Spotlight On this week is all about
international bestselling author Rachael Johns.
Rachael Johns. Rural romance, women’s fiction, cowboys and more…
There’s an excerpt to read from Man Drought too. And it’s Man Drought’s third birthday! Congrats, Rachael.
Author Rachael Johns
I’m an English teacher by trade, a mum 24/7, a supermarket owner by day, a chronic arachnophobic, and a writer by night. I rarely sleep. I live in rural Western Australia with my hyperactive husband and three mostly-gorgeous heroes-in-training.
I’ve been writing since I was 17 when I broke up with my first boyfriend (at the time I thought he was The One and was hugely devastated in the fashion of all 17 years olds). For some reason unbeknownst to me, I turned to writing as a form of therapy for my broken heart. It was enlightening to realise that with writing I could create whatever ending I liked. I wrote the story of me and The One and actually ended up killing him off. The writing was therapeutic, the story was cringe-worthy but I had caught the bug.
All Rachael’s books can be read as stand-alone novels.
Rachael’s next rural release is Outback Sisters which is already up for pre-order.
Bunyip Bay.
Frankie and Simone are sisters and best friends. Could a new man in town drive a wedge between them for the first time ever?
Cafe owner Frankie has been unlucky in love all her life. It’s hard in a small town like Bunyip Bay to meet prospective partners. Her sister, Simone, lost the love of her live years before and is now devoted to raising their two teenage girls, leaving little time for romance. When Frankie is kissed by a handsome stranger who calls her Simone, it’s a case of mistaken identity – but who is this man and how does he know Simone?
Logan Knight is in town to meet up with a woman he has met online. Although raised on a farm with his brother Angus, he has travelled the world as a journalist and is now looking forward to meeting a girl and settling down. The girl in the cafe was an amazing kisser – but not the one he thought he was meeting!
Reclusive farmer Angus wants nothing to do with Logan’s plans for improving the property’s finances and finding a partner – until he meets the sisters at a wedding. Who is attracted to whom? More importantly, can Frankie and Simone sort out their feelings for the two brothers without destroying their very close bond?
Outback Sisters is releasing 1 March 2016 in eBook and paperback and is available for pre-order now from good retailers.
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RACHAEL HAS CHOSEN TO SHARE AN EXCERPT FROM
Man Drought
All Rachael’s books can be read as stand-alone novels.
Imogen Bates moved to the small rural town of Gibson’s Find to start a new life for herself after the death of her husband. Tired of being haunted by the painful memories of her old life, Imogen set her last remaining hopes on the little town and, in particular, pouring her heart and savings into restoring The Majestic Hotel to its former glory. But while the female-starved town might be glad to see a young woman move in, not everyone is happy about Imogen’s arrival.
Sheep and crop farmer Gibson Black once dreamed of having the kind of family his grandfather reminisces about, but he’s learnt not to dream anymore. Living in the mostly male town suits Gibson down to the ground…and he won’t have anyone – least of all a hot redhead from the city – change a thing.
Imogen has never been one to back down from a challenge, especially when it concerns her last chance at happiness. She’s determined to rebuild the pub and create a future for the little town. But can she create a future for Gibson and herself, too?
Excerpt from Man Drought by Rachael Johns
She jogged a little further, pleasantly surprised when she came upon a cute little shack with an abundance of colourful flowers. A middle-aged woman stood in the garden, wielding a hose like she barely had any control over the thing. She spied Imogen and waved, hose and all. An icy spray of water fell over Imogen and she jumped back, but not before the front of her top got splashed.
‘I’m so sorry,’ gushed the woman, screwing off the water, dumping the hose on the grass and rushing forward to greet Imogen over a pristinely kept hedge. ‘Can I get you a towel?’
‘No, I’m fine.’ Imogen pulled the rubber band from her ponytail and shook out her hair. This woman was only the third she’d met in town – Cathy being the first and the old woman who seemed to sit permanently behind the counter at the General Store, the second. Granted, she’d barely left the pub, but still, she was beginning to believe the rumours that Gibson’s Find was suffering a veritable drought of females. ‘No harm done.’
‘I’m Karen Davies,’ the woman announced as Imogen re-scooped her hair into a ponytail. ‘I’m so sorry we haven’t met yet, but I work for you. Great way to meet your boss, isn’t it?’
‘Karen, pleased to meet you.’ Imogen grinned at the warmth and embarrassment in the older woman’s voice. It went perfectly hand in hand with her appearance. She was round but not obese – her mother would say ‘cuddly’. Karen’s hair was cropped short around her chin in a practical style and streaked with grey as if she were happy to age gracefully. ‘Don’t worry about the water. I was hot anyway. How are you feeling?’
Karen had been sick with tonsillitis and therefore hadn’t been around yesterday or the day Imogen had arrived, so this was the first time they’d met.
‘Much better,’ Karen replied with a nod. ‘I’m desperate to get back to work, but the doc says I need another couple of days rest. Don’t tell her you saw me exerting myself.’
Imogen laughed. ‘I won’t. But don’t overdo it. We’ll chat when you’re completely better.’
With a quick wave, Imogen resumed jogging down the street. If she kept getting stopped by friendly locals she wasn’t going to work up much of a sweat at all.
The next few houses were nothing to write home about, in fact some of them looked unoccupied. She was running, lost in her own thoughts and not looking out for traffic when a dirt-covered ute reversed rather quickly out of the driveway in front of her.
She jumped back and grabbed onto a nearby letterbox to stop herself from falling. The ute stopped. A curse sounded inside, and then a dark-haired head popped out the driver’s side window.
Her tummy flipped in a traitorous manner. Gibson Black. Just her luck.
‘You should be careful how you’re driving,’ she said, before she could think better of it.
He raised his eyebrows, amusement dancing at the corners of his illegally luscious lips as recognition dawned in his eyes. ‘And you should be more traffic-conscious when you’re running.’
She folded her arms across her chest, noticing it was heaving and that he wasn’t being surreptitious about looking. Soaked through from Karen’s hose, her white top was now no doubt see-through. Her black running shorts felt ridiculously short and tight and the neck of the water bottle dug into her side, but she refused to look perturbed. ‘You’re the first bit of traffic I’ve seen all morning. And anyway, this here’s the footpath.’
He shrugged slowly as if he really didn’t have the time or inclination to debate with her. ‘Maybe you’re right, but you’re the first jogger I’ve seen in town in about…’ He paused as if thinking this through. ‘In forever. You took me by surprise.’
She bit her lip, thinking this was about the closest to an apology she was ever going to get from him.
‘What are you doing here anyway?’ She looked past him to the dull-grey fibro house – neater than many of the other houses in the street, but still with not much of a garden.
Immediately she wished she hadn’t asked. What right did she have to give him the third degree? Maybe he’d stayed over at his girlfriend’s house. There weren’t many women in town but she’d bet money on the fact that if he wanted every one of those few, he’d have them. She tried to ignore the ridiculous resentment that thought invoked. Softening her voice, she added, ‘I thought you lived on the family farm.’
He smiled. Well, it was more of a smirk, but his lips definitely lifted. And if his scowl was scandalously sexy, his smile was lethal. Its effects ricocheted right down to her toenails.
‘Have you been making enquiries about me?’ he asked in a tone that said he was good-looking and knew it.
Man Drought is available in eBook and paperback from all good retailers.
BUY NOW
Booktopia
Amazon Australia
iBooks
Kobo
Read more about Rachael and her many bestselling books on MEET RACHAEL JOHNS
Discover all Rachael’s books (including the cowboys) on her webpage RachaelJohns.com
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Follow Rachael on Twitter @Rachaeljohns
Rachael also writes women’s fiction, with The Patterson Girls being her first and another women’s fiction novel just about finished, or so a little bird tells us.
For those who haven’t read it yet, Rachael assures us there’s plenty of rural living and romance going on in The Patterson Girls, so it looks like it’s a must read even for die-hard rural fiction readers.
“How can four sisters build the futures they so desperately want, when the past is reaching out to claim them?”
Read more and discover where to buy on RachaelJohns.com