, who stood in the door
of the three-room dogtrot cabin the Stewart family now occupied. The voice he’d
heard calling was not Becky’s, but his ma’s.
“Do you hear me,
Nathaniel?”
“Yes, Ma.”
Nathaniel sighed and lifted the hoe he’d been leaning against. He again began
chopping at the tough weeds between the rows of turnips. He and his family no
longer lived in their former pleasant neighborhood in Wilmington, but now on a
small ranch several miles west of San Saba, Texas.
Congratulations on the new release and good luck. It does sound like an interesting read. Doris
ReplyDeleteThis sounds wonderful! Darn, I think I just might have to add it to my kindle...
ReplyDeleteGAH! Jim, you're tryin' to kill my Kindle, ain'tcha? :-D
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the new release! While she was editing, Cheryl told me about this book, saying it's one of your best stories ever. Can't wait to read it.
HUGS!!!!
I really did enjoy this story and I'm so glad it's just the first of many more to come in this series! Y'all really need to get it and read it. The next one will be out in July. It's a terrific story.
ReplyDeleteCheryl
I can't wait to read this! Congrats, Jim, on such an exciting new series.
ReplyDeleteThanks all of you. Volume 2, A Ranger to Reckon With, is already started. Look for that one come July.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Jim. This looks like a wonderful and exciting story. I take it you're going to write a series?
ReplyDeleteAll the best to you.
We need good YA western fiction! Congratulations :-) As a retired secondary English and history teacher, I loved reading (and now writing) YA fiction....
ReplyDeleteIt's refreshing to have YA westerns hitting the market. It's a sorely under-represented genre. Back in my English and history teaching days, I had several students who would have gobbled your stories up.
ReplyDelete