In The Shadow of Mount Moran by Gayle M. Irwin

We are pleased and excited to have pet and nature lover, Gayle M. Irwin back on the blog this week. She is going to tell us about her new majestic western Wyoming setting for her new Christmas romance, In the Shadow of Mount Moran.

Description of In the Shadow of Mount Moran

Will the grandeur of the Teton Mountain Range and the discovery of a lost dog help two people wary of love open their hearts once more?

Two months after her divorce finalizes, Rachel Baker escapes to the GBarN Ranch and Resort in western Wyoming. A winter vacation of outdoor activities and quality time with her younger sister amid the majestic Teton Mountains is Rachel’s holiday gift to herself. While on a cross-country ski trek, she spies what she thinks is a wolf. She is fascinated and mystified by her discovery. Additional discoveries await her during this holiday vacation.

Nature photographer and outdoor activities coordinator, Nick Fenton, is skeptical of Rachel’s sighting of a wolf. When he and Rachel see the animal a few minutes later, he realizes they’ve found London, a husky lost during a dog-sled training race earlier in the season. Together, they help reunite the dog with his owner. Like Rachel, Nick carries his scars from a previous marriage and is hesitant to let his guard down.

Can Rachel and Nick set aside their hurts as they discover more than a lost dog in the shadow of the glorious Mount Moran?

Inspiration for In the Shadow of Mount Moran

The Teton Mountain Range and Grand Teton National Park beckon visitors to western Wyoming every year during every season. The majestic snow-capped, craggy peaks invite photographers of every skill and call to mountain climbers to tackle treacherous terrain.

Area wildlife, including moose, elk, bison, red-tailed hawks, trumpeter swans, numerous small songbirds, among other species, flit and roam grassy meadows and forests of pine and aspen. This magnificent area is the setting for my upcoming holiday sweet romance book.

 

In the Shadow of Mount Moran began as an epiphany in 2020. Just as the United States began to shut down because of COVID-19 that spring, my husband and I were traveling to the Jackson, Wyoming and Grand Teton areas for an early anniversary trip. I had been thinking about crafting a Christmas story in my Pet Rescue Romance – Yellowstone Country series, and as we traveled the highway over Togowtee Pass (elevation more than 9,000 feet) and begin our descent toward Grand Teton National Park, two great peaks of the Teton Range, Grand Teton and Mount Moran, came into view.

The highway flanked on both sides by pine trees, a canvas-like creation came into view with these two awe-inspiring mountain peaks in the center. Instantly the words “In the Shadow of Mount Moran” popped into my brain. I told my husband, “I have the title for the Christmas book!”

I intended to write and release the story that winter. Now, here we are, three years later, and the book will launch December 5, 2023.

Background for In the Shadow of Mount Moran

Just like mountain climbers experience challenges amid these grand peaks of 10,000 feet in elevation, hurdles and issues set me back from my goal. This year I was able to get back on track, with less challenges. And though the release date moved from November to December, the story will soon be available in both e-book and print versions on several different platforms.

This is the final installment of my Pet Rescue Romance – Yellowstone Country series. That journey began in October 2019 with the release of Rescue Road. Characters from that original book appear toward the end of In the Shadow of Mount Moran, helping bring things full-circle, as they say. A person doesn’t have to have read Rescue Road to read Mount Moran, but as that book was my first romance novel, it holds a special place in my heart. I think you’ll like it.

Setting for this series also holds a special place in my heart. I lived in southwestern Montana, near Yellowstone National Park, for many years. The series is called Yellowstone Country for a reason – all the books are set in either southwestern Montana or western Wyoming, where both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks are located. The scenery, the wildlife, the geysers, the mountains and forests – they all play a role in each story. Gayle told us about this in more detail in her blog from June 2021.

In the pages of In the Shadow of Mount Moran, readers travel to the splendor of the Jackson Hole Valley and Grand Teton National Park in this sweet, later-in-life pet rescue romance book. Check out my website, gaylemirwin.com, or my Amazon Author Page (https://www.amazon.com/author/gayleirwin) after December 5 to purchase a copy.

In the meantime, if you haven’t read my first Christmas book, which features the couple from Rescue Road, you can download that book, titled Paws-ing for Love, for just .99 cents! Use the link to buy from your favorite e-book platform.

Each book in the series features older characters, men and women in their 40s and 50s. I fell in love and married later in life also, so this is a sub-genre with which I feel comfortable writing.

If you’ve not yet visited the Yellowstone Country region of Montana and Wyoming, I hope one day you’ll be able to experience the splendor of the area. As my characters in Mount Moran, Rachel and Nick, discover, you’ll fall in love!

Meet the Fascinating Gayle M. Irwin

Gayle M. Irwin is an award-winning Wyoming author and freelance writer who has been recognized by Wyoming Writers, Inc. and the Wyoming Press Association for several of her works. She is a contributing writer in eight Chicken Soup for the Soul books and the author of the Pet Rescue Romance – Yellowstone Country series, a sweet, later-in-life contemporary romance collection of five, soon to be six, books. She also writes stand-alone romance stories, including Love Takes Flight, set in a beautiful valley of western Montana. A portion of book sales are donated to animal rescue organizations. Learn more about at her website: gaylemirwin.com.

 

 

 

Social Links

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