Cathy Gillen Thacker's Blog
September 9, 2025
A Cowboy's Christmas Gift
Dear Reader,
I have often wondered what makes people happy at Christmas. For a young woman, it might be a proposal and a diamond ring. For a young man, a fancy new vehicle. For a newly married couple, the news that their first baby is on the way. But for parents of young kids, I think it is simply that their children have a merry Christmas holiday, full of love, and free from strife.
This is exactly what Alex McCabe has planned for his quadruplet kindergarten-age sons. They want a Shetland pony for their ranch? He has his eye on one. They love bugs? He knows about a fancy new insect catcher that will allow them to observe to their hearts’ content, and then set the insect free. The one thing they really need, however, is a mom to love and care for them. That is a little harder to arrange.
Until… Kate Taylor, shows up on his ranch. They haven’t seen each other since they worked together at a shelter during Hurricane Inga, eight years before. The fast friendship and fierce attraction they felt then went nowhere because both were pledged to others, and did not even learn each other’s last names. Now, she magically appears for a chef gig on his ranch. They quickly find out their chemistry is stronger than ever. His boys adore her, too and want her to be their bonus mom.
Can she marry without romantic love? Kate hadn’t thought so. Now that she is happier than ever, she wonders. Are hope and faith, love and giving enough to build a marriage—and happy family--on? Only time will tell.
I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I loved writing it! Have a wonderful holiday season!
Merry Christmas to all!
Cathy Gillen Thacker
Read an EXCERPT of A COWBOY'S CHRISTMAS GIFT and check out the other books in the MARRYING A MCCABE series.
For more information on my other books, please visit the Series Guide and Book List.
May 6, 2025
Stand-In Texas Dad
Dear Reader,
When my husband and I met for the first time we felt an instant connection. Right away, there was an ability to make each other laugh, an inability to stop looking into each other’s eyes, and an immediate, innate understanding of each other. And of course, lots and lots of chemistry… ?
Cardiologist Claire Lowell thought she had all that with her ex. Until the day he left. Now, a single mom of adorable triplets, her life revolves around work and family, and that is it.
Pediatrician Zach McCabe always thought he would have it all, an enviable career, a woman to love, and kids. Until he lost his fiancé in a tragic accident. These days, he focuses on work, and helping others. Marriage and kids are no longer in his plans.
And that is why for the first year that Claire and Zach work at the same hospital, they steer clear of each other as much as possible. It’s not that they don’t like each other. Or want to get to know each other. But because they sense that doing so would bring complications to their lives neither want.
Until a five-year-old patient with a mysterious heart malady brings them together. As they unite to diagnose the little girl’s ailment, Claire and Zach are stunned to find themselves in personal crisis as well. Suddenly the two of them are helping each other out, at home, as well as work. Claire’s kids adore Zach, and he them, and for the first time, Claire and Zach see what it would be like to be in love, and share a family they love, too. The question is, can either of them trust their relationship to last?
I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Best wishes,
Cathy Gillen Thacker
Read an EXCERPT of STAND-IN TEXAS DAD and check out the other books in the MARRYING A MCCABE series.
For more information on my other books, please visit the Series Guide and Book List.
September 17, 2024
A Double Christmas Surprise
Dear Reader,
We all make deals with those we love. For instance, when my husband and I were first married, we made a pact to alternate nights cooking dinner. Whoever cooked did not have to clean up. That worked great until careers became demanding and we had kids. Then we had to come up with a new plan—one that was flexible enough to accommodate our busy lives. And more importantly…always meet the needs of our kids and honor our lasting commitment to each other.
Ellie Fitzgerald and Joe McCabe have also made a deal that has lasted well over a dozen years. After their botched elopement, at age 18, they knew certain things. They would always love each other. They still wanted to be together whenever possible, as intimately as possible. But for them, marriage was not really necessary. Especially when they could have all the benefits of a lasting relationship, without all the hassle of a legal union.
Ellie and Joe love having their freedom. She has her satisfying life in their hometown of Laramie, Texas, and is now the new owner manager of her family’s generations old Sugar Love bakery. Joe is a Special Forces soldier, who serves wherever in the world his missions take him. They see each other as frequently as they can. Doesn’t matter whether it is December or July. It feels like Christmas every time. They tell each other it is enough.
Until…a surprise happens. One that forces them to consider the fact that their current arrangement will no longer work. Neither wants to renege on their long-lasting deal. They also know their life is changing. And there are many more ‘Christmases’ ahead. Can they make a new pact with each other that will be just as satisfying? Without ruining everything? Only time will tell.
I hope you have a very merry holiday season and enjoy reading this book…the first of a brand new McCabe series.
Best wishes!
Cathy Gillen Thacker
Read an EXCERPT of A Double Christmas Surprise and check out the other books in the MARRYING A MCCABE series.
For more information on my other books, please visit the Series Guide and Book List.
October 6, 2023
A Temporary Texas Arrangement
Dear Reader,
During our marriage my husband and I have moved cross country four times, and locally five. What do I hate about it? Packing and unpacking. What do I love? The excitement of finding a new place to live, and the joy of making it ours.
Veterinarian Tess Gardner is moving to Laramie, Texas, the place where her family is rooted. She has an exciting new job. And she’s inherited a house that is a bit more than what she expected.
Enter CEO Noah Lockhart. He has also moved back to Laramie, in the wake of his wife’s death several years before, to be near his family. Life for him and his girls is finally settling down and getting back to normal. Or it will, he is certain, once the latest member of the ranch menagerie is born.
All Noah wants from Tess is help getting through the birth, and the first week or two of their new pet’s life. In exchange, he will give her a private guest suite and a place to live, rent free, while her house is renovated.
He doesn’t expect to get close to her. She doesn’t expect to fall for him. But you know what they say about ‘love’—it’s what happens when you are busy making other plans.
I hope you enjoy this last book in the Lockharts Lost And Found series. Join me on Facebook.
And thanks for reading! You, dear readers, are what make all the hard work, creating every fictional family and their stories, worthwhile!
Cathy Gillen Thacker
Read an EXCERPT of A Temporary Texas Arrangement and check out the other books in the LOCKHARTS LOST & FOUND series.
For more information on other books set in Laramie, Texas, please visit the Series Guide and Book List.
November 9, 2022
Their Texas Christmas Match
Dear Reader,
Christmas is the season of unexpected miracles. Gift giving and receiving. Making impossible wishes and having them magically come true. And putting our hope and faith in the days and nights to come.
Freedom loving Travis Lockhart, however, doesn’t have anything in particular on his wish list. The part-time cowboy and full-time handyman has plenty of family in Laramie County to spend the yuletide with. He’s content helping clients make their holiday dreams come true. While keeping his own commitments and possessions to a minimum….
Twice orphaned Skye McPherson yearns to have a family of her own again. And a permanent home to go to. She’s given up on it ever happening, until a sudden inheritance, tied to an arranged marriage, is presented to her and Travis. All they have to do is enter into a 120 day marriage, and the Winding Creek ranch will be theirs! Skye sees this as a chance of a lifetime and wants to go for it. Travis says, “Not so fast.” Marriage was serious business, even one in name only.
Had it not been for their love of the couple who willed the property to them, they might have remained in a stalemate. But they did want to honor Walter and Willa Braeloch’s crazily romantic last wishes.
So Skye and Travis said “I do” and entered into a Christmas season neither would ever forget!
I hope you have a wonderful holiday with your loved ones. And that all your yuletide dreams come true!
Best wishes,
Cathy Gillen Thacker
Read an EXCERPT of Their Texas Christmas Match and check out the other books in the LOCKHARTS LOST & FOUND series.
For more information on other books set in Laramie, Texas, please visit the Series Guide and Book List.
May 3, 2022
The Triplets' Secret Wish
Dear Reader,
People dream big in Texas. The bigger, the brasher the goal, the better. This is the case for Emma Lockhart and Tom Reid. United from childhood, they dated all through high school and college, and even planned to marry. After they finished business school at a prestigious Ivy League college.
Unfortunately, life happens when you are busy making other plans. Tragedy struck. Tom could no longer hold up his end of the bargain. Emma sympathized with her fiance’s plight, but not to the point she was willing to summarily give up all their mutual ambitions. Whereas Tom wanted new dreams. Unable to broker a solution, they broke up and went their separate ways.
Six and a half years later, Emma is back in Laramie County. Big degree and sought-after apprenticeship under her belt, she is no closer to fame and fortune than when she left. Tom, meanwhile, is living the dream. Sadly, he is a widower now, but he has three adorable four and a half year old sons. Two thriving businesses. The family ranch and commercial real estate.
For months, they are able to avoid each other, but when Tom becomes Emma’s landlord, and is tasked with possibly helping her achieve the pursuit that drove her out of his arms, he has a decision to make. As does she. For she has fallen in love with his triplet sons, and they want her for their mommy. What is a woman to do when she knows she can’t have it all? Or can she….?
I hope you enjoy this story as much as I loved writing it.
Best wishes,
Cathy Gillen Thacker
Read an EXCERPT of The Triplets' Secret Wish and check out the other books in the LOCKHARTS LOST & FOUND series.
For more information on other books set in Laramie, Texas, please visit the Series Guide and Book List.
November 9, 2021
Their Texas Christmas Gift
Dear Reader,
There are times when it is easy to know what to do. Others, when trying to figure out what is right, is a lot more elusive.
This is the situation that Faith Lockhart Hewitt and Lt. Zach Callahan find themselves in. Faith has been fostering five-month-old Quinn ever since his birth mother died. She is days away from adopting him when Zach Callahan arrives. The Navy SEAL has just discovered he has a baby boy, and he very much wants to be part of Quinn’s life. But there is a hitch. He is still active-duty military and will not be there to care for his son. The only fair thing to do…the only right thing… is to let Faith help him raise Quinn.
Unfortunately, their plan is not as easy to implement as they hope. Before they know it, they are married. That, too, seems simple enough. They won’t be together more than a few weeks or months a year. So it ought to be easy to just be co-parents, and friends, and leave it at that, right….? 😊
I hope you enjoy this Christmas story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Happy holidays to everyone!
Best wishes,
Cathy Gillen Thacker
Read an EXCERPT of Their Texas Christmas Gift and check out the other books in the LOCKHARTS LOST & FOUND series.
For more information on other books set in Laramie, Texas, please visit the Series Guide and Book List.
July 13, 2021
Their Texas Triplets
Dear Reader,
Families. Both a blessing. And a burden. When we need them and they are there for us, helping and supporting, we are incredibly grateful. But when they don’t agree with what we’re trying to do….it is way too easy to become irritated.
No one knows this better than cowboy/rancher Cooper Maitland. He loves his little sister dearly and was even her guardian for a time. But he’s never agreed with any of her plans. And he really doesn’t like it when she leaves her one year old triplets in his care—without even asking first! After all, what does he know about babies?
Luckily, his next door neighbor and former nemesis, Jillian Lockhart, knows a lot about little ones. She is much more understanding about what his sister has done. Plus, she doesn’t mind doing the neighborly thing and helping out with the kids. Even going so far as offering her home for them to stay in.
Cooper is grateful for Jillian’s help. He really comes to depend on her friendship. But when their attraction for each other flames wildly out of control, things start to get really complicated. Was it love drawing them together, or merely the false intimacy that comes from weathering any sort of trauma or hardship together? Only time, and their hearts, will tell.
I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Best wishes,
Cathy Gillen Thacker
Read an EXCERPT of Their Texas Triplets and check out the other books in the LOCKHARTS LOST & FOUND series.
For more information on other books set in Laramie, Texas, please visit the Series Guide and Book List.
April 13, 2021
The Twin Proposal
Dear Reader,
I always welcome an opportunity. You never know what will come of it.
Mackenzie Lockhart feels the same way. Orphaned at age 10, she suffered through a time in which she did not have any choices. She was separated from her seven brothers and sisters, living in foster care. Luckily, Griff Montgomery, then 14, was also in the system. Declaring himself her unofficial big brother, he showed her how to protect herself emotionally from hurt, (by shutting down when necessary). How to forge a Can Do attitude (that would enable her to build an independent life, that no one else could take away).
Thanks to that, Mackenzie is able to build the business and self-reliant life of her dreams. Griff is still working toward his goals. To fully achieve them, she realizes he needs her help. So, she makes an impetuous proposal that shocks them both.
Quickly, he agrees, and they begin a journey together that takes them far beyond their wildest expectations.
I hope you enjoy reading this third installment in my 8 book miniseries, LOCKHARTS LOST AND FOUND, every bit as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Best wishes,
Cathy Gillen Thacker
Read an EXCERPT of The Twin Proposal and check out the other books in the LOCKHARTS LOST & FOUND series.
For more information on other books set in Laramie, Texas, please visit the Series Guide and Book List.
September 26, 2020
Four Christmas Matchmakers
Dear Reader,
It can be hard to tell yourself the plain unvarnished truth. Especially when it comes to matters that are close to your heart. This is the situation Cade Lockhart and Allison Meadows find themselves in.
Cade knows he made the biggest mistake of his life, choosing fame over love. Now, that his professional baseball career is over, he wants to make amends. Pick up where he and Allison left off. The only problem is, Allison can’t even see them being casual friends, never mind in a relationship again.
Allison chose career after Cade broke her heart. Eight years later, she is on the brink of a success that is bigger than anything she ever imagined. If she achieves it, she will not have any room in her life for anything else, including the one man… the only man… she has ever loved. And while she tells herself work is enough, she has to wonder. Is it…?
Enter four Christmas matchmakers. And their beloved twelve year old black Labrador retriever, Zeus. The Bailey quadruplets love the holiday season! They think Allison and Cade should be together. The four-year-olds do everything they can to bring a renewed romance about. And so does Zeus. Because what’s Christmas without a little mistletoe?
I hope you enjoy Book #2 of THE LOCKHARTS LOST AND FOUND.
Happy reading and merry holidays!
Cathy Gillen Thacker
Read an EXCERPT of Four Christmas Matchmakers and check out the other books in the LOCKHARTS LOST & FOUND series.
For more information on other books set in Laramie, Texas, please visit the Series Guide and Book List.