Langston’s Daughters by Juliette Harper
Kate, Jenny, and Mandy. Langston Lockwood’s daughters. His tyranny drove them away. His suicide draws them home. They inherit his land, his millions, and his mysteries. Meet the women of the Rocking L and the men who come into their lives. Together, they begin the journey to discover the truth about The Lockwood Legacy. From…
Kate, Jenny, and Mandy. Langston Lockwood’s daughters. His tyranny drove them away. His suicide draws them home. They inherit his land, his millions, and his mysteries. Meet the women of the Rocking L and the men who come into their lives. Together, they begin the journey to discover the truth about The Lockwood Legacy. From the pain of the past they find the strength to build a dynasty.
” Compelling and engaging debut romance novel.”
Five Star Review on Amazon By Melissa A. Bartell
This novel is not only the debut novel from a writing partnership I’m sure will go on to great success, it is the first in a series about Langston Lockwood (now deceased) and his three grown daughters, Kate, Jenny, and Mandy. It’s a romance. It’s also kind of/sort of a western, in that it takes place on a ranch in Texas. Neither of those is my favorite genre, but even if half of the writing partnership that makes up “Juliette Harper” wasn’t one of my oldest blog-buddies, I would say the same thing about this book: It’s a great, fast read full of engaging characters and situations that carry the essence of truth.
What a particularly liked was that each of the three women at the center of this novel were distinct characters with their own habits, preferences, personalities, and voices, but that they still `felt’ like people who had shared common experiences and had grown up together, as sisters should. Author Harper also excelled at finding, and relating, the human moments that happen in all families – the way bickering can lead to either laughter or tears, and the way people who disagree with each other can still love one another.
Of course, no romance is complete without hunky guys, and this novel manages to make them (I liked Josh Baxter especially) seem as real and dimensional as the three central characters, and the same is true for all of the supporting characters, and even the community in which the ranch exists. As well, Langston himself, despite having committed an off-camera suicide before the novel even opens, is a very real character, and his presence, while not physical, still looms large throughout the story.
When Mandy is in town noticing the number of empty storefronts, it resonated with me, and likely will with most aware readers, because small towns are facing that all over the U.S., and especially those in parts of the country where farming and ranching remain significant ways of life, as well as crucial parts of the economy. That scene is just one of the many ways Langston’s Daughters has been imbued with levels of depth and realism not found in typical romance novels.
If you want a book that has romance and intrigue without the cookie-cutter heroines and twinkling-blue-eyes heroes that could easily be stock characters, you need to read Langston’s Daughters. If you love books featuring smart, strong women who appreciate and are appreciated by smart, strong men, you need to read this novel. If you like the idea of waking up at six in the morning to ride a horse up to a ridge, this novel is for you.
About the Author
Juliette Harper is the pen name used by the writing team of Patricia Pauletti and Rana K. Williamson. As a writer, Juliette’s goal is to create strong female characters facing interesting, challenging, painful, and at times comical situations. Refusing to be bound by genre, her primary interest lies in telling good stories.
Five of Juliette’s series are currently available. The best-selling Lockwood Legacy, is a nine-book chronicle of the lives of three sisters who inherit a ranch in Central Texas following their father’s suicide. The first five novels appeared in early 2015: Langston’s Daughters, Baxter’s Draw, Alice’s Portrait, Mandy’s Father, and Irene’s Gift. The sixth, Jenny’s Choice, will be available in Fall 2015.
Descendants of the Rose is the first installment of the Selby Jensen Paranormal Mysteries. The second book, Lost in Room 636, will be available later this year. Selby’s business card reads “Private Investigator,” but to say the least, that downplays her real occupation where business as usual is anything but normal.
And don’t miss the hilariously funny “cozy” Study Club Mysteries, a light-hearted spin off of The Lockwood Legacy. Set in the 1960s, this series takes on the often absurd eccentricities of small town life with good-natured, droll humor. The first book, You Can’t Get Blood Out of Shag Carpet, is already listed in the Amazon store with You Can’t Put a Corpse in a Parade coming soon.
Juliette’s latest creative efforts are in the short fiction arena. Her debut “Before” series is a collection of light, sweet romance stories that can be read in less than an hour. The first installment is Before Marriage with the second, Before the Affair, to be released shortly.
Fermata: The Winter is the first in a four-novella post-apocalyptic survival series. Five years after an unknown virus divided the world into the living and the dead, four survivors stumble into a winter sanctuary. Brought together by circumstance, but bound by the will to stay alive, a concert pianist and a girl from South Boston forge a friendship and a purpose to cope with their new reality.
Juliette is planning other short stories and novellas in the coming weeks and months. These pieces are available for Kindle only and will include companion shorts to her other series as well as stand-alone works.
Pauletti, an Easterner of Italian descent, is an accomplished musician with an eye for art and design. Williamson, a Texan, worked as a journalist and university history instructor before becoming a full-time freelance writer in 2002.