Romance author Renee Andrews answers 5 questions about Heart of a Rancher (Love Inspired), the story of a country boy with a dream, a city girl who’s not afraid to get her hands dirty, and a secret that could tear them apart.
Q: WHAT WERE YOUR GOALS WRITING HEART OF A RANCHER?
I wanted to let readers know that it’s never too late to find your faith, and that God’s plan is always the right plan. With God, all things are possible.
Q: HOW DO YOU CHOOSE WHICH STORY TO WRITE?
I write the story that is pulling at my heart and that I believe is the story God wants me to share. For Heart of a Rancher, I wanted readers to see how John, a character they’d met in two previous books, put the past behind him and gave control of his future to God. Readers were drawn to John when I first introduced him in Picture Perfect Family as the young man carrying the weight of his family on his shoulders.
Q: WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES FROM THE STORY WHERE YOU DREW ELEMENTS FROM REAL LIFE?
John is a country boy who has been burned by a city girl before and doesn’t want to make the same mistake twice. In real life, I am the country girl who fell in love with a city boy. So even though there was a role reversal there, I knew how the city girl (and quite affluent city girl, at that) felt when she became a fish out of water in tiny Claremont, Alabama.
I’ve also had friends who found their faith after a loved one passed away, which is what happens to Dana in Heart of a Rancher. And thankfully, John was willing to put his past pains aside (eventually) to not only help Dana find her faith but also allow both of them to find love.
Q: WHICH CHARACTER IN HEART OF A RANCHER SURPRISED YOU MOST?
Ryan, Dana’s brother, who started out cynical about helping the cowboy from “nowhere, Alabama,” and in the end supported his sister’s efforts.
Q: WHAT PROJECTS ARE YOU WORKING ON NOW?
I am working on my first Christmas novel, Yuletide Twins, a Love Inspired book that will come out in November. This is my first Christmas story, and I’m excited to share it with my readers. I’m also working on the sequel to Profiled, my inspirational romantic suspense that came out last month.